If the death penalty is in place in your state do you support it??

Answer 1

There is a moratorium in my state. But people are coming to oppose the death penalty for practical reasons. These are based on verifiable facts. (Some of the answers you got are wrong on the facts.)

Here are a few of the facts.

Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. Extra costs begin even before the trial. (You got a wrong answer on this.)

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person. (One answer prefers that we take the chance.)

Re: DNA
DNA evidence is available in no more than 10% of all murder cases. It is no guarantee that we will never execute an innocent person. It is human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty isn’t 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
48 states now have life without parole on the books. Life without parole means what it says. Being locked up in a tiny cell, 23 hours a day, with nothing to look forward to, is no picnic. (One wrong answer you got thinks that life in prison is pleasant.)

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t 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?? (You got another wrong answer on this one.)

Re: Victims families
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.

Opposing the death penalty doesn't mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse the people who commit them. People should make up their minds using common sense based on solid facts, not revenge.

Answer 2

You bet your bippy I do. I worked in a federal prison for two years, and I can tell you that incarceration is not enough. I don't care if the death penalty is a deterrent. In The Joint, a death sentence carries prestige. You are not to be messed with by inmates or staff. We take too long to execute. The average waiting time is over ten years, nationwide. In the British Commonwealth, public executions are the rule. People dress up for a hanging. I was in Bermuda when they were hanging a man for the first murder on the island in four years. If we ever go four days it'l be a record. But, I digress. Men in prison with death sentences have nothing to lose, and nothing is to be feared more than a man with nothing to lose, (It's like, "Never fight an ugly man."). I had a shank pulled on me by a death row inmate. Penalty - they took away the shank. I was bent over backwards on a third floor tier by a death row inmate and told that he was going to let me live because he liked me. The message was clear. He was in control. Why you ask was I in such a vulnerable position with these inmates? I was the prison physician and for reasons that make no sense, we are routinely put into one on one situations with these men, (same applies to preists). It costs the state 40 to50 K / year to house these dead men walking. The things they do in prison, you would not believe - and why not? Go ahead and end it for these people. Prison would be a safer place and then,; who knows - rehabilitation might start to happen.

Answer 3

The death penalty isn't a deterrent to crime. People who commit felony crimes for which the death penalty is punishment aren't frightened of the prospect of death. The death penalty is also gender, economically and racially bias in its application.

Prison general population 'takes care' of those outside the 'norm' i.e.: child predators, rapists and serial killers. The life expectancy of that sort is very limited upon release into the general population.

I say bring back the chain gang. Make prisons grow their own foodstuffs. Make the prisons self sufficient. Prison alone used to be a deterrent to crime. Anymore, it is just 3 straights, unlimited tv and a chance at an education.

Answer 4

Well now. The death penalty is in place here but we all know that it is never used on an equal footing. I am white but I can assure you that the death penalty doesn't fit my profile as it would a black. Therefore I have to say that for now I am againest the death penalty unless it's for killing a child or molesting a child.Also, we spend billions each year keeping people on death row for 16 to 20 years waiting to execute them. Too long if they are really guilty. And lately, here has been a rash of people found not guilty after many years waiting to be executed. It's a hard call.

Answer 5

Yes it is. I do not believe the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. I think those that do have far to much time on their hands. If a person kills another, their life is forfeit. Remember the victim had just as much right to their life,and did not have a battery of lawyers at their disposal to protect them from their killer. Although we are not certain if we are right in taking the life of a murderer, we do know that once executed this person will not murder again.

Answer 6

For many different reasons, I do not agree with the death penalty. For starters, it is rather arbitrarily handed out depending on your race, socioeconomic status or how good a lawyer you can afford. Once carried out, a death sentence cannot be overturned. Better than a 100 murderers go free before executing one innocent person.

A civilized society does not carry out state sponsored murder. Besides, it still hasn't been proved to be a deterrent.

Answer 7

I believe the death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst. But we have so many people who can be considered the worst of the worst in America and everybody's definition of "worst" varies from person to person. Basically, however, I don't have much sympathy for terrorists, child murderers or serial killers and I don't think most people in my state do either.

Answer 8

My state employs the death penalty, and I would only support it in instances where an actual witness to the crime would be the executioner.

If the prisoner were to be somehow exonerated after his execution, the guy who pulled the lever would have to be executed in turn.


Juries are too easily persuaded to convict the wrong person, as we have seen time and time again.

Answer 9

Yes my state has the death penalty and I support it!!! Why should taxpayers have to pay for child molesters,rapists and murderers to lounge around watching cable TV,reading magazines,getting fed and not having to pay bills, some law abiding people on the outside don't even have it that good. I can't understand why others don't believe in it, why let someone who molests your child or kills a family member have any rights to a life? I bet if this happened to someone they knew they would change their minds. A family member of mine was murdered in front of his wife-he was only 29 and he never got to see his children grow up while his murderer is having a pretty good life in prison, it happened in a state that does not have the death penalty and it makes me ill.

Answer 10

It depends on the circumstances and the crime, if there is any possible way that the person convicted did not do it than, no, they shouldn't be put to death. If there is DNA evidence proving that the person did it than, yes, they should be. It should only be applied for violent crimes of course.