Not in my opinion. I believe that it is bizarre to try to show humanity to people that have committed inhuman crimes. The death penalty should definately be used for treason and although it has been over 50 years since anyone was hung in the UK there is still(to my knowledge) a penalty for treason and should be used.

Capital punishment is useless and counterproductive as a punishment. Killing someone for a crime, in practice, does very little fulfill the usual purpose of a punishment, i.e., to detter the offender and others from commiting the same crime in the future. However, capital punishment does have it's place. Some people (I.e. Chronic Pedophiles, etc.) may be truly unredeemable and will be nothing for the rest of their natural lives but a danger to everyone around them, and a constant drain on society to keep confined. And in those cases, capital punishment can have a place, but not so much a place as a punishment as it is a use a means of (for lack of a better word,) disposal. No punishment administered by society or government, capital or otherwise, can ever truly solve the problem of any criminal phenomenon, you can't fight hatred and violence and negativity with more of the same, and that's all that the criminal justice system as a whole ever really tries to do.

Tis under utilized.

None of both. It is just uncivilized and does not have a place in a civilized world.

Yes. I believe it's hypocritical to call murder wrong and then punish the crime by committing murder. Capital punishment does not at as a deterrent to criminals, and it actually costs more for the appeals process of a death penalty case than it does to incarcerate a prisoner for life. The only reason why we have the death penalty is bloodlust. It's people's desire for vengeance.

No, it is still very much needed. Just because the world is civilized doen't mean everyone in it is. Let me put it to you this way you have a mad dog running around killing everything in sight. What do you do? You shot it. Why? Because it has tasted blood and is now a danger. The same for murders, rapest, and pediofiles. They are sociopaths and psychopaths and can not be made to act like the rest of us. To them we are prey not people. They lack a conciouse and empathy from birth and no amount of thereapy wil change that. They can learn to mimic human behaviour, but that is only to get us to put down our gaurd so they can hurt us. The same goes for contract killers and terroist. They are mass murders who learned how to channel their urges into a vaible way of life. The same can ever be said for those who have only been convicted of killing or raping once. They have the taste for blood and pain and when pushed will resort to it again. In fact most of them are repeat offeneders who are only caught for one crime and not all of the others they have commited. Killing them is not vengence. It's not a detourant. It's not punishment either. It's not even really justice because no matter what we do to them it can in no way ever match the pain and suffering their acts have caused. It's self protection of those of us who are unable to defend ourselves against them. As to the whole idea that it costs more to exacute that's only because of the lenghthy and unnessary appeals process we have. I, myself, think if you're convicted on DNA, finger prints, fibers, and survalence cameras you're dead tomarrow by firing squad. If we only have an eyewitness you've got five years and one appeal so you'd better make it good because once your appeals up you're gone. After that firing squad. And if you try to use guilty/not guilty by mental defect bye-bye if your convected. Too many people play that game just so they can go sit in the metal ward till they're miraculously cured. And guess what? When released they do it again. Surprise, surprise. If you can't fix stupid what makes you think you can fix crazy? Especially since we know all mental illnesses are life long. And that most crazy people stop taking their drugs when they feel better only to relapse. Quick, cheap, and easy is the way to go. And for all those peopel who will say I'm crule and heartless, that may be, but I have two sons and eight nieces and nephews, and two little sister-in-laws to protect from these people. And I'll be damned if I'm going to gamble with their lives for an ideal that will never happen. I could not live with myself if because I wanted to look compasionate they died or were raped. That is what would make me as bad as the person who hurt them, not killing the person when I had the chance. Why? Because I stood by and did nothing when I could have saved them. And for that I would deserve to die too.

it is not used enough. it is also not carried out swift enough .

I do not believe it is outmoded and it's certainly useful. It's akin to taking out the trash as far as I am concerned.

Useless? I would argue that no one receiving capital punishment has ever gone on to commit another crime and outmoded in the sense that there are more creative ways to implement it.

Yes. If you've ever been to prison you'd know that being beaten with poles as they do in some countries would be better than spending 3 years in an 8X12 cell with some rapist named Bubba.

I think we should revert entirely to medieval forms of punishment. An Eye for An Eye!