Movies and TV Shows

I don't think there's an ethical basis for capital punishment, except under some extreme circumstance (like having intel that a militant force will raid a prison to rescue a high ranking war criminal).

There are multiple reasons:

1. Surprisingly, capital punishment is expensive. So expensive in fact, that it's cheaper to keep them in prison for their entire life, multiple times over.

2. The capacity for someone to suffer ends when they die. If you believe in punishment (I don't, but you do you), then it makes sense to prolong their suffering as long as possible.

3. Capital punishment doesn't dissuade criminals. Countries with capital punishment have just as many criminals as those without.

4. Punishment is a shitty metric by all accounts. Harm mitigation is the aim of the game, whether you're talking about prison or execution, they're both isolating a person from the broader community. If the prison serves the same purpose, why do we need execution?

5. It's unrealistic to employ capital punishment where there isn't any. Anyone who deserves to be executed would not be released from prison. You've got a better chance of convincing people to prolong prison punishments than you do of instating legal murder.

6. Innocent people are wrongfully convinced every day. Many people have been executed, only to be found innocent some years later.