The United States has one thing in common with dictatorships, it has the death penalty. Thoughts?

Question

All other western, democratic nations have abolished the death penalty.

Joshua, yes the United States mostly have fair trials and dicatorships more often does not. But that wasn't the point. The point was that the death penalty is unjust and evil and when it comes to the death penalty the US in principal has the same flawed sense of justice as dicatorships. Civilized nations have evolved passed the death penalty. It's not about being soft on criminals. A murderer deserves a harsh punishment. It's about being just. It should be a wake up call that the US has this thing in common with undemocratic dictatorships.

Answer 1

yeah we kill for a living

Answer 2

You wonder where some people get their ideas.

"dicatorships have low murder rates. other western, democratic nations do not."

How true is this? Well, I just checked and I see that by population, the United States has easily the highest murder rate of any G8 country. In fact, it overshadows the next highest by a factor of about two and a half times!

Another brilliant statement:

"That must be why everyone wants to come here."

America is like a great wh0re that a lot of people can't resist. It doesn't make it a great country, it makes it great wh0re house.

Answer 3

For the worst crimes, life without parole is better, for many reasons. I’m against the death penalty not because of sympathy for criminals but because it isn’t effective in reducing crime, prolongs the anguish of families of murder victims, costs a whole lot more than life in prison, and, worst of all, risks executions of innocent people. The worst thing about it. Errors: The system can make tragic mistakes. In 2004, the state of Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham for starting the fire that killed his children. The Texas Forensic Science Commission found that the arson testimony that led to his conviction was based on flawed science. As of today, 139 wrongly convicted people on death row have been exonerated. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often irrelevant (as in Willingham’s case) and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. Capital juries are dominated by people who favor the death penalty and are more likely to vote to convict. Keeping killers off the streets for good: Life without parole, on the books in most states, also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free, is no picnic. Two big advantages: -an innocent person serving life can be released from prison -life without parole costs less than the death penalty Costs, a surprise to many people: Study after study has found that the death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. Since the stakes are so high, the process is far more complex than for any other kind of criminal case. The largest costs come at the pre-trial and trial stages. These apply whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death. Crime reduction (deterrence): The death penalty doesn't keep us safer. Homicide rates for states that use the death penalty are consistently higher than for those that don’t. The most recent FBI data confirms this. For people without a conscience, fear of being caught is the best deterrent. Who gets it: The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. Practically everyone sentenced to death had to rely on an overworked public defender. How many people with money have been executed?? Victims: People assume that families of murder victims want the death penalty imposed. It isn't necessarily so. Some are against it on moral grounds. But even families who have supported it in principle have testified to the protracted and unavoidable damage that the death penalty process does to families like theirs and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative. It comes down to whether we should keep the death penalty for retribution or revenge in spite of its flaws and in spite of the huge toll it exacts on society.

Answer 4

Personally, I believe the death penalty should be abolished. Not because some people don't deserve it, but because the justice system is imperfect. We need some kind of system, problems or not, but I don't think we should be putting people to death. There is such a bias against African-Americans for instance. Many people on death row have been found innocent and later released. There are certainly innocent ones who were put to death by the state.

Answer 5

I wish the U.S. would abolish the death penalty. In Canada, where I'm from, we don't have it, and I live in fear of it getting approved again. With that said, as a social worker I sometimes work with victims of violent crime and I can understand why some people are in favour of it. It's a difficult issue. I believe that there are some people who deserve death after the horrible things they have done, yet I don't believe the state should kill them in cold blood (plus the fear of executing someone who was wrongfully convicted).

Answer 6

I'm not at all for the death penalty....and yet I disagree with your statement.

At least the USA gives the ones who get the death-penalty a fair trial. (or so I very much hope)
In a dictatorship they just kill you first, and then ask questions.

Answer 7

I believe we're # 4 in the world when it comes to executions -

1) People's Republic of China (and they're # 1 "with a bullet" - they kill about 1,000 people a year - they even have special trucks that drive from county jail to county jail killing people)

2) Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

3) Islamic Republic of Iran

4) United States of America

America is #1 in executing teenagers (China, Saudi Arabia and Iran DO NOT EXECUTE PEOPLE UNDER 18) and we're also # 1 in executing the mentally retarded (again, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran DO NOT EXECUTE THE MENTALLY DISTURBED)

Answer 8

Not all of the states have the death penalty and I wish they all did :)

Answer 9

That must be why everyone wants to come here.

Answer 10

dicatorships have low murder rates. other western, democratic nations do not.