Death penalty?

Question

What is your view on capital punishment?

Answer 1

Often times we use capital punishment (killing) to tell people it is wrong to commit certain crimes (like killing). I do not refuse to commit heinous crimes because the state will kill me. I refuse to commit those crimes because that is not who I am. It is only an earnest inner choice that can effectively deter crime. Think about it: When a man is committing a crime that is horrible enough to merit capital punishment (such as murder), he knows at the time that he might be killed in the act of committing the crime itself. If you try to kill someone, they will certainly try to kill you first. Apparently, the man who would commit such a crime doesn't care about living, if he was willing to risk his life to commit it. Death is no punishment to the man who does not fear death.

Answer 2

Support it. I think it's a must for serious criminals including terrorists. Child rapists get years in prison and often get out, where is the justice in that? When you violate the right of someone to live, then why should the court pity you? Ted Bundy, the first time he was caught he wasn't sentenced to death. However, he escaped and during that time as a fugitive he raped and murdered a 13-yeard old girl. This prompted the court to give him the death penalty. He was a threat. People that are against the death penalty are usually soft on crime. I support it.

Answer 3

First of all, a law should have no exceptions and it should be applied to all equally in order that it be just and fair.

We know how politicians lie and cheat and steal and rarely get punished, so that ends that.

Insofar as Capital Punishment, I'm firmly against it since there are more minority members sitting on death row throughout the nation than Whites who are the majority in this nation; something tells me that they did not receive the same justice that Whites get for the same crimes. I question the fairness and the system that finds so many minority members guilty of the same offenses Whites and influential people get away with.

Secondly, the fact that about 100 death row and lifers have been released as a result of the new DNA technology after they were found guilty by a jury of their peers tells me that our current system, while we like to believe it is the best in the world, is nonetheless greatly flawed; had these prisoners been executioned...?

And, how many innocent people have been executioned we'll never know since all investigations stop once the prisoner is executioned. Whenever an innocent person is incarcerated or executioned, it means that there's a guilty criminal out in the streets committing other crimes against us.

Police officers lie, unscrupulous Prosecutors often hide exculpatory evidence and too often witnesses commit mistakes in identifying people of other races (other than their own) and too often witnesses lie or are cajoled into lying (for whatever reason) and are also honestly mistaken. Sometimes unpopular individuals are wrongly accused... and found guilty!

Laws must be applied to all equally. There must not be any exceptions, otherwise it is not just. Any law that is unjust is not a law but an excuse to incarcerate or take the life of others; dictators use unjust laws against their enemies.

IF a law applies for a priest or rabbi or iman, it should likewise apply for a most hated individual, too. Law should not be vindictive but just. Laws should seek justice not vengeance lest they be abused by those in power or with influence, which can also be used against the innocent and undeserving or any one of us should we fall out of favor with the powers that be.

Once an innocent person is executioned, they cannot be released if new evidence finds he/she was innocent and wrongly convicted, and the law should be applied to all equally, which at present is NOT.

I do believe, however, that serial killers, repeat rapists and child murderers and child molesters should not be allowed back into society; they should remain in prison and forced to work for their keep, just like those that commit drug-related crimes for the rest of their natural lives; these are predators that do not belong in society. Those that take their predatory lifestyles into the prison and pose a threat to the officers and other prison employees and other prisoners should remain in isolation for the remainder of their lives. If they cannot live with others, then they should live in isolation.

ALL prisoners should be forced to learn skills like shoe-making, carpentry, tailoring, and other manual skills; they should be forced to make products that the USA can give to the poor, elderly, children and disabled in Africa, Haiti and other countries that need clothes and footwear. They should learn skills that will help them find jobs when they're released. They should learn skills that will enable them to find employment and feel proud of; that should be part of the presently non-existent rehabilitation!

Answer 4

I am a advocate of the death penalty, I also think that it should be in public view so that all of the other would be criminals have a deterrent, I know that it sounds barbaric, but if it deters nut cases wouldn't it be worth it to protect the innocent, as long as you can prove that they are guilty, and now we have allot of different ways to do that accurately.

To all of the people that believe the answer is just to build more prisons, who do you think will have to pay for these country clubs, the criminals? And if they are not going to be put to sleep, why don't we make the prison system self sustaining, and stop giving the free loaders a free ride, make them work for their food for a change, don't we have too?

Genesis 9:6 "...Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man..."

Answer 5

I`m all for the death penalty.. Why should a "killer" live the good life behind bars when their victims are in a grave? I`m pretty sure that the families of "victims" feel the same way.

Answer 6

Ever watch the Life of David Gale?

I think they should spend the rest of their lives thinking about what they did in prison.

But I think they should have to work. We need highways built and worked on. They might not be able to be trusted with a bulldozer, but shackled they can still dig with a shovel or use a pick. If taxpayers are housing them, feeding them and giving them medical attention they should have to cover those cost somehow. I don't even have health insurance. And FORGET college classes for them. They are not getting out anyway.

Answer 7

definitely for it. People aren't scared to go to prison anymore, maybe they would be scared to die if they knew the chance was higher. They obviously have no compassion for life and don't appreciate their own enough. I have yet to hear a good argument against the death penalty. Some people cannot be rehabilitated. Even some of the worst have admitted they don't deserve to live. While we shouldn't take the law into our own hands, I believe the law is there for protection.

Answer 8

I'm all for it, If we took action against peoples crimes like child molesters, rapist and murderers these crimes would drop just as if we took a stronger stand on all crimes, this country has become a country of sympathy which in turn is making crime rates rise, if John Doe knows he can kill someone and get 20yrs for doing it, why not do it, He'll go to prison, get GREAT health care at the tax payers expense, and get out in 10 to 15yrs, Most convicts DO NOT pull full terms they get out early, is this what we call justice, I also agree with another poster, do it publicly to deter others with the same thought from doing it.

Answer 9

Depends on the definition of capital. People don't fear death anymore, they fear PAIN. I say we go back to public hangings, or maybe bury them in an ant mound with honey overhead. It is not coincidence that the lowest level of crime in the US was also the period when hangings were the most common.

Answer 10

I do not believe it can be justified, if only from the point that absolute proof of guilt is simply impossible- mistaken identity can happen even in the most ludicrous of situations, and an innocent losing a life simply is not acceptable when there are perfectly good alternatives.

Also, from a moral viewpoint, I feel it is the duty of society to attempt rehabilitation of those who for some reason have acted outside it's bounds.