What do you think of instituting a more severe form of execution for heinous crimes?
The principle is, if the victim didn't get an open-casket funeral, neither does the murderer. This penalty would apply in extreme cases where there is no doubt, and extreme viciousness was involved (torture, mutilation etc.) The method would be a quick trial, and if recommended by the jury, the murderer would then be taken out to the prison yard in front of other inmates or the courthouse steps in front of everybody and shot in the head. I don't know if this would deter crime or not, but it certainly would for the person it was performed on. What do you think?
2006-10-12 17:17:06 · 12 answers · asked by e_thunderburd 1 in Social Science ➔ Other - Social Science
There are no studies indicating that having a death penalty
deters criminals, and several studies indicating that the money
spent on maintaining a death penalty case through appeals, etc
can be better spent on rehabilitation, drug programs, etc.
programs.
That is, millions more are spent by the state to put somebody
to death than to put a 20 year old in jail for life.
That is, the death penalty does society more harm then good.
If we were to get rid of this "better 10 guilty men go free than
one innocent man be penalized" concept behind American
Juris Prudence, then I suppose we could reduce the cost
of the death penalty ("Hey, he just looks guilty. Kill him!").
However, that introduces other kinds of lawlessness into
society that you probably want to avoid.
If we refuse to properly fund rehabilitation and prevention
programs, I think we should get rid of the death penalty
and bring back hard labor.
Our punitive system performs 4 functions:
1: Exacts retribution
2: Protects society from the criminal
3: Encourages him to not do it again
4: Protects the criminal from society
Clearly, American penal systems are failing on 2, 3 and even 4.
The best you can say is that victims might feel some sense
of "so there" if a guy will be committed to hard labor for the
rest of his life.
To die, even hideously, is getting off easy.
2006-10-12 17:26:59 · answer #1 · answered by Elana 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The US is one of the few countries left in the world that still sanctions the death penalty. Others have finally come to the conclusion that killing a person is murder, whether a heinous criminal does it, or the State does it. Another thing to think about is that it does cost more to execute someone than it does to imprison him or her for life with no parole. So, my opinion on your question is that we don't need a "more severe form of execution" at all...we need not murder anyone in the name of "justice" or the like.
2006-10-12 17:23:27 · answer #2 · answered by Jolly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fact from fiction, truth from diction. If society is to stoop to the level of the criminal they want to believe themselves much better than. why not do it(the execution)at high noon and in an arena. Charge tickets, and do a cable simulcast like PPV. then they can say they recouped some of the money spent to try and house him/her before whacking them. It might deter maybe 4% of the people, but no more. Those who plan to murder some one are not thinking I will plan the murder, do it, then I will just get caught. they all believe they will pull the perfect murder. the other just did so in a chemically induced haze, or a fit of passion. And you can never really deter something like that.
2006-10-15 21:47:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Listen, at some point, a society has to decide what kind of society it is. Is it ones that answers cruelty with cruelt, as if we're all just animals? There's a reason the founding fathers were against cruel and unusual punishment. It demeans us. It puts as at the level of the criminal and in fact, makes us no better, makes it so that the onyl reason we're "right" is because there's more of us than the one criminal.
If it were me, and my wife were murdered and the guy was caught, I might wanthm executed, I might not, but if so, I would want it to be as painless and quick as possible. Why? For him? No. Because my wife would not want me to make dealign with this guy the central focus of my life. She would want me to retain my humanity in spite of what's done to me. That's the hard part about being a civilized person but it's what it means.
2006-10-12 18:20:50 · answer #4 · answered by mark r 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you need to remember that the goal is not to unduly punish the family or other inmates - only to punish the criminal who committed the crime. Besides, there is nothing stricter than death. Making it more elaborate or gruesome only servces to punish others after the fact.
PS - Did you know that it is actually cheaper to sentence people to life in prison? It's because people who are sentenced to death row appeal the sentence so many times that it ends up costing more than it would have to support them for 100 years in jail. Crazy, huh?
I personally think that life in prison is a more appropriate punishment.
2006-10-12 17:20:44 · answer #5 · answered by fruitnroo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. I don't like the death penalty. Mistakes do happen. Did you know that in Illinois DNA tests showed 30 % of the people sentenced to die had not committed the crimes they were convicted of? You do NOT want innocent blood on your hands, the death penalty makes you no better than a murderer, and you do not want to explain that to God because He will not accept any excuses for killing people wrongly. And its too much power to put in the hands of Big Government. And it appeals to blood lust, and you can't appeal to blood lust without stimulating it. Please rethink your position. thanks.
2006-10-12 17:22:14 · answer #6 · answered by jxt299 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The death penalty is a bad idea since it is counter productive. This would be another 10 steps in the wrong direction.
2006-10-12 17:20:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Why? Death is death. I guess to throw someone in the ocean tied to a cinder blockwould be cheap, and thats always an issue. It costs too much to kill people.
2006-10-12 17:20:41 · answer #8 · answered by jaysangman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as part of my family was a victim resulting in death i was asking the same ? to myself . i wanted very bad thing to happen to the person that took from us . the hearing went bad they only gave her 15 years and i swore that i would exact revenge . as time went by she got out and i went to watch . her life is so miserable that i even felt bad for her but still angry at her . everyday she has to deal with herself i believe that is enough
2006-10-12 17:30:20 · answer #9 · answered by k dog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
death is death a mild death penalty is not much different from a harsh one
But you can always torture, to make the dying last if you want.
2006-10-12 17:19:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋