IMO, no one should cause anyone else to die if at all possible.

This actually is indirectly one of my uncomforts with the death penalty. I ultimately support the death sentence intellectually, but carrying it out is a different story. I cannot imagine being the person (or persons) responsible for carrying out the execution of an individual because some other people told me it was the right thing to do.

For my own part, I do support the death penalty, but not without reservation. The concept of anyone taking another person's life and that person knowing it's coming and being powerless to stop it because the action is protected under the law does bother me.

Then you are on good path, Jeff. At least you seriously think about situation where killing somebody in cold blood and not in protection of anybody or anything is for some unfathomable reason declared lagal, and not what it actually is, a murder.

The wrongness of the original murder was that the person knowingly took an innocent person's life and displayed a disregard for that innocent life. ("innocent" meaning non-murdering).

Again, I think that the wrongness of murder is in killing somebody without being forced to do that in order to stop greater harm. So, you can guess what kind of opinion I have of ex-governor of Texas.

Justice and deterrent.

Many primitive societies equate justice with revenge. Civilized society has no business doling out 'justice' with any purpose other that minimizing future occurences of crime. But even there some limits must be observed; e.g, I hope you don't approve of amputations Islamic law prescribes for thieves?

It has been proven pretty conclusively that death penalty is not a general deterent (that is, that it does not lower future occurrence of crimes it was used against).