The Death Penalty: Would your opinion change if ...?

Question

... you found yourself in America, convicted of a murder you did not commit. Your head has been shaved and they are just about to kill you with massive jolts of electricity.

Do you support the death penalty now?

Answer 1

Here are some facts about the process that puts innocent people on death row. I am also supplying some other info about the death penalty system- all of this is verifiable and sourced. (Several of the answers you have received are mistaken about how the appeals system works and some are wrong about the costs of the death penalty, and whether it is a deterrent.)

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. 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: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure the trial was in accord with constitutional standards, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. Appeals courts hear claims of innocence only if a constitutional issue is involved. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court.

Re: Aftermath
Once an execution is carried out the case is closed. That is why we cannot say anything definitive about the number of innocent people who were executed. However, it is a fact that the number of people sentenced to death and who could have been executed is over 10% the number of actual executions.

In the last year or so, there are four cases where there is significant evidence that an innocent person was executed.

1. Cameron Willingham- executed for setting a fire that led to the deaths of several people. The techniques of investigating fires in criminal cases have greatly advanced. They now show that the fire was an accident, not arson. Texas.

2. Carlos DeLuna- executed in Texas for a fatal stabbing. Sloppy police work, a failure to pursue a more likely suspect (who bragged of being the actual killer and about getting another man to pay for it.

3. Gary Graham. Texas. details available at Death Penalty Information Center
4. Calvin Griffiths. Missouri. details available at Death Penalty Information Center. The local district attorney has actually reopened an investigation into this case, because she has strong doubts about it.

More cases will certainly turn up. Death penalty supporters have always claimed that no innocent person has been executed in the modern era (1976-present.) It is likely that more than 4 innocent people were executed, but because executions normally close cases, we may never know for sure.

The death penalty is not a deterrent. Most killers do not even think they will be caught (if they think at all) Homicide rates are higher in states that have the death penalty than in states that do not.

Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. Supermax prisons are terrible places to spend the rest of your life. (See any of the MSNBC documentaries about them.)

The death penalty can be very hard on families of murder victims.

The death penalty does not apply to the worst of the worst. It applies to defendants with the worst lawyers.

48% of Americans prefer life without parole and 47% prefer the death penalty. We are learning.

Opposing the death penalty does not mean you excuse brutal acts or the people who commit them. It means you know the facts and are applying common sense.

Answer 2

i'm against the dying penalty. i've got faith each and every person have the main appropriate to life; no person would desire to be allowed to take each and every person's life. Capital punishment is merciless; as a society, we would desire to continuously upward push above violence. besides, the dying penalty does not cut back the quantity of murders dedicated. on the different hand, residing in a society the place violence is condemned does. Plus, i don't purely like the belief of allowing the government the ability to kill its own electorate, because of the fact there's a huge gamble that power would desire to be abused.

Answer 3

what you have is a lack of belief.

You tell me, what is better:
1. 1,000 true murderers walking the streets (with 5 innocent ones)
2. 1,000 true murderers (with 5 innocent ones) sitting in jail, using up millions of dollars which can be used TO SAVE LIVES - such as medical attention, etc.
3. The death of the 1,000 true murders with the 5 innocent ones?

Overall, it is clear option 3 is the best. Obviously not 1, and not 2 - not 2 because more than 5 lives can be saved with the funds it costs to keep 5 people in jail for life.

The way you save the most people and keep them alive is option 2.

Either way someone is going to pay the price. Aim is to minimize the losses and the damage done.

So yes, i do support the death penalty, but i do call for more stringent means of determining if a person is liable for it.

Answer 4

I've never supported the death penalty in any circumstance. My feeling is the convicted will be punished more by living in a prison than dead! And if by chance he was wrongly convicted he can possibly get an appeal or if new evidence shows up, a new trial.

Answer 5

First of all, the electric chair is not used anymore, it is lethal injection.
Anyone who murders a child or a disabled person should receive the death penalty. I am for the death penalty and the chances that an innocent person gets executed are very slim, we do have an extensive appeal system in place to prevent injustice.

Answer 6

It depends if the world is a better place due to it. If I was to be wrongly convicted and killed I wouldn't mind as long as I knew that there were less murderers and child rapists on the streets when I died. My life for the benefit of the masses seems a small price to pay.

Answer 7

Never have believed in the death penalty. Two wrongs dont make a right, I believe its God's place to accept and deny life. It should only be the job of the law to keep those on death row away from society and protect those they can. I do think prison life is too easy and chumy for those in death row. Food/ water/ bath should be all they get. Not cable, a paid for education etc.... waste of time and money. Those in for murder- no parol and consecutive life sentences.

Answer 8

Personally, I'd appeal it to a higher Federal or District court level. Any case, involving a possible sentencing of execution, is automatically appealed to a higher court regardless of the evidence against the defendant. As for the execution via the Electric Chair, I believe it's almost extinct as most states favor Lethal Injection and 2nd options are Gas Chambers.

The Electric Chair has been deemed "cruel and unusual punishment" by many states and is one of the least effective means to execute a convict because the opportunity to botch it is so high with or without the prescense of a physician.

Answer 9

look! when incarcerated, you have no rights, you are not voting, you lose all your civil rights. am i against capital punishment, never! even if i were convicted of something i am innocent? i'd get myself a better lawyer, then, my friend. if you are going to persuade people to go with your cause (anti-death penalty), don't try that pablum approach. that's been done & worn to the shine. when you do away with, say, the death penalty, then you are supporting life-time care for theives, muggers, murders, etc. if you are sentenced to death you commited a first degree event that was planned & executed with malice of forethought. shame on you!

Answer 10

I'm against the death penalty for that reason. However, I am in favor of restricting appeals and keeping those convicted of murder locked up in tiny cells with their meals delivered and no access to the prison yards until they die.