What are your views about the death penalty?

Answer 1

Love it, Need it, DO IT.

The Saudi Arabs do it, Iranians use it,
Afgans use it, why not the US???

Empty Death Row * & have Televised executions for next 18 months as we execute those killers.
Save time & money

Answer 2

I oppose it because it is not an effective way of preventing crime and its mistakes are irreversible. People need to make up their minds on this issue with the facts. Here are a few, all verifiable and sourced. Common sense can do the rest.

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 about the consequences or even that 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.

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. Life without parole incapacitates a killer (keeps him from re-offending) and costs considerably less than the death penalty.

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: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence, many having 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 the real criminal is still out there and will have successfully avoided being charged.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in less than 10% of murder cases. It’s not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

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 applying common sense.

Answer 3

Barbaric, uncivilized, unworthy of an 'enlightened' citizenry, stupid, unjust (especially to those innocently convicted), cruel and unusual punishment, and as had been found too expensive to continue. It is sad, that this last part will be the reason it will be abolished, as it is an indictment of American citizen sensibilities and compassion (both of which are obviously absent - with small exceptions). And comparing us to inhumane nations (as done above) and not just condoning their deeds but claiming that puts us in good company, I almost for different reasons have to agree with that.

Answer 4

If our legal system is not 100% perfect, then there should be no death penalty. What else can be more valuable than human life?

Answer 5

Im not religious, but i dont believe anyone has the right to kill someone else, period.

Instead, put them in some awful little cell and let them rot.

Death is too easy for some anyway.
.

Answer 6

We need to use it more often. Enough of these prisoners on death row who wait 20 years before they are executed.

Answer 7

Before I was opposed.

Now I don't object to it in certain cases.

Answer 8

that's just wrong. that is just commiting another "crime." they should keep them in jail forever.

Answer 9

if you execute a killer for killing, who executes the executioner for killing the killer?