The State of Alaska has NEVER had a death penalty.   The last executions were in Territorial days under federal law.   I don't have a moral problem with the death penalty, but I have serious practical problems with it.   I'm simply not willing to let twelve morons with driver's licenses make an irrevocable decision that is largely based on which lawyer can make the best emotional appeal.   I used the same tools and rules as a prosecutor to take people's jobs, and I was better than most prosecutors; I lost way too many cases I should have won and won too many I should have lost.   I practiced before experienced labor arbitrators and administrative law judges, not lay juries.