Capital Punishment

[DukeLeto]

Hmm, here's an interesting topic...Where do you stand on capital punishment (execution)?

Frankly, I'm all for it, because:

A)It gives the victims' families some closure.

B)It keeps prison overpopulation down

and C)Frankly, I think it would be more "inhumane" to be locked up in a 6x6 cell for the rest of my life than to just die. I would rather recieve the death penalty than LWOP.

My 2 cents, I'll elaborate if need be...

[Acriku]

I'm all for it. If you are going to live in a state with capital punishment (cough TEXAS cough), you better respect the law or get your arse fried. Literally. But, I find the lethal injection more favorable. Nighty-night...

[FireSnake]

You think that death cures everything for prisoners?

- Matthew

[Acriku]

If you take away death penalty, more and more murders will rise, because who wouldn't want that life in prison? Hell, if you're a bum living on the streets, you would literally KILL someone to spend your life in the better home - prison. The death penalty is effective, and does the job.

[FireSnake]

Whatever You say, mate.

- Matthew

[DukeLeto]

If you take away death penalty, more and more murders will rise, because who wouldn't want that life in prison? Hell, if you're a bum living on the streets, you would literally KILL someone to spend your life in the better home - prison.

That's a very good point, didn't think of that. :)

[Navaros]

on principle i am all for it.

however, in reality it's a BAD idea because you almost never truly know whether a person is really guilty or not.

if you ever get arrested for a crime you did not commit, you might be put to death simply because the 12 Jury Members don't like how you look. or for ANY other reason.

just because someone is declared Guilty by a jury, that doesn't mean he actually committed the crime

for this reason, capital punishment should never ever occur.

[DukeLeto]

Ah yes, but after the 10-15 years of appeals, if they haven't been released, you can pretty much be sure that hey are guilty in some fashion. ::)

[Dante]

Half and half. I agree with the death penalty as it is a good deterant. But like Nav says, you can never be sure that someone is guilty. Personally, I think that if you want to teach someone a lesson, it's probably best not to kill them. But that doesn't mean that you have to be nice to them. There are things far worse than death.

(Just think how someone would react at learning they've been sentanced to 84,000 years for cruelty to animals. Let's see them try good behaviour for that! )

[Acriku]

There's always going to be a certain "minority report", you can't really avoid it with capital punishment (without getting rid of it). It's horrible, yes. But we can minimize it as much as possible with tweaking of the legal system.

Dust, some people never learn. And those are people we need to protect ourselves from.

[Navaros]

Ah yes, but after the 10-15 years of appeals, if they haven't been released, you can pretty much be sure that hey are guilty in some fashion. ::)

not necessarily. most of the time, the sole determining factor as to whether someone is declared guilty or innocent is the Price Tag hanging off of the Defense Lawyer. if the defendant is poor, chances are he will be declared guilty by default, and if you had your way, put to death... even though he was totally innocent.

if someone was poor at the original trial, he'd be just as poor at his Appeals. so the result would be the same. D.A.'s always are well-paid, highly-qualified lawyers so if the Defendant can't put up the cash to match, his fate is Sealed.

[Acriku]

Navaros, there are good lawyers who go pro bono. Not much, but that's their issue.

[Dante]

Dust, some people never learn. And those are people we need to protect ourselves from.

Like I said, there are things far worse than death.

[Acriku]

Agreed, death is mercy. But how do you know they learned?

Also, it costs our tax money to take care of these criminals. We work hard for our money so scum of the earth can continue to live in luxury compared to other countries, many with the chance to go back into the public again.

[Dante]

Who says they learned? You yourself said that we need to be protected. And once dead whether they learned or not is immaterial, they won't have a chance to do it again. Unless you believe in reincarnation...

But I still don't think the death penalty is the answer really.

[Acriku]

I meant in your post about worse things than death, not death itself ;)

[Seal89999]

I agree with the it. I think that thats what criminals deserve. If they take a human life than there life should be taken aswell.

People murdering inosent people for no reason brutally deserve death.

If somebody murdered a loved one of mine I would want there ass to fry in hell.

People like that are sick.

[Dante]

In some cases literally. What if the person is mentally ill and not responsible for their own actions?

[Edric O]

Absolutely and completely AGAINST. First of all, the death penalty is inhumane and hypocritical. ("killing is wrong... except when WE do it!")

Second, like Nav said, you can never be 100% certain that a person is guilty. Many prisoners were released after DECADES spent in prison when it was found that the evidence which incriminated them was false.

Most civilized countries have abolished the death penalty. That says a lot about those who haven't.

And finally, to all who support the death penalty: Just imagine how would YOU feel if you were sitting in the electric chair, about to die for a crime you did not commit. Would it still be "collateral damage" then?

[Dante]

Not the chair. Not for anyone.

[DukeLeto]

First of all, the death penalty is inhumane

All depends on your point of view. As I've said, I find it more "inhumane" to be locked up in a tiny cell for the rest of your life.

[GUNWOUNDS]

hmm.. so if a man killed and raped your whole family.. you just want life in prison for him??

My opinion

Fire up the electric chair boys.. we got oursleves a barbeeeeeeeecue!!

[slaphapy]

life in prison doesn't always mean "life" it can be as little as 20 years. I'm pretty sure if you are on "good behavior" and the people who decide whether you can go think that you have changed, you can be released (unless the judge says otherwise i believe)

Did anyone hear about how in california there were some people trying to make attempting suicide a capital offence... so anyone who tried to commit suicide and failed, would be murdered... kinda strange I think..

[Acriku]

Edric, appeals to emotion don't do any good with your argument. When running a country or state, you must think of the long-term effects and causes.

[SurlyPIG]

I'm against. I think it's a bit of a contradiction to kill for kill. For any significant crime, it comes down to this; if you abuse your freedom, you lose it. You spend time in jail. Most importantly, there is always that X factor. People have been put to death before for crimes they didn't commit. It comes down to juries. Juries are made up of people. People can be trivial, bigoted, prejudiced, and racist and it has an effect on those verdicts. And then there are those that were framed, at the wrong place at the wrong time etc. It just isn't worth it. I've heard that somewhere between 5%-10% of people put to death didn't commit the crime. That's unacceptable. 0.1% is unacceptable. Any innocent deaths, really, is unacceptable.

It's not as if you're doing these people a big favour by letting them live. Some people here have a very naive picture of prison. It is NOT a place anyone wants to live in. I don't know how one would compare prison to death as I've never experienced either, but I'd rather have 95 criminals just in jail instead of 95 criminals and 5 innocents dead. Any benefit just can't outweigh the innocent lives lost...it just can't. There's no way. Imagine if one of those 5 in a hundred was someone you knew and loved. There's no way...

Also, the notion that execution prisoners is a cost-effective punishment is false, the number of procedures, checks, and mandatory appeals that the convict has to go through costs umpteen times more than housing him in prison would have. And despite all these procedures, people still slip through. New and better forensic techniques have freed innocent people from wrongful accusations. Terrible thing, but it's worse if they're dead.