Five standard objections to capital punishment:

1. Maldistribution -- this punishment is applied in an unfair way (minorities and men receive it disproportionately)
   
   Response: This does not challenge capital punishment. If the person receiving it deserves it, then no wrong is done to that person. Instead, the wrong is that others who deserve it didn't get the same; the way to address this wrong is to execute more people.
   
   
2. Miscarriages of Justice -- many innocent people are killed
   
   "Sauce for the goose" response: innocent people are punished with EVERY form of punishment, so this is not an objection to capital punishment. It's an objection to ALL punishment. Provided we do not intentionally execute the innocent, and take reasonable steps to prevent their being punished, no wrong is done.
   
   
3. Lack of deterrence -- it does not reduce the crime rate more than simply locking them up  (See Reiman's response)
   
   While it would be wrong to use capital punishment if the counter-deterrent effect outweighs the deterrent, not having is likely to have a counter-deterrent effect, since common sense tells us that people fear execution more than incarceration.
   
   
4. Incidental harms -- it has harmful consequences, e.g., high financial cost, undeserved suffering of those awaiting execution, & legitimatization
   
   The importance of doing justice makes these objections pointless.
   
   Of these side effects, the only relevant one is the idea that executions legitimize or endorse killing, sending the wrong message to society. But "sauce for the goose": if killing is counter-deterrent in some ways, then so is imprisonment; if this were an argument against capital punishment, it would also be an argument against prisons, and against fines.
   
   
5. Inherently degrading -- It denies the humanity of the person executed, & violates the same right to life that is the basis for punishing the person.
   
   Those who impose execution do not degrade those who are executed, for the guilty person volunteers for punishment: they literally choose it for themselves, and so any degradation is self-inflicted. (This claim requires that the punishment is for a crime and a corresponding punishment clearly recognized in the law. Preannouncement is necessary to justify retribution.)
   
   It is not degrading if it is used to make the guilty person aware of their wrongdoing. We are affirming their personal responsibility. (This point prohibits us from executing children, the mentally impaired, and others who cannot understand the situation.)