Latest execution to take place-what to think?

First of all, I won't name the condemned, or the victim. But it was news today that an individual who "orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in US history" (over twenty years ago) was set to be executed today. The condemned was the fourth individual this year (and it's not even May) to be executed in the United States, and the third to be executed in Texas.

The condemned was sentenced for tying the victim to the back of a truck and dragging him three miles. The victim soon after died a slow, painful death from his injuries. The perpetrator was white and apparently an "avowed racist"- the victim was a black man. 

Yes, justice MUST be served. In NO WAY is this acceptable. Racism and hate crimes in NO WAY can be tolerated. The perpetrator by all means should be locked up for life, the key being thrown away. As said, the victim died slowly and painfully-and his family suffered terribly as well.

The perpetrator made several arguments, which consisted of "being under the influence of drugs" and being "nowhere near the scene where the victim died." Do I believe it? Not in the slightest. I totally believe that he's guilty. And must pay. But with his life? Is it TOTALLY necessary? As I said, lock him up for life. No excuses. Let him sit the rest of his life out in prison-and think about what he's done. But the more I learn about it, the more I lean away from the death penalty. The ancient code was "an eye for an eye" and that can ring true in many ways.

My faith however, believes in karma "the Rede/the Rule of Three." I don't want to bring religion/spirituality too much into it-but, at the end of the days, the executioner has done the same thing that the condemned has done. I'm not a believer in blatantly "turning the other cheek"-but we've got to find a middle ground. Yes, justice must be served, and punishment must be carried out-but the more I hear about the death penalty, the more I want to fight it. (My Beltane project for this year is to brainstorm a zine issue about it.)

Upon hearing about this, I lit a virtual candle at on online shrine to one of my patron goddesses, Macha of the Fleet Foot.  
"Macha, please help me do what I can to stand up to the death penalty. Let justice come swift to those who need it, but assist me to fight capital punishment, which gets us nowhere. For this, I will now light a virtual candle to You and continue to honor You in all ways possible."

So mote it be!