When will we abolish the death penalty altogether?

Question

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/ncadp/content.jsp?content_KEY=2493&t=Innocent%20And%20Executed%20Section.dwt

Answer 1

I would like to think that soon Americans will demand that our criminal justice system stop this barbaric punishment. However, as long as politics and politicians are involved in our criminal justice system, that will never happen. Here are a few facts that should help educate voters:
1) The death penalty DOES NOT reduce the crime rate;
2) The death penalty DOES NOT reduce recidivism of those who commit murder and some other heinous crimes;
3) The death penalty DOES NOT provide justice for justice' sake; all it provides for is retribution;
4) D.A.R.E. programs do not work to reduce drug use and abuse, yet America spends about 872 billion dollars on it in the states and school systems. Why aren't the politicians made to be accountable for this overzealous spending of taxpayers money?
The voters are under the impression that the death penalty IS the ultimate punishment, but in reality most death row inmates would rather die than be imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole. The politicians spew the idea that their candidates are "tough on crime" but the death penalty does not affect the crime rate - so this is another lie.
America touts that they are a Christian nation. Not so when one studies the Bible and it says in the Fifth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill". It doesn't say "Thou shalt not kill Mrs. Jones or whomever". The criminal corrections departments accomplish nothing except to legally kill a human. Why do we as citizens put up with this? For a country that claims to be sophistocated, we really blew it with the death penalty. Because of the more than 125 alleged convicts who were on death row and cleared of guilt due to DNA testing, how many others were innocent but put to death anyway because they were found guilty by a jury of their peers? TX, CA and FL have the highest number of convicts on death row. TX uses it's death penalty very liberally. WHY DO WE KILL PEOPLE THAT KILL PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT KILLING PEOPLE IS WRONG?

Answer 2

No. He can't bypass or replace regulations. That comes from Congress, and the President then warning signs off to approve it, or rejects it (called a veto). And, even a veto might want to be overridden through Congress lower than the right situations. What the President can do, notwithstanding, is pardon or provide clemency to federal inmates sentenced to demise. yet, some states actually have the demise penalty. there is no longer something the President can do about those. interior the U.S., we've a federal authorities that really has jurisdiction over products that pertain to dissimilar states, and the states have their very own authorities for concerns that are inner to the states basically, and performance no impact on different states.

Answer 3

We are moving closer. People are waking up to the problems that plague the death penalty system. For the first time, the latest Gallup Poll on the subject has shown that 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are rethinking their views in the light of the experience with the death penalty in the last decade. Its important to get the facts out. Here are answers to some of the questions that people often ask about the system. The sources for these are listed below. (There are mistakes in several of the previous answers.)

Isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison? (A common misconception.)
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.

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? (Another common misconception.
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.)

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. Americans are relying on solid facts and not on revenge driven sound bites.

Answer 4

They should have the death penalty for all jews convicted of treason because they spy on Americans. If the federal government were to do their job right, there wouldn't be enough flights leaving NYC for israel! When the public learns the truth about the jews involvement in the WTC 9/11 incidents the jews won't be able to leave fast enough to beat the rioting crowds in the streets!

Answer 5

Hopefully never. The death penalty is not barbaric. In fact it's ordered in Genesis 9:6, the reason being that human life is valuable, so if you murder someone, your life is forfeit. See also Romans 13:4.

Answer 6

Hopefully never. Do you want your tax dollars giving free medical, dental, cable tv, highspeed internet, and education to someone who enjoys committing crimes against honest people?
Oh yeah, don't forget that if they run out of room at the prison, they start giving out early parole to those people.

Answer 7

Maybe in about a hundred years the way things are going.

Answer 8

Hopefully never. Ther are some people out there who deserve to die. The Florida guy who raped and buried the little girl alive to suffocate?

Send him home to whatever passes as his "god" and let him explain it there.

Answer 9

We wont. And indeed why should it be? Do you want serial killers to know they have a licencse to kill? remember for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction! donalore_43

Answer 10

Never, we need to expand it, then make it take less than 20 years to fry the criminals that get it.