Some people say that the death penalty is inhumane. So what?

Question

I thought that the idea was to kill the person? Killing someone is by definition inhumane, isn't it? And if they're murderers, haven't they both forfeited their right to live AND committed even more inhumane actions on their victims?

Some other people have commented that people who tend to agree with the death penalty tend to be against abortion. They ask how someone can be for killing some people but against killing others. The answer is simple: The murderer on death row had his chance at life and chose evil, while the unborn baby had no chance to choose at all (NO CHOICE).

..... We have laws regulating executions to make them as painless and dignified as possible, which is more than some of them deserve.

Answer 1

I think that you also need to have the facts about the death penalty system. Specifically, about whether it is an effective and accurate method of keeping us safe, and what the alternatives are. Here are a few facts, verifiable and sourced.

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.) You received a mistaken answer from Virgina G about this.

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. 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 making up their minds using common sense.

Answer 2

It seems that all "civilized" countries other than the United States have abolished capital punishment. I believe France was the last country in Western Europe to ban capital punishment. It was first banned in 1791, was later reinstated, and was subsequently banned in 1981.

In the United States, the death penalty is banned in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts, and in North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It is also banned in West Virginia and Alaska. It was declared "unconstitutional" by the courts in South Dakota.

As regards to abortion, however, there is a wide divergence of opinion as to whether or not a fetus actually is an individual and at what time it becomes an individual and acquires the legal rights of an individual.

For some people, there is an ethical question: "How can you be be against abortion yet for capital punishment?" That is something that people have to work out with their own consciences and their concept of what God requires of them.

I am not in a position to make ethical decisions for other people, and I believe that they will live or die with the consequences of their own actions.

Answer 3

I like the three strikes and you are out idea. If a person convicted of murder has a history of violent acts lets find a cheap way to kill him.

One of the big problems in society today is that the poor have larger families then the middle class. I think we should save ourselves by being over run by more poor. Abortion could be part of the remedy among others.

Answer 4

You have to realize moral standards can be different for people and can change over time. It is not considered inhumane to stone some women to death in some countries. It used to be perfectly ok to own slave here in the US.

I think you missed the argument. They're not saying guilty murderer is good person or do not deserve harsh punishment. They're saying using death as a form of punishment is not humane. And death cannot be reversed or corrected.

Answer 5

My personal belief is that it's immoral to kill another human being unless it's a matter of self defense. That said, I think dangerous criminals should be kept away from the rest of the population forever. Life with no chance of parole.

In recent years we've seen a lot of cases where death row inmates have been proven innocent and released. DNA has made it possible to look over evidence and prove innocence in some cases. If you have kept a man locked up for years, you can't give him back those years but you can release him. If you've executed him, you can't make it up to him at all.

Answer 6

I agree with some of what you said. No one has the right to take anyone else's life, not even the government. You can't kill babies, and you can't kill a fully grown person. Either way it is wrong. I can't take it from your view because I am not you, but I can take it from my own. Apparently killing murderers does not stop the crime flow. And if you were an innocent man, falsely accused, then the death penalty wouldn't look so hot to you.

Answer 7

I am in favor of the Death penalty to
1) Rid the World of Careless undesirables that don't respect the rights of others
2)To alleviate Prison overcrowding
3) To save my Tax paying dollars that are used to house these murderers
4) and Justice for the Families that lost someone to the criminal

You are correct about the Death Penalty/Abortion comparison. The fetus had no choice in the matter and people just need to take responsibility for their stupid sexual desires.

Answer 8

I personally think if the death penalty was enforced more, crime would go down. And I think that some crimes are more offensive than murder, for example a child molester and rapist. The scars these people live with for the rest of their lives is much worse than any sentence the criminals get. At least when someone is murdered they don't suffer for years.

Answer 9

Inhumane? What they did to get themselves behind bars was inhumane. An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life.

Answer 10

what's the point... it takes almost 10 years to actually kill someone "Legally" anyways. By than its not even important anyways. Look how long it took to kill the Oklahoma bomber?