Maybe I'll sometime write a post on this because there are no easy answers. But...

The world is becoming too touchy-feely...

Really? I truly have the opposite impression; we are in fact becoming more and more individualized. We learn every day that it's me against the rest of the world and I have to take care of my own, take care of "number one", so to speak. I sense none of what you say, and it also shows in your post here, you even admit to being "vindictive".

I'm not going to speak out for or against the death penalty per se. What I am saying is that the criminal justice system and the prison industry of the U.S. make that the last country on earth to go for advice on this matter. Your prison population has quadrupled since 1980, I personally know of at least 3 or 4 persons who have been put to death while being completely innocent, the U.S is one of approximately 30 countries in the world where the death penalty is still actively applied and is flanked by such heros of human rights like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, North Korea, Vietnam and Libya, with whom they share the top-10. I could go on forever with faults in that system.

The question here is: who do you trust with the ultimate decision? I don't know, but certainly not the American justice system. Get that sorted out first, then we'll talk about expanding on the ultimate punishment.