I don’t like that the USA is the lone liberal democracy that still uses the death penalty against our own citizens.  I’m personally pretty indifferent about the death penalty.  As long as there are stringent requirements that guarantee that no innocent person is put to death, I’m comfortable using the death penalty against the most heinous criminals.

But it’s clear that the free world is moving in the direction of abolishing the death penalty, and the death penalty is still utilized by the “un-free world”.  Aligning ourselves with our liberal allies on this issue would give the United States some more moral leverage as we continue to coax counties in the Middle East and North Africa to embrace liberal democracy.

Kudos to Gov. Quinn for banning the death penalty in Illinois earlier this month.