what do you think about capitol punishment?

Question

i believe in it.

Answer 1

For.

Answer 2

The death penalty as currently applied in the US (both the state and federal practice) is racially discriminatory, economically insolvent, and constitutionally invalid. The US Supreme Court has considered several studies that demonstrate to a mathematical certainty that the practice is racially discriminatory. Specifically, the studies show that if a defendant kills someone who is White -- no matter what the ethnicity of the defendant -- that person is substantially more likely to be charged as a capital offender than if the defendant kills someone who is Black, Latino, or Asian. That basically means that the law thinks the life of someone White is more valuable than someone of any other ethnicity. Further, regardless of the ethnicity of the victim, if the defendant is an ethnic minority, s/he is statistically more likely to be charged as a capital offender. That means the law holds People of Color to a higher standard in criminal sentencing than their White counterparts.

Even if the death penalty were not racially discriminatory, there is a clear track record that demonstrates being poor makes it more likely that you will be sentenced to death. Some have suggested that this is because public defenders are not as good as private attorneys. This is far from the case. The issue is the depth of resources to investigate and challenge the government's case. public defenders rely on the permission and support of the court/government to investigate and gather experts. The private defense attorney can just BUY the approach, information, or specialized theory they need. For example, do you think OJ could have had a SPATTER expert if he had been poor? NO WAY.

Finally, and this should be of particular concern to the responder from Texas, we the people sometimes get it wrong. In Texas, considering how many people they have killed overall, they have probably put to death at least a dozen people who were actually innocent. The Dallas DA is so concerned about this trend that he has turned over his files for the last 30 years to an Innocence Project for investigation. The governor of Il. was so concerned, he cleared out the row by pardoning or commuting the sentence of everyone there because he had so many exoneration in his state. Even Jeb Bush in Florida has called a halt to executions in his state due to concerns of cruelty in executing the condemned.

And before we start down the line of "they killed someone, they should suffer", the Constitution specifically prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and the Supreme Crt understands that to include unnecessarily painful death.

It should stop. And we should be ashamed that we are the only Western country to practice it as broadly as we do.

Answer 3

A lot of people argue against it, they say that the death penalty really isn't a deterrent for crime.

Well the way it is handled today I do have to agree. We have to wait until the so called guilty has exhausted all appeals. In the mean time we house and feed him. We educate him in the law to slow the process down. We provide all of the free help and lawyers that the taxpayer can afford. I would suspect that a good number of death row inmates die from old age while waiting.

How about a couple of suggestions. If found guilty sentence must be carried out within 60 days.
If we provide free help and lawyers for the inmate, we do the same for the victim.

Call it a deterrent or not, I do know that if the sentence is carried out I will guarantee that he never commits another crime.

Answer 4

I think everyone in the capitol should be punished, starting with George Bush. If you mean capital punishment, it should be both legal and humane for certain crimes. In a perfect world, we could save killers and child molesters. Unfortunately, it has been proven to my satisfaction that the majority of them will repeat. With that in mind, I find it foolish to wait for them to do it.

Answer 5

No. I no longer support it. Why? Obviously, it is not and cannot be applied equally. Remember the O.J. Simpson case (circus), where a cold bloody murderer walked out of the court free. Simpson deserved the death penalty, however, the jury of bigots, irrespective of overwhelming evidence and DNA, refused to find him guilty. Life in prison without parole is greater punishment.

Answer 6

I am proud that we have it in the US. We do need to make sure that the innocent are not executed but for the most part it is working well except in states that delay the executions for 20 years or so such as California.

Answer 7

As long there is no doubt that the person on trial is the guilty party, I believe in it. I know we aren't suppose to be playing god here, but I am for it.

Answer 8

i support it for people like the scum bag who robbed andd beat up the 101 year old woman. but other than that type i am not strong on it.

Answer 9

Sounds good to me, here in Texas!! God Bless you.