Capital Punishment. For or Against? Why?

Question

We have got more and more people going to prison. Sentances are getting softer so therefore many more people must be committing crimes and/or getting caught. Should merderers and persistent sexual offenders (rapists and peadophiles) be subject to capital punishment.

Based in England, UK.

Answer 1

Well, I think this is a tricky situation. I am not opposed to the death penalty, and I think that all murders, rapists, ad child molesters should get it.

However, while we are condemming them to death, we need to make more changes. No more cable TV in prisons. No more "decent" meals in prisons. These people are murders,and some of them are living better than they did at home!
They should not have ANY priveledges, ESPECIALLY a gym. Why are we making these criminals STRONGER????

Also, I like the Texas law they came up with a few years back. It says someone could be put to death quicker if there were 3 witnesses to the crime. This eliminated the killing af innocent men. If we do perform the death penalty, we need to make sure no innocent men are killed.

Whenever people point out all the "inncoent" people who have been put to death, they are usually not really innocent. Maybe they raped a woman, but did not kill her, so they are "not guilty" of that crime. Sure, there are some innocent people put to death, but I think that number is much, much smaller.

But it should be zero.

Also, capital punishment should be cheaper. Like that guy said, no more expensive chemicals. Use a rope. And do it in the middle of the city, where everyone can watch and learn from his example.

Answer 2

I am very much for capital punishment.

But none of this spending 20 years on death row and then killing them nonsense you get in America.

To those who are trotting out the "mistakes happened in the past" bit, just remember there have been numerous advances in forensic pathology in the past 50 years.

If it can be proved totally (not just beyond doubt, but actually 100% certain), then the death penalty should apply.

Paedophiles get off easily because they don't get charged with rape - and I dare anyone here to put it more diplomatic. That is exactly what they do - they rape children. But they get charged with Mickey Mouse offences like "sex with a minor" and "indecent assault".

If they are known paedophiles they will never cease to be a danger to children, which is why I think they should also face the death sentence.

When will this country stop treating the criminals better than those who suffer at their hands.

A rapist spends 4 years in prison (with 3 meals a day, TV, and all manner of other privileges), his victim has to live with that crime for the rest of their life.

Where is the justice. String him up by the bo!!ocks until the b@ast@rd stops breathing.

Answer 3

I am with redhead. Make prison a BAD place to go. It's a prison, not a resort. If the prisoners don't work, they don't eat. That's how it works for all of us out here, and how many of us have full health coverage that THEY do? Maybe they should learn to grow their own food. Get some appreciation for hard work and maybe get some pride in accomplishment. And poo on the cruel and unusual thing. If someone is in prison then they did something cruel and unusual. Make them work to pay restitution. Pedophiles that are guilty beyond all doubt should be in general population. The rest of the prisoners will take care of them. Lose the TV. Wanna keep up on current events? Read a paper. Call someone once a week. Maybe have ONE TV in the mess hall that gets the free stations that we do. Or just an educational/news station. Might as well learn something instead of watching sit-com reruns.

Or if people would just start acting as civilized as we all claim to be there wouldn't BE anymore crimes. HAHAHA!!! Like THAT will ever happen.

Answer 4

Here are the arguements against capital punishment (and their refutations):

1. Statistics show that capital punishment doesn't stop crime.

Refutation: Statistics are known as lies for a very good reason. If a rapist or child molester is dead, they don't commit crimes.

2. Sometimes innocents are executed.

Refutation 1: The defendent has every advantage in our court systems. They have the right to an attorney. They have the right to plead the fifth. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, not the defense. The people that judge them guilty is a jury of their peers. In capital cases, they have 5 automatic appeals and they only need to win ONE of them.

Refutation 2: You don't determine punishment based on the presumption of innocence, you determine punishment based on what should happen to the GUILTY.

3. Capital punishment unfairly targets minorities.

Refutation: No it doesn't. If the majority of capital crimes are committed by minorities, (which it is) than that is an indictment of our social structure, not our judicial structure. Our judicial system punishes the crime, not the race. The capital punishment racial ratios are almost exactly the capital crimes committed racial ratios. So the assignment of the dealth penalty is exactly proportional to crimes committed, not race.

Answer 5

Capital punishment doesn't work, statistics consistently demonstrate this, how much more proof do you want ?

Also, they often get it wrong and kill the wrong people.

If what you want is vengeance , then say so. It's not a very noble argument, but it is at least honest. I'm not a Christian myself, but if you are, then surely "vengeance is mine" saith the Lord. In other words, leave punishment to God.

What REALLY deters people from committing crime - and here come those boring old statistics again - is the fear of getting caught. Oddly enough, when bashing someone over the head/raping/dealing drugs the fear uppermost is not "what will they do to me?" but "what if they catch me?"

Statistics are the best scientific evidence we have, but if their conclusions don't concur with our emotions, it is very tempting to dismiss them.

I'm just as prejudiced as the next person, so here's my little bit of bigotry to add to the mix - is there a reason why those in favour of capital punishment can rarely spell ?

Answer 6

I would be against Capital punishment but not on humanitarian grounds. I think that murderers, sexual predators, repeat offenders, etc. should be put in jail for life. But not the kind of jails we see today with televisions and snooker tables, etc. Jail should mean hard backbreaking labour. It should be a punishment. I think a life sentence with no possibility of parole and working til you drop every day would be a bigger deterrent than Capital punishment. Maybe then would be criminals would think twice about offending when they see what kind of a grim life the prisoners have. Death row offenders just sit there a lot of the time doing nothing, having appeal after appeal and do gooders writing to them. What kind of punishment is that?

Answer 7

The death penalty should be used at the maximum penalty. Execution is biblical and has been used throughout history for a multitude of crimes.

For murder, attempted murder, rape, child molestation, drug dealing, drunk driving where a person is killed and forcible armed robbery. Should all be capital punishment offenses.

The defendant should be allowed 3 appeals within a 5 year period, if the appeals fail or they fail to apply in a timely manner. Hang them.

Hanging should be the method of execution, no bad chemicals, very little bio mess, and rope can be used over and over again.

Death penalty is not to be considered a deterrent, but as a punishment.

Answer 8

When someone is given the death penalty, I believe it should be carried out within a few days. Most of these offenders have recieved this sentence becuase of the viciousness of the crime.....like killing a child, molestation, murder with intent, violent crimes. They obviously didnt give the victim a choice, and I dont believe they should have one either. It costs us as taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars to keep them on death row. And for what...to kill them at a later date?...why wait?
It would solve a few problems......1) it would end the overpopulation of the prisons.
2) it would cost us less and money could go for other needs
and 3) we wouldnt have to worry about that person committing another violen offense.

Answer 9

Yes we should use capital punishment for the crimes you have stated.....especially those committed against kids.

Why do we have to keep these people alive when they have done such terrible things, they are of no use and I do not believe there is any way you can rehabilitate a sex offender.

Maybe if there was this in place they might think twice about doing it in the first place.....with such short sentences and goood behaviour ( of course child molesters are goo when there are no children around ) being let out early they are left to re-offend and destroy more lives!

I say kill them by whatever means necessary!

Answer 10

The punishment should fit the crime,so yes a life for a life.I don't think we should just kill the murders since we have the ability to transplant organs.Take the felon to a sterile facility & harvist as many lifesaving organs as possable so something more positive comes from doing away a killer. Putting a person in prison just puts a burdon on us all & many live to kill again.