Capital Punishment As Ritual Sacrifice
Humans ending that faintly comprehended thing called life of another, is usually understood via that act to ended a facet in their own life.
This act of removing is the greatest transgression possible. Societies which grant their judiciary, government or bureaucracy the ability to kill, is according to their actions, killers. This taints the institutions which have directed those crimes and provide poor guidance to people who surround these institutions and fall within their shadow. This is a sacrifice, serving no purpose other then a demonstration of power, in which was probably what any killer wises to communicate. The ritual is in that it appears to have been arrived in a fair, social manner, this step is often included.
This has often been noted. This is just a reminder.