The first priority and main function of legitimate government is to defend innocent human life, from conception until natural death, and to punish those who violate it. I have adamantly advocated for legislation to have abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia recognized for what they are--murder--and severely punished. Because human life, created in the image of God, is sacred, anyone who commits premeditated murder in any form forfeits his/her own right to life. Therefore, I support the death penalty for first degree murder, no matter where the victim may be on the continuum between conception and natural death. While some argue against the death penalty on the basis that some death row inmates have been exonerated by DNA evidence after the fact, I say that it works both ways. If DNA can prove that the wrong person has been convicted (and it is wonderful when an innocent person is thus set free), then it can also be used to determine more accurately that the right person has been convicted, thus allowing for greater confidence in the use of the death penalty when appropriate. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not suffer a murderer to live." Someone guilty of first degree murder can not be trusted not to be a threat to additional victims, and should therefore, be eliminated as a threat to society, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE MATTER.