only to those are AGAINST the death penalty?

Question

WHAT IS YOUR REASONS AND WHY

Answer 1

I oppose the death penalty because it is not an effective way of preventing or reducing crime. Here are answers to some questions often asked about the system. The sources for these are listed below.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence, many having already served over 2 decades on death row.

Doesn't DNA keep new cases like these from happening?
DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides. It is not a guarantee against the execution of innocent people.

Doesn't the death penalty prevent others from committing murder?
No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. Homicide rates are higher in states that have it than in states that do not. Most killers don't think about the consequences anyway. They do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison?
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison. Much of the extra costs is due to the complicated nature of both the pre trial investigation and of the trials (involving 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

So, what are the alternatives?
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. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

What about the very worst crimes?
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??

Doesn't the death penalty help families of murder victims?
Not necessarily. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

So, why don't we speed up the process?
Many of the 123 innocent people released from death row had already been there for over 2 decades. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

But don’t Americans prefer the death penalty as the most serious punishment?
Not any more. People are rethinking their views, given the facts and the records on innocent people sentenced to death. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning about the system we are making up our minds based on facts, not eye for an eye sound bites.

Answer 2

First innocent people have been on death row...this has been proven.
I am all for life in prison until we can prove no innocents will be executed....which may never come.

Next, it is applied fairly...it has been proven that minorities are more likely to get it for killing a white person than vice versa.

In Cincinnati while in law school i worked for the Ohio innocence Project....there were two high profile cases there when the death penalty was reinstituted...in both cases a person tried to rob a store and killed the clerk there. In the first case the death penalty was presented....the killer was black...in the second case the killer was white...and the prosecutor could never give us at the law school a good answer when asked why the difference in the charges even though the crimes were identical.

Also the cost of executing someone far exceeds keeping them in jail for life.

The average time on death row is about 12 to 15 years...so they are in jail for a long time. Then they are required to have several appeals that costs tons of money in court costs, attorneys fees, and other incidentals that the state must pay for....it is not even close how much an execution costs to just keeping them in jail where they are not entitiled to the same amount of appeals.

Plus it is not deterrant...we have seen that in the fact the murder rate has not dropped in any area where it is institutted.
If we really want it to be a deterant we should make executions public and greusome again. Can you imagine watching a person be hung or shot be a firing squad in broad day light? That should work better to scare people from commiting capital murder,

Answer 3

1) Killing is wrong... but abortion isn't
2)Many innocent people have been freed from death row... and many more guilty people haven't
3) Murders always go up after an execution... generalized and unsupported.

(I know, I'm not against it, sorry I broke the rules)

Well researched even though the info is kinda old...
but do ya think there may have been other reasons the murder rate goes up in those states?... It seems counter intuitive that more murders would be committed in states with the death penalty, just because the numbers match up doesn't mean there is a direct correlation...

Answer 4

Well, I recently changed my mind. I think even guys on death row can change, this does not mean they should be released, but given the opportunity for moral or religious counseling. Jesus will save anyone. However, they do deserve it, so the death penalty doesnt offend me. If we do banish the death penalty, we have to toughen up sentences for everyone, especially serious crimes like assualt, murder and rape.

Answer 5

Black people get the majority of death penalty's Race is an issue when it comes to getting a death sentence or getting life in prison.
If your white you have the best chance of getting a life sentence for the same crime a black man would get the death penalty for.
That's not far. Nor is it equal treatment under the law.

Answer 6

My reason is Thou shall not kill.WHY?Because GOD said not to.Everyone will have a judgment day set by GOD not us humans.Put the murders in a chain gang and make them work on the highways instead of spending our taxes on paying highway workers to fix them.Quit putting these offenders in air conditioning and feeding them better meals that most normal working people can afford.Quit building pools in prisons and having fancy rec rooms for these prisons.They are being punished not rewarded.Prisons now reward the criminals.Bring back the work groups and make them suffer without all the fancy things.My home don't have air-Conditioning why should a person in prison get air conditioning but I can't afford it.

Answer 7

i am torn, because...
its kind of like letting them off the hook. although jail isnt really that bad anymore...they get to watch tv and work out and stuff...people who did something bad enough to get the death penalty should be PUNISHED...i think we need to use torture!

either that or use that death penalty a lot more often...lets get rid of this "jail over crowding" problem we seem to have.

Answer 8

Thanks for asking.

The purpose is laws is to punish criminals, and lock them away from doing harm to individual citizens.

Once locked up, to murder them is murder; it is legally unnecessary since the purpose of laws--to define crimes
and to punish criminals--is already accomplished.

Murdering unarmed victims, however mentally ill and guilty they are, will not bring back the dead. What keeps me awake at night is the very strong evidence that false convictions occur all the time; the taking of one life for false reasons to me owed the barbaric whim for murdering criminals that motivates god-playing postmodernists pseudo-religionists and all those willing to commit crimes against victims who cannot defend themselves.

The punishment for those who wish to die--and all the mentally ill do wish this--outweighs the deterrence, the fear and the negative effects of a distant, unbelieved and swift execution as well. There is no reason to murder prisoners, adjudged guilty or anyone else. It even costs less to keep them around suffering from being what they are--micro-controlling dictators of victims, now unable to act on their sickness and having to obey orders themselves and be made available for study that might prevent their sort's crimes.

Answer 9

I've thought about this a lot. While it's true that there are people out there that have committed crimes that are so heinous that they deserve to die, there is no nobility in strapping someone down and cold-bloodedly killing them.

Answer 10

Thou Shalt not Kill. It is amazing to me that conservatives who call themselves Christians rail against abortions and will move mountains to prong long the life of a brain dead person but then behave as though it says "Thou Shalt Not Kill those you approve of".