Justice or Vengeance.

The article explores the moral aspect of death penalty, base on the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Baze v. Reese, a case in which the petitioners are Kentucky prisoners condemned to death. The court considered whether the drug used by majority of states that impose the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The author refutes the notion that the purpose of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment can be reduced to the minimization of physical pain.