what do you think the single strongest argument for and against capital punishment is and why?
2006-10-11 11:25:29 · 11 answers · asked by Jaime 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
If I could only offer a single reason as to why capital punishment is wrong it would be that we are committing the same sin as the transgressor we are putting to death. How can the justice system prohibit murder, when it is intentionally involved in murderous actions? That smacks of hypocrisy. The justice system loses its moral authority once it is guilty of the same actions as those it tries to prosecute. Justice and revenge are not synonymous.
There are plenty of other reasons to oppose the death penalty, but since you only asked for one, what I stated above I feel to be the most convincing reason.
2006-10-11 11:33:30 · answer #1 · answered by Lawrence Louis 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The question "how many innocent people is it OK to murder?" since it's irrevocable, and a lot of people on death row or already dead were framed.
IF we made some attempt to convict the right people, and IF it weren't applied inconsistently, then my strongest argument would be that it is barbaric and disgusting, and that since we would like to consider ourselves civilized, we shouldn't do it.
If we didn't kill these people, but instead studied how to awaken conscience in them it would be better for everyone -- they would realize and regret their actions (yet have to live with them for the rest of their lives), we would have learned much of value from them, including how they might have been stopped before they killed.
PS to the answer above mine. Turns out that when murderers are put to death, the family does NOT experience closure or peace. Before the fact they THINK they will, but they don't.
2006-10-11 20:04:05 · answer #2 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You know I used to believe in capital punishment, until one of the lawyers for O.J. started a group with college kids, to find DNA to prove some of the old cases that the man in prison was not really guilty. I know don't believe in capital punishment.
I believe that if someone killed someone is best to live him rut in jail till the end of his life, so that he can think every day of what he did. He will look out the window and see where they will bury him if he has no family.
And if he is not guilty someone might come by and save him from his torture.
2006-10-11 18:37:09 · answer #3 · answered by Boricua Born 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One argument against it is although DNA evidence is now possible if you were convicted BEFORE DNA existed, most appellate courts won't let you introduce the new DNA evidence. Some men have been put to death simply because the appellate judge refused to allow the prisoner to have a DNA test done. Public defenders can't afford the tests, so they have to ask the state to perform it and the state refuses. So a man who MIGHT be innocent is sent to death b/c he was unlucky and was found guilty before DNA testing existed. :(
2006-10-11 18:51:50 · answer #4 · answered by brsug15 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
capital punishment should only be used if there is is 100% forensic evidence. if a jury decides he or she is guilty, with nothing other than witnesses capital punishment should not even be considered. what if the person did not commit the crime and the witnesses are lying?
2006-10-15 14:46:10 · answer #5 · answered by luca m 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Unlike Jesus, we can't raise the dead. Over 100 men have been found innocent while on death row, after DNA tests (not available at the time of their trial) showed they could not have committed the crime. How can society justify killing even one innocent man?
The other major argument is cost. Because of the complex appeals procedure and extra burden put on the state in a capital trial, it actually costs more in manpower and court time to convict someone and get them to the lethal injection than it does to keep them in jail for 40 years.
So on both moral and financial grounds, I'm against it.
2006-10-11 18:31:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
There is only one argument against it. Wrongful conviction. But that argument is fading fast as DNA evidence proves guilt. I say we don't need electric chairs, more like electric bleachers.
2006-10-11 18:31:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
In support of being "For" capital punishment. I say the most convincing argument is that prisons are over crowded.
Yep, thats right. We got no place to put em, so put em to death.
J/K :D
I am in support of it because I put myself in the shoes of the murder victim's family member. Let's say someone killed my wife, I'd want them dead, as soon as possible. God save their soul, because I'm not gonna.
2006-10-11 18:32:51 · answer #8 · answered by Clark W Griswold 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
For me if someone killed some one that i care about the only comfort that could be given to me is to know that the guilty party is no longer on this earth.
2006-10-11 19:22:27 · answer #9 · answered by mark a 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think its that people still want to be able to sleep at night.
2006-10-11 18:35:37 · answer #10 · answered by wisewomaninthewest 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋