Capital Punishment - a Thought or Two

I am an advocate of life-sentences, without parole. Since there are too many mistakes made in capital cases, and since many capital cases deal with people who can't afford top-notch attorneys, and since it's been demonstrated that prosecutor offices tend to "close" a case too quickly to get a conviction, I opt for prison, rather than the death penalty. Though I remain convinced that a "state" has the right to take a criminal's life - that law and Scripture allow for it. But as Paul noted, just because something is permissible doesn't mean we should do it. Wisdom, as least mine, indicates imprisonment as a safer means of punishment that accomplishes the same as capital punishment (remove the offender from society) without the chance of a mistake. I also believe that capital punishment stains the character of a nation, and all those who participate in it - police, judges and juries, defenders and prosecutors, and the people who finally have to pull the levers.