Cry me a punishment

The reason any society desirous of being civilised should not practice'capital punishment', as it is not so euphemistically termed, is that it allows the unscrupulous to commit, or sanction, murder in the name of the common, or even greater, 'good'

If for no better reason, it should be deemed unacceptable simply for by virtue of its being the most self-servingly rational option for the individual - If no-one can be executed in the name of [whomever/whatever] then neither can the individual [1]

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[1] Once again, the Prisoner's Dilemma springs to mind, since, this is yet another example of self-interest being best-served by cooperative, seemingly altruistic, behaviour