Death Penalty?

Question

The two most important arguments for death penalty are:

F1) It is a strong deterrent
F2) It is essential for retribution

The two most important arguments against death penalty are:
A1) It is not a good deterrent
A2) The law might be objective, but its implementation is very subjective. Once life is taken a subjective error cannot be corrected.

Sorry, I cannot include any religious arguments

I strongly agree with F1 and F2. But A2 is true. In my opinion A2 trumps both F1 and F2 - so I am against it.

Your thoughts?

Argument for Public Safety:

This seems very appealing at first, but has flaws

This makes the assumption the person convicted is predisposed to the crime - given a chance to mingle with the rest of the society, he will comiit the crime again. This is something that cannot be validated at all! No scientific technique exists that will give us this information about this person.

Answer 1

death penalty should b leagal everyhwhre....criminals shoudnt deserve to live

Answer 2

In my opinion you are on the right track there is more that needs to be pointed out with A2... its not only after death but after the statute of limitations has run out... there are documented cases where a person was able to prove their innocence after the statute had run out so they still were executed... the most common place for that to happen is in Texas (that is most likely due to the higher number of executions being done there, but im not positive)

My term paper is packed in a box somewhere or I would give you an awesome works cited to help you out. I know that amnesty international has a lot of sites listed that could help for the in and out of the US.

I have found one of the biggest flaws with F1 & F2 is the simple fact some people don't care it they live or die, they lack a certain consciecness...

Hope I helped.

Have a GREAT day!

wow I just went back and read some of the answers and find it frightening! In actuallity it costs more to execute someone then keep them alive, I have done the research on this, makes me want to run and grab that paper I wrote...also more people that are innocent then guilty die! I fear for the ignorance!

Answer 3

My husband has been in federal prison for 26 years, and we both believe in the death penalty.

I don't think the death penalty is a deterrent, however. People who are capable of killing will kill. The controls are not in place, so they are not intimidated by what might happen to them later. For them, it's all about now and of course no one ever expects to get caught. Therefore, I believe A-1 is true.

A-2 is also true. Abuse of power, politics, inept representation, inept bureaucrats---the U.S. Parole Board CREATED a murder and put it in my husband's file, from pure carelessness in paperwork absolving him of another crime, and we have spent the last four years trying to undo it.
I have seen this bureaucratic stupidity over and over, and hate to think of all the people who died years ago before we did have an appeals process. THAT's the scary part about insisting on the death penalty.

I do think there are groups of offenders who are not worthy of being supported indefinitely on our tax dollars, and those are pedophiles and sexual predators. Perhaps that is retribution, in a political sense, or maybe it's just good sense. Surely children rate special protection, and again the death penalty is NOT a deterrent. These people will behave the way they choose and risk everything for a chance to harm a child. They are the main reason my husband and I believe the death penalty does provide a service.

Thank you for letting me add my two cents in.

Answer 4

It is the law for some crimes, and not carried out nearly soon enough after the appeal. Also, I thought that the main objective is to rid the society of a really dangerous person. This certainly prevents his escape or release from prison later, to be a danger to the rest of us. Also, if you don't think that this has a strong deterrent effect, the next time you feel like "killing someone", don't you think, "Gee, I'd fry for that, so I'll not do it!" Or, do you think, "I'll strap a bomb on my waist and go blow us BOTH to Hell"? It amounts to the same ending for you, but I don't think you would do so, unless you are nuts. Peace.

Answer 5

I'm against the death penalty. Too many innocent people have been convicted in this country. Too many innocent people have been put to death in this country by the states. Who is anyone to decide the value of one's life or make a decision whether or not someone dies. Even if that person took it upon themselves to take a life does not give anyone the "right" to do the same thing to them. No one has the right to play God.

Answer 6

Well, the smart aleck answer to A1 is: It deters them from ever doing it again.

No one knows the answers fully, and each case should be treated individually. Death Penalty cases are very biased for many reasons. The victims usually are on the side of getting the perpetrator fried, and the ACLU and other organizations are against the penalty in all cases.

Just do what YOU feel is right. If that is against the penalty, be against it. If you are for it, endorse it.

That is the beauty of the U.S. We can express our opinions with each other. We don't always have to agree.

Answer 7

usually nobody gets a death sentence if they didn't cause the death of others, and i think they deserve to sxperience death first hand after all the suffering that they caused. by the way, A2 counts for that. so F1 and F2 are still true.

Answer 8

You left out that capital punishment saves the taxpayers money, relieves prison overcrowding and PREVENTS the person from committing ANY other offense. Death is a bit permanent.

Answer 9

You forgot that it also costs less to execute someone than to try to rehabilitate them, and most rehabilitation efforts fail. I believe any and all career criminals should be executed. They are not going to change and it is a waste of money to keep them living in jail.
I do not think it is ESSENTIAL for retrubution, I do think it is a good method for retribution.
Also, it is less than 2% of cases where the criminal is found innocent after thier death, with odds like that, it is worth it.
Yea, so I'm pro-death penalty.

Answer 10

though appears to be a barbaric act it should be there in te statute book
to discourage violence and all destructive forces