Capital punishment will deter some murders, and that justifies it as a realistic penalty for dangerous criminals. Younger considers reasons for opposing executions, such as sentencing errors and discrimination in application, as well as the alternative of life imprisonment, but finds the arguments in their favor unsupportable. Younger notes that innocent people will be killed because the death penalty has not been in effect to deter killers. This is the result of institutional failure by the Supreme Court as it overlaps into legislative areas, rather than maverick justices.