Is capital punishment acceptable in present society?

Question

i would like to hear ur view on a moral & ethical sights. thx.

Answer 1

~Worked well for the Third Reich. They just didn't use it enough. Neither did Pol Pot. Joe Stalin made a good run at it though. Kill for Peace and Justice, I say. PTL

Answer 2

It depends on where you are. If you live in any developed or undeveloped country other than the US and maybe one or two others, it is uncivilized and against most organized religious belief systems.

However in America, because of the way culture developed here with its peculiar system of slavery, and then segregation and all that entailed; the lynch mob mentality became a part of the way people think. Then add to that the cowboy mentality. Actually it is not so much the cowboy mentality as how the movies have portrayed it, that Americans have a great penchant for revenge and avenging the death or extreme harm of a loved one.

So, for those reasons and others, it is not fair to hold America to the same standards of other countries. Here, the country's mentality began to follow that of other countries and finally the Supreme Court of the US outlawed executions as unconstitutional. The back lash was so great that the Court reversed itself. After all the "Warren Court" was the same activist court that forced white children to go to school with blacks. After that the bashlash against anything the despicable "WarrenCourt" did became suspect. We want desperately to get back to the good old days when America was good and moral and clean before all these hippies and blacks and tree huggers.

So, it is really not fair to ask about morality. After all didn't the Bible say "an eye for and eye"? We are the most moral country in the world. We probably have more churches than anybody. How dare they or anybody else tell us how to live?

Answer 3

Personally im all for it.
The savage societies have been mentioned, has the human condition changed that much, apparently not. Theft, Murder, Rape etc are still prevalent in todays society, in fact more so.
To counter this we have grown more aware of how unethical war and crime is.
However those who commit murder are still commiting murder. It is hard to forgive when you hear your loved one has been carved up by some madman. And why should they, it serves no rational point too.
Logic if applied would be the deletion of problems in society, a rapid dog would not be spared, but on the contrary it would be promptly put down.
How do rapid humans differ, they dont except they look like us, and perhaps that is whats morally repugnent, we then come to the conclusion that it is possible to rehabilitate them due to superior cognitive reasoning.
One may argue that the dog would be easier to rehabilitate due to its 'lack of' cognitive reasoning, yet we dont bother (people do and I praise them) but people have autonomy, such care would be repugnent for a human.
So our solution is isolation, fair enough except it costs money, why not do the next step and wipe them out all together, any attempts to rehabilitation leads to another violent crime.
Of course there are limits, each case must be subjectively approached, Do we kill a murderer when it was clearly a mistake or passion, if the person is generally good (define good but i would discuss that later) or is the Jack the Ripper scenario needed. I would go with the later.
Humans have proven life is not sacrad, just carbon blood etc (aboteurs) the existence of a soul remians unproven and still not a inhibitating factor. If fact as logic increase it becomes more acceptable.
Other crimes included but on a subjective basis, after all should crime fit the punishment, accidents etc (system cant be too rigid)
p.s if it was up to me collesium would be reopened, what better way to solve crime and entertain the masses

Answer 4

Yes. Capital punsihment is what the perpetrator of horrible crimes needs to find justice in his life. If you meet a few people who are twisted beyond all recognition, you begin to understand why there is a death penalty. Not everyone is going to be rehabilitated. Moral clarity is a heloful thing. You do a terrible criminal act, you know for certain you are going to get the char - or lethal injection. All of the arguments against the death penalty presume that the guy who brutally knifed all of those people was sort of having a bad day and no one had ever really loved him. Maybe that is true, but loving the guy isn't going to stop him from killing more. A few people have even figured out that death - as th punishment for their crime - is the best thing they can do to pay for the horrible wrongs they did. In facing up to justice, a few are able to find redemption.

I know the anit-death penalty crowd has a zillion wondeful sounding arguments and that they think they are on the moral highground. Truth is that they misapprehend the true nature of mankind ... they are in total denial about the bad stuff these guys on death row did and would do again.. Most will tell you they enjoyed the power they got from it and don't know how to stop themselves from doing it again.

Answer 5

Capital punishment is completely wrong. Did you know that it costs more money to execute them than it does to house them in jail?
Some people are not even guilty and they have to be put to death, is this fair? NO!
Some "bad" people do bad things becasue they are not mentally well. Is jail the best thing for them? Jial only makes them worse- it odesn't allow us to study them.. They will have a barrier up to protect themselves and it will be hard for psychaiatrists to learn about them and find treatmnet for them to save others and find warning signs earlier on before it is too late. I mean they can find signs in almost anything else... But people's fears of these people and innate and caveman-like need to get "revenge" is a sad humanistic trait that never evolved along with how laws try to make humans more refined and ethical and moral. This is not ethical. The golden rule of ethics is to do unto others how you would like to be treated.
Why no put them in a facility that could try to get them better and tried to understand them?
Did you know that when inmates come out, they are let out at 2am or 3am and dropped off in the streets with only $100.00 and told to toddle off. And they are expected to "make it"? Is this right? Society has no tollerance for people who are less than perfect citizens. People pity people and empathize with people who have cancer (a disease in the body that you don't have control over)- but why is it that if you have a disease of the mind you are treated differently. there is no difference! I hope there will be a revolution for this to change soon.
So no.. it is not acceptable to treat people with such a disregard. People are always doing the best that they can at any given moment. Might it be accident or a crime with mens rea.. something is wrong or at the core of that person.. We should be asking ourselves How and why did it happen? And were there warning signs.. We all have to help each other.. It is not an easy world to live in especially if you are mentally impaired- you will be ignored or thrown to the side by society becasue of ignorance and fear. And becasue not so much is known about the brain. Which should be a good reason to preserve life- to learn more about it. And to learn to be compassionate.

Answer 6

The Death penalty is not acceptable for this main reason. The " beyond a reasonable doubt" standard is not good enough. reasonable Doubt is stated to be 4%. So if you are 96% sure that someone is guilty, that is your judgment. Anything less than 96 % and you must judge not guilty. The problem with this standard is that 4% is too much when you are talking about making someone 100 % dead. Their have been death row inmates acquitted ( completely innocent) in appeals. the truly sad thing is that just from statical findings, at least one innocent person has been put to death in the U.S.
Until, we can change the system to a "no doubt" standard, we need to stop capital punishment.

Answer 7

Two completely unrelated subjects. I don't agree with the death penalty because it's too easy to make a mistake, and once a life has been taken you can't bring them back. It's an incredibly evil form of punishment that has been banned in most civilized countries around the world. Nobody likes the idea of abortion, but history has shown that women who do not want to be pregnant will try to end it no matter if it's legal or not. This can often result in the death of the mother as well as that of the child. Millions of women still die in poorer countries where safe abortions are unavailable. Plus in countries where it has been banned - like in Ireland, thousands of women travel over to the UK to have their abortions in a safe environment. So it doesn't actually stop them. This is why we should never underestimate a man's role in all of this. Condoms are 98% effective against unwanted pregnancy when used correctly. Can you imagine how many abortions that would be prevented if most men decided to use them as a matter of routine? MOST of them. :-)

Answer 8

Yes, I'm a staunch believer in Capitol Punishment.

1st or 2nd Degree Murder
Child Molestation/Pedophilia (depending on severity)
High treason


Murderers and child molesters are the lowest of the low in society. People ask "how can you deny their right to live?" my response is always "did they give their victims the same right?". No amount of councilling, hand-holding, psychiatric evaluation, or whatever will ever change someone who chose willingly to kill another human being.

Once that person chose to murder another human being they gave up their right to live.

As for pedophiles/child molesters they don't deserve to live either. Anyone who does that to a child should be killed in the most horrible of ways. I'm not saying this should be applicable to cases where statutory rape is involved, but something along the lines of a 25+ year old with someone under 15 or 16.

Answer 9

You have asked a very controversial question and people are either for it or against it.

I used to be a Correctional Officer in a maximum security prison. I can tell you those men had no respect whatsoever for human life. Most think THEY are the victims and give plenty of reasons why they think so; most are just excuses.

The condemed criminal has much more offered to him than he/she gave to their victim(s).

For instance, did the killer ask his/her victim if they would like a final meal? To see their family one more time? If they would like appeals that would last for years?

The killer just killed and usually for so little. Sometimes it's a few dollars, sometimes after they forcibly raped someone and don't want to get identified.

These killers---you should hear the accounts of their crimes in the courtrooms. Some of the crimes are the most gruesome you could imagine.

They show no mercy. They get lawyers and claim insanity or some other excuse to have their lives spared. They get a final meal. They get some time to visit with their families one more time. They get notoriety. They sometimes even get book and movie deals.

The putting to death of a convicted murderer is 100% more humane than how they put their victim(s) to death.

I do not believe that we should spend millions of tax payers dollars keeping convicted murderers alive for the rest of their lives. They chose to kill someone knowing they could face the death penalty. If you remove the death penalty, what, if anything, would there be for punishment? What sort of deterrant would spending life in prison with television, books, movies, 3 square meals a day and so on be?

It sickens me to hear/read these bleeding heart liberals say the death penalty is cruel.

Wasn't their crime cruel? Do you think these criminals really care? You on the outside--in the FREE world--have no idea how little these people care about you. All they want is for you bleeding heart liberals to get the death penalty stopped so they won't have to die.

They don't want to die. AND neither did their victims.

If there is no evidence to support the possibility that they might be innocent...I say -- Kill Them! Let them make their peace with their maker, if they believe their is one.

The problem with today's society and many parents is that they don't teach:

If you do something against the law, immoral or unethical, there is a penalty to pay.

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

Nuff said.

Answer 10

Capital Punishment has never been acceptable. It has a very small effect on crime rates, its immoral to the point of lunacy and its a barbaric thing to do. Were modern humans in the 21st Century, no Vikings or Savages. The state has never had the right and never should have the right to take a persons life, whatever the crime.

Answer 11

Tricky question,
In the point of Punishment, incarceration wins,
In the point of Rehabilitation, incarceration wins,
in the point of Cost, Capital Punishment wins,
In the point of Deterrence Capital Punishment wins,
In the point of Morality incarceration wins,
In the point of Victim appeasement Both win.

I'd would have to say that a government using its power to murder people is morally wrong, In this case the government should be held to the same law the people are if it is wrong for an individual to murder without immediate threat to himself than it is wrong for a government to do so.