Article
Is Capital Punishment Morally Required?
Acts, Omissions, and Life-Life Tradeoffs
by Cass R. Sunstein & Adrian Vermeule
Many people believe that the death penalty should be abolished even if, as recent evidence seems to suggest, it has a significant deterrent effect. But if such an effect can be established, capital punishment requires a life-life tradeoff, and a serious commitment to the sanctity of human life may well compel, rather than forbid, that…