Killing them either sends them to some terrible afterlife or it doesn't. Putting them in a terrible prison for the remainder of their life seems like a worse punishment to me. So wanting them to rot in prison isn't going soft.

I also disagree with the death penalty because our court system sometimes convicts innocent people. If thr proverbial Christmas came tomorrow and all the depraved criminals were caught, how can we be sure the rats didn't name a few extra people and have their buddies frame them? After all, the reason our justice system functions as poorly as it does is due mostly to corruption. While it's hard to repay an innocent for time spent in the can, it's a lot harder to bring them back to life.

Finally, cheering joyously when someone is killed or hurt is fucked up. Even if they were the worst person to ever walk the face of the earth, they probably had people who care about them. Human life is precious. Even though these sadistic fucks deserve the worst living conditions imaginable, showing them some mercy makes us better people. It shows that we are stronger than they will ever be, and that we aren't vengeful and cruel like they are. As long as they can't hurt anyone anymore, I'll be happy.