Pentateuch Ignorance Watch

Here is someone at CSMonitor.com advocating clemency for Tookie:

But there's a moral side to this debate, and that's where redemption comes in. Capital punishment violates the Mosaic command, "Thou shalt not kill." All lives have value, and a life redeemed - even partially - comes closer to realizing a life of purpose than one cut short. Williams's continued outreach illustrates this.

I am going to make this point using all-English terminology: The Ten Commandments (including the prohibition of murder, not execution) are in Chapter 20 of Exodus. In the very next chapter (Verse 12) we read: "He that smiteth a man so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death."