Do you think we should abolish capital punishment ?

Question

Sometimes the court convicted innocent people. If they had been executed there is no chance of righting the wrong or legal system. Beside capital punishment is cruel and unusual. Most countries in the world abolished it long ago.

Answer 1

Here are some verifiable and sourced facts about the death penalty. I think that people should make up their minds only when they have the facts.

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. Many had already served over 2 decades on death row. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person. Once someone is executed the case is closed. If we execute an innocent person we are not likely to find that out and, also, the real criminal is still out there.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in no more than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure that the trial was in accord with constitutional standards, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court.

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: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

Re: Alternatives
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic.

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??

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 people who commit them. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning the facts and making up their minds using common sense, not revenge.

Answer 2

Yes I'm a firm believer that capital punishment should be abolished. Punishment should always have a reformative approach to it. Capital punishment means that soceity and the legal mechanism has failed drastically.
Especially the USA who always talks about human rights should be the first to abolish the capital punishment. The US kill more prisoners than any other developed country.

Answer 3

No; I believe there are people who commit acts so heinous that they give up their right to live. I believe society has no obligation to sustain the life of such a person by providing him with food, shelter, etc. Thus, I believe capital punishment is appropriate in some instances. I do, however, believe that it should be done in as humane a way possible, and I think that having audiences for it (beyond witnesses for legal purposes) is barbaric.

Answer 4

Centuries of development in Educational approach to reform humans has failed to reduce criminal tendencies as some of them are inborn and deeply ingrained in the nature of the individual.
Capital Punishment at least removes the offender from the society and protects the society from the crime being repeated by the same individual. Moreover the deterrent impact of capital punishment is good for the society.

Answer 5

capital punishment should be applied to only the most violent of criminals. That said, I mean, ones who kill for the fun of it, and brag about it. But, otherwise, a person who was convicted of a capital offense, and still maintains his innocence, and was convicted on flimsy evidence, that appears to be strong evidence, such as witnesses who lie, should not be executed.

Answer 6

I think we should expand it. For example, anyone who rapes women or children or commits any kind of crime that injures or kills another human being should be executed. Maybe that would reduce the population in our overcrowded prisons.

Answer 7

Capital punishment should not even be an issue. What would you do if someone killed your loved one? You would react! The government has taken away your right to react. My taxes pay for people to react for you. ex, arrest, prosecute, etc.. Someone killing your loved one is none of my business. People should be handling their own business and not looking for government or the people to resolve such issues for them. If someone killed my loved one for NO rhyme or Reason - I would handle my business...

Answer 8

NO, I think we should enforce capital punishment,
it's a joke, you can get away with murder and still get
3 hots and a cott all on our dime.

Answer 9

No..........but I do think we should abolish liberalism and socialism.......or is that too redundant?

Answer 10

NO never