The biggest reason that I am against the death penalty is purely selfish, and that is that the chances of me being murdered in a state with the death penalty double compared with a state without the death penalty. Given my desire to keep on living, this is a disturbing stat.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/092200-01.htm
"A state-by-state analysis found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty."