And there, in one sentence, you have the difference between conservatives and liberals. Conservatives feel the person is responsible for his actions, and should he choose antisocial actions, pay the penalty. In this case, heinous crimes against the helpless deserve loss of the offender's life. Liberals, on the other hand, feel the death of the offender is too strong a punishment, and they might not really be responsible for their behavior anyway; it is the result of mental illness/poor upbringing/violence on TV/global warming.

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