LET US MAKE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT HISTORY: Your views and comments, please.?

Question

The recent barbaric executions of Saddam Hussein and his two co-accused once again brings to the fore the issue of "Man's inhumanity to man". The Vatican sums it up neatly when she says in the quest for pardon for the condemned men: "Two wrongs do not make one right". But Al-Maliki sees things differently and even has the guts to defend his ghastly action when the head of one of the hanged men was decapitated in the process by saying that the gallows used were "built to international standards approved by the Human Rights Organisation". Which human rights organisation will be so daft as to pre-occupy itself with the contruction of gallows when its only task should be the preservation of human lives. Irrespective of the method used: decapitation, hanging, lethal injection, electrocution, firing squad ... it is a practice unbecoming of our 21st century civilization. Let therefore all progressive countries expunge it from their statute books and make it history.

Answer 1

A couple of your answers have serious mistakes. I would like to clear these up.

Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than lifetime incarceration. (New York State statistics- 7 people sentenced to death since 1995, cost over 200 million dollars. None had more than one appeal, 3 had not yet had any. Annual cost to incarcerate someone in NY $35,000. Do the math.)

Re: DNA
DNA evidence is available in no more than 20% of all murder cases. It is no guarantee that we will never execute an innocent person. It is human nature to make mistakes.

Re: speed
If we speed the process we are bound to execute an innocent person.

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty is not a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. Moreover, people who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Re: Alternatives
More and more states have life without parole on the books. Life without parole means what it says and is no picnic.

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty is not reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
People should know that the death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media. Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Last of all, opposing the death penalty does not mean a person condones brutal crimes or excuses the people who commit them. I believe that people should make up their minds on the death penalty using verifiable facts. People should make up their minds using common sense not revenge.

Answer 2

This is always a touchy subject for some. I realize that there have been some innocent people put to death because of mistaken identity, etc. With that being said, I still believe in the death penalty. And with the ridiculous humane way they do it now.......what would be the shock factor? They are injected with medication and put to sleep just like an animal at a Vet's Office. Big deal! The victims suffered far more I'm sure. No my views would not change. Anyone that is capable of committing any kind of heinous crime that would put them on death row should suffer just as much as their victim/victims did. Did anyone feel sorry or change their views of Saddam when they saw that footage?? And what does being a Democrat or Republican have to do with anything? I don't vote for any certain Political Party, and who I vote for or don't vote for has nothing to do with how I feel about the death penalty. I have a brain and form my own beliefs and opinions.

Answer 3

Ah, this will be an unending argument for all time. Reason is this is an issue of 'priorities'. Much like the arguments of where to balance freedom and security, this is one of the balance between efficiency and humanity.

If you feel humanity is the highest priority, then it is imperative to spend any and all resources on rehabilitation, and in worst case scenarios, humane incarceration.
If you feel effective crime control is more important, than it behooves society to eliminate incorrigibles in the most effective and efficient manner possible (i.e. swift execution).

Where the true balance lies will forever be debated because priorities can, do, and should change over time.

Personally, I believe that (given a reliable justice system) society holds little responsibility to allocate vital resources to those who abuse us. Eliminate them. It is not a matter of vengeance or punishment, just simply elimination.

Answer 4

if we as a people are too civilized to inflict the death penalty upon people that were too uncivilized to care about their own people, then may I ask what you suggest we do with them then? Keep them in prison ? Who pays for the prisons these people sit in ? They enjoy three meals a day, television, "yard" time, visits with family and friends, etc. what about the family and friends of the people they had a hand in killing? They have to pay for these people to continue on with a not so bad life behind bars. Is it civilized to let child rapists and murderers sit behind bars for life, when their victims parents have lost their child? I say we let the families of the victims have some "alone" time with these people. No, two wrongs don't make a right. If you push me, I'll walk away. If you hurt my family... I'll hunt you down and you don't want to know what I'll do.. You will beg for the death penalty.... I could care less if they hang them, decapitate them, lethal injection, whatever it takes. They don't deserve to breathe anyway.

Answer 5

Due to the stifling amounts of monies it takes to house a prisoner for life and the way our Gov't is fixated on prosecuting cheesy crimes for monetary gain--I like the eye for an eye theory of Capital Crimes as long as they are proven to be pre-meditated. If there are witnesses to that fact--immediate execution should be carried out. Throwing some in a cage for the rest of their life really serves no ones better interest considering the costs(housing, legal sector) which are paid out to produce nothing.

The killing off of deposed leaders so that they die along with their knowlege of our current leaders illegal activities---that's a whole nother animal.

Answer 6

I agree with you, the hangings were really barbaric, I do not know how a human can stand by and do this to a fellow human being, but for all those child murderers and rapists, they cannot go unpunished, in the UK they are treated too softly and it seems the victims are the ones who are left suffering.

Answer 7

Retain capital punishment. Make death by lethal injection the only legal form of execution and eliminated the other forms.

Those opposed to capital punishment say it isn't a deterrent. I'll refer to the standard reply...it just deterrent the last guy that was executed.

Answer 8

I don't think Saddam's execution is any reason to discuss ending capital punishment. We don't hang people in the US. Due to DNA executing an innocent person won't be a problem anymore.

Answer 9

$40 -80 thousand dollars per year to keep a prisoner. $12,000 per year to educate a student $10,000 per year to feed a child. I vote to kill the prisoner (45 cents for a bullet) and educate and feed the kids. The death penalty guarantees NO REPEAT OFFENDERS

Answer 10

No. I'm tired of my tax dollars keeping these creeps alive on death row for 20 years! I say hang them NOW!!