Capital punishment might satisfy retributivist instincts. But it’s still unjust and should be abolished.

Civil rights groups such as LatinoJustice and Witness to Innocence have filed a petition for the Supreme Court of California to issue a writ of mandate ruling that the death penalty is unconstitutional. Particularly, that the death penalty violates the right to equal protection under the law on the grounds that Blacks and Latinos are significantly more likely to receive the death penalty. 

Among their arguments, the petitioners claim that the death penalty does not deter crime and that instead...