Jesus, Tookie Williams, and the death penalty

i think there are biblical reasons for there to be a death penalty. it is not an unfair punishment. i think it is part of the responsibility that government bears. better, it is one mean by which the government can perform its responsibility. but i am against it the death penalty.

i am not against it because it is unjust; i am not against it because heros are sometimes made of those who suffer it; i am not against it because those who suffer it are made in God's image. i am against it because i am a Christian whose community witnesses to the new city where such judgments end in restoration and not death. i am against it because i don't know how else to remind those who execute this judgment that they in turn are under judgment and will be judged.