[UnderseaLcpl]

I just can't understand this whole "death-penalty" bent. It seems inefficient and silly to me. How does the death penalty repair the damage done to people and families and society? Where is the penance?
For the most heinous crimes, in which the defendant is proven guilty by irrefutable evidence, life in a labor camp holds a lot more punitive potential.

Of course, this must be done properly in order to ensure effectiveness. For starters, it needs to be in a suitably harsh climate, way too hot or way too cold. Next, it would need to produce goods that could actually generate a profit, or at least offset state expenses so that reimbursements could be paid to the victims. Something labor-intensive, though, like making highway barriers manually.
Then, it would need to have an organizational structure similar to Marine boot camp; hardly a moment of peace, bad food (minimum calorie intake, preferably in the form of tasteless paste), little sleep, constant surveillance, stiff penalties for any infraction. It's good enough for our troops, so it should be good enough for our worst criminals, right?
Finally, no amenities. No tobacco, no visitation, no parcels, no internet, no TV, no radio, no newspapers, no anything. And 7-day workweeks, 8 hrs a day (more might be considered cruel and unusual)

After a few years in that grinder they'll wish they were dead, and they will be, after a miserable life.

What does the death penalty do, anyway? If there is a hell and evil people are sent to it, burning for eternity is going to be just as miserable and endless at the end of a life in the camp. If there is no afterlife, the death penalty just grants the criminal painless oblivion, whereas their victims live with a lifetime of pain. What kind of justice is that?

Best of all, if they are later exonerated, they could be paid a healthy compensation for their wrongful imprisonment by the state, and we can get the money for that by simply saving the money it would have cost to execute them in the present system.

Naturally, this is almost completely implausible in the U.S. due to the number of judgements and rulings that would have to be overturned, but I still think it's a good idea.