My basic objection against the American death penalty

[Duke]

I am against the death penalty per definition, but if you do choose to apply it, do it properly.

What i mean is, don't let the convicted sit in his cell for 10+ years. Thats a double sentence. You've chosen to execute him/her, go ahead and do it then. I say execute a person within 1 or 2 years from the trial, no messing with years of delay.

 

[DrugBa11ad]

I totally agree, and if they do choose to sit them there for 10 plus years, then they need to just give them life in prison instead.

Oh, and have a nurse that knows what the fuck thier doing, and not take 20 minutes to stick the needle in the persons's fucking arm.

 

[Glockmatic]

Actually it takes awhile for people to get executed because of appeal processes. It takes a few years for an appeal process to happen, and after that they could do another one.

 

[PELLA]

nevermind

 

[S O F I]

I believe there's a reason why they don't. I'm sure the Americans have thought it through.

 

[The.Menace]

I want to add that if you execute someone, then do it in a human way. There is no need to bring a full coverage in the news. It's not a TV show or at least it shouldn't be. If you execute someone, at least let him die in peace, anything else is inhuman.

 

[XIAN]

I think they should be able to choose between execution and the death penalty. Depending on my age, I would almost definatley take death than sit in a cage for 20-40 or whatever years.

http://prisonactivist.org/

~peace~

 

[not really ken]

I am against the death penalty per definition, but if you do choose to apply it, do it properly.

What i mean is, don't let the convicted sit in his cell for 10+ years. Thats a double sentence. You've chosen to execute him/her, go ahead and do it then. I say execute a person within 1 or 2 years from the trial, no messing with years of delay.

I agree. I don't see how letting them spend 20+ years in prison is helpful to anyone or anything.
And I agree with the death penalty. To put someone to death is the greatest show of sorrow and remorse a criminal can make to show the victims family. To then agree to cut short their own life in order to try and atone for their crime against humanity.

 

[Devious]

While it's true that the appeals process can take up to 10 years to complete, they keep prisoners on Death Row for years after that. Hell, there's guys who have been sitting on death Row for more than 25 years waiting to get executed, and I have to agree that it's not right. Once the appeals process is complete, the execution should be scheduled as soon as possible.

However, the reason why sometimes they leave these prisoners there for so long is that they want to make 100% sure the person is guilty. There have been some cases where a Death Row inmate has been executed, only to have someone or something come up to show the person's innocence, so there are reasons why this is done.

 

[Duke]

However, the reason why sometimes they leave these prisoners there for so long is that they want to make 100% sure the person is guilty. There have been some cases where a Death Row inmate has been executed, only to have someone or something come up to show the person's innocence, so there are reasons why this is done.

Thats a perfect argument against the death penalty also. If, even after the official trial, there are still doubts and that they cant even execute the guy properly.

 

[Devious]

Well it doesn't happen very often anymore, a lot of that kind of stuff happened before the technological age. It doesn't happen much anymore thanks to DNA and other things of that nature. But it just became standard practice years ago and the US is extremely slow when it comes to reforming the penal system. And I realize it's a good argument against the death penalty, that's one of the reasons I said it, although I am on the fence when it comes to capital punishment

 

[Big Flipp]

I personally think the death penetly should be abolished in this country. Since 1973 122 prisoners have been released in the USA after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. We know of atleast 16 people who were put to death later to find out they were innocent. Killing one innocent man is not worth killing hundreds of guilty men.

 

[SicC]

I am against the death penalty per definition, but if you do choose to apply it, do it properly.

What i mean is, don't let the convicted sit in his cell for 10+ years. Thats a double sentence. You've chosen to execute him/her, go ahead and do it then. I say execute a person within 1 or 2 years from the trial, no messing with years of delay.

I would like to see your thoughts on this if someone close to you was murdered and the person was cuaght. N by no means would i wish this upon you or your loved ones just a simple twist.

pz

 

[Duke]

I would like to see your thoughts on this if someone close to you was murdered and the person was cuaght. N by no means would i wish this upon you or your loved ones just a simple twist.

pz

Of course my sentiment would change, but i still wouldn't endorse the death penalty then. It's not going to bring him or her back and neither is it going to ease my pain if the perpetrator gets killed. I wouldn't change principles because now it would affect me personally.

 

[DrugBa11ad]

I would like to see your thoughts on this if someone close to you was murdered and the person was cuaght. N by no means would i wish this upon you or your loved ones just a simple twist.

I would like to see you being the one about to be executed, or a close loved one or family member about to be executed, your opinion would change to

 

[Jibster]

Of course my sentiment would change, but i still wouldn't endorse the death penalty then. It's not going to bring him or her back and neither is it going to ease my pain if the perpetrator gets killed. I wouldn't change principles because now it would affect me personally.

Agreed. It's funny how countries that have it always have campaigners against it but countries that have abolished it have very few who want it re-introduced.

 

[AmerikazMost]

I don't think we should have the death penalty.

First, it costs too much money for all the appeals and all the extra court costs. I think the original trial itself alone costs hundreds of thousands of dollars more than a non-capital punishment trial. That's before the appeals take place. And you can't get rid of this process, because that significantly increases the chance of executing an innocent man. Getting rid of it would save money and doubt.

 

[Morris]

I'm against the death penalty for a number of reasons, not the least of which include the fact that it's been applied historically in a racist and classist manner.

But on a more philosophical level, I think it's a worse punishment to incarcerate someone for life than it is to give them an easy out. Some individuals like Tim McVeigh actually wanted the death sentence.

 

[HitEmUp21]

What are the arguments for the death penalty? Surely it must be something more convincing than deterrence? I do want to hear it because (at least here in Australia anyway) it is an unsaid assumption that the death penalty is the epitome of evil etc. and we are just brough up to think that without questioning it, and to me this is a scary thing to be so sure that is wrong. It is certainly beneficial to have some kind of substance to the arguments rather than people who are for the death penalty scared to speak up because the masses are against them, at least then they can be proved wrong and see the error in their ways.

But anyway, what are some arguments in favor, to get a little inter-partisan discourse going.

 

[Amara]

But anyway, what are some arguments in favor, to get a little inter-partisan discourse going.

It would decrease the rate of criminal recidivism (i.e. repeat offenders, which if invoked for crimes such as murder, rather than losing the many lives that serial or recidivist offenders take, you would lose the life of the criminal but save the lives of many).

In addition, it is the ultimate deterrent. Imprisonment does not deter all offenders from committing crimes... the threat of capital punishment, as the harshest penalty has the ability to deter more potential offenders (and related to recidivism, totally deter convicted criminals). Having said that, in criminology we studied whether in jurisdictions where the death penalty is enforced (usually for the crime of murder) whether the rates for that crime were actually lower than in jurisdictions where the penalty was imprisonment... the answer is not clear cut, the stats are inconclusive... but then criminology itself is an inconclusive field.

Those are just a couple of arguments in the affirmative, which I do not necessarily hold myself but just thought I'd mention.