Is the death penalty really worth it?

Question

If we did an Eye for anEye the world would go blind should it be banned the world over? i think so what do you? Two wrongs dont make a right!

And is the exocutioner nothing more than a cold harted killer how do they sleep at night??

and yes i realise spelling is a bit out

Answer 1

You should ask the victims relatives!
When your daughter gets raped and murdered you can ask yourself this question!

Answer 2

A couple of your answers have mistakes. I would like to clear these up. This issue should be decided on the basis of verifiable facts, and not on revenge.

One of the most interesting things to look at is the effect of the death penalty on families of murder victims. It can be very hard on them. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media.

Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. It means what it says, is sure and 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. It is far from a picnic to be locked up in a tiny cell, forever, for 23 hours a day.

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: 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: 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: 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??

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

Answer 3

Two wrongs won't put it right,but if you have ever had to tell some mother or father that their child has been murdered and before death were indecently assaulted you would soon say hang them.Many years a ago I with a number of other detective were given a lecture by one of the senior detectives on the hindly &brady case ,we listened to the un edited version of the tape,believe me it brings a frog to your throat.The detective giving the lecture sheds tears. I would feel happy at executing these people.On the same course we were subject to a lecture from social services,the lady put a question to us "did we believe in capital punishment no discussions" All but one hand went up,this lady was horrified.A voice from the back shouted if you hang em they can't do it again.we were all repoerted for our attitudes. How do you differ between murder and the polititions who send out people to kill other and some of which are innocent.

Answer 4

These questions are regular in this forum, and the only reason I keep answering them is because no-one has yet come up with a satisfactory answer to the questions following this statement:

Justice is administered by people. People, being human, make mistakes. No matter what levels of "proof" are invoked, mistakes happen, and innocent people are found guilty of the crimes you want punished by the death penalty, "beyond any reasonable doubt".

So:

When you get it wrong, and you will, how do you apologise to the person whose life you have, "justifiably" taken?
How do you re-instate the wrongly convicted person to his pre-conviction status once he's/she's in his/her grave?
How do you apologise to the family and friends of the person you got it wrong about?
Will you be willing to go to the home of the wrongly convicted person yourself to explain to his/her spouse and children that "we are sorry, but sometimes we get it wrong"?

If you can provide convincing answers to those questions, then perhaps I can have the peace of knowing I shan't have to answer such silliness in the future. If killing is, rightly, condemmed by the state, then the state has no right to kill its citizens.

(Sorry, I know you're not proposing the death penalty, I'm really supporting your view, and trying to answer some of the short sighted people in your responses section)

Answer 5

I'm sure if I were the family member of a victim, I would want revenge. The problem is that revenge isn't mine to take. Also, this justice system of ours hasn't proved to be fail proof. Look how many innocent people have been released from jail based on new DNA evidence. I can't live with the idea of sending even one innocent person to the electric chair. Besides, I tend to think having to spend the rest of your life in prison is a far worse punishment than death.

Answer 6

i think it might be more worth it to parents, and sons , and daughters, and wife's, and sisters, etc. of the people that the person that is being executed killed , or did what ever to. if we did not have a death penalty would people maybe try to execute these people them self's, and check this out in parts of Asia drug trafficking is punishable by death. if you get caught with drugs you die, sure they have there problems over there, but you don't have the tweeker meth. people with sores all over there bodies running around, or people cooking it as much. because if they get caught yes they die. and its not about two wrongs making a right. its about getting rid of a person that doesn't care about you are your feelings, and will not change, some one that just must hate other people so they kill them, its like war son you have the bad guys and the good guys if you don't kill them first they will kill you, i would rather see these people dead and under ground, that way i no i am safe , and my family's safe. and yes the person that does the execution is a special person. and i feel for him more than the people that he is getting rid of. its worth it. good ?

Answer 7

the death penalty in the US is not worth it at all. It just cost the tax payers a lot of money for appeals and taking care of someone for a very long time before the sentence is carried out, if it even gets carried out.
But in general I don't believe in the death penalty. If you take a life, you should spend the rest of yours in prison, working it off. No parole unless it was incidental or some kind of extreme situation or cause.

Answer 8

This is a three part answer.
1. History shows quite clearly that harsh punishment does not stop crime. Quite the reverse, the harsher the penalties, generally, the higher the crime rate. So the death penalty doesn't work.
Again, history shows that retribution is self feeding. If I take revenge on you then your family and friends will take revenge on me and so on. . .
2. If we say, and we certainly do, that killing is wrong; then killing is wrong. Full stop. It's no good governments saying 'Oh it's OK to kill if we say so'. Stalin said that. So did Idi Amin and Sadam Hussein. So does George Bush. No, killing is wrong!
So if you have amurderer and you say, 'Hang him.' Who is to do the hanging?
You are asking the executioner to do what we have all agreed is wrong, and that is to kill someone.
3. If you have put someone in gaol and then discover that he was innocent, you can let him go. But if you have hanged him. . .
So no! No legalised killing for me.

Answer 9

The major valid arguments against the death penalty are:
1. Occasionally innocent people may be executed.
2. High cost.

Since Criminal Science and Police methods are constantly improving, the chances of executing an innocent are dramatically decreasing. The second needs to be balanced against the cost of keeping someone incarcerated for their lifetime.

Proven violent criminals should not be able to get out of prison only to repeat their crimes.

Answer 10

YES IT IS, there should be harsh penalties for crimes such as murder rape and paedophilia. I disagree that this would be an eye for an eye, as the penalty for perpetrating such crimes would be clear to the offender from the outset. An eye for an eye refers to revenge and vigilantism, say you rape my sister then i take the law in to my own hands and rape you then sure that would substantiate the blind world, fortunately we have legal system to ensure that moral decisions are judged fairly and punished in a suitable manner, in the case of re offending perverts and murderers i see no reason why we should no string them up. i live in accordance to the law and it is pretty easy so why do other people feel that they can break the law that is established to protect other innocent people.

Answer 11

The death penalty and other forms of punishment, has proven to be a legitimate deterrent to crime since the beginning of time. Fear of pain, death and other bad things happening to you is what keeps you following a straighter path in life. Fear of pain keeps most people from doing things that cause pain. The fear of being shot, stabbed or beaten causes you to consent to the demands of a person robbing you. It is a natural law to which we all subscribe to varying degrees.