Although self-described humanists could possibly favor capital punishment under certain hypothetical circumstances, the death penalty as currently administered in the United States, is racist, sexist, and inegalitarian. It does not promote human dignity and freedom, and it does not eliminate societal obstacles to the realization of human potential. Humanist opposition to the death penalty might persuade people who pride themselves on their humanity of the validity of the abolitionist perspective. The author proposes the alternative to capital punishment to be life imprisonment with an opportunity for parole in the long-term. Even arguments regarding human free will, incapacitation theory, and the service of justice do not justify the death penalty; resources should be redirected from capital punishment to preventing unfairness in other societal arenas. Similarly, the perpetrator's family should not suffer so that the victim's family may be revenged. The humanist believes that killing a person, no matter what he has done, is morally wrong. 1 reference.