Anti statism does not figure largely in my experience. .. AN
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I decided I was against the death pentality since Carrol Chessman which dates back to practically the beginning formation of (the universe?) my political awarness. It was right up there with no god, easter bunny and the rest of it.
In various times I went through all the arguments and included Camus' Niether Victims or Executioners. Back then France still used the guillotine so Camus went on a length about the potential living head. In the final phase, I decided none of those arguments held up in any dimension of morals, ethics, pragmatism, existentialim or any liberal or radical school of thought. So, it ulitmately turned on state powers. I finally got down to the question, should the state have that power? And the flat statement was no the state should not have that power, period. The state should have no power to execute people.
That doesn't mean the state will not kill people, since of course it does all the time. However, everytime it kills or executes somebody it is an illegal act, and that is about the best we can expect.
We really need to clean up our justice system and while not particularly important, the death penalty has got to go, since it is the ultimate denial of civil rights. A whole series of legal-logical arguments on civil rights follow from such an axiomatic limit on state power. And IMHO, sketching out those powers and limits makes for a more interesting discussion.
CG