It's in my Bar Mitzvah parsha and in many other sources in the Bible. And no, it isn't crazy evangelicals contorting the text. :-)
Yeah, it's in the Old Testament and the laws of Moses, but I'm a Christian and when Christ was crucified those laws were nailed to the cross. I'm not sure where Jesus supports it. Some people on here have said that he did, but haven't showed me any specific passages from the New Testament. And if somebody does post something, PLEASE DO NOT post a passage from the King James Version. I have a real hard time getting through all of those thou's and art's. NIV is easier for most people to understand.
Besides, we don't establish our laws from the Bible. Not every American believes in the laws of the Bible. A debate on biblical law is pointless. As much as some evangelical Christians would want to establish a theocracy in this country, it will never happen.
First off Jesus says to pretty much respect the laws of the established earthy government. He certainly was no "liberal" like some lefties love to claim. He never said for humans never to judge, that is another false claim. What he actually said was for humans not to make rash judgements. Jesus respected the law of the land for how it stood and was a very orthodox Jew. So I would certainly say he wouldn't have a problem with the death penalty if applied for the right reasons.
And J.R. you are wrong on your point about biblical law. Much of the US law has its roots in biblical law and to claim otherwise is ridiculous. I know the secularists want to ban religion and strike it from every school book, law book, etc. but that will never happen. And no, I don't want to set up a "theocracy", you and Opebo can spout that nonsense if you like but it certainly is not true.