Death Row Question?

Question

This is a weird question and I hope no one thinks I'm joking. I wrote to some death row prisoners and found that they have commited the most gruesome crimes anyone has heard of---raping old ladies and dismemberment, ect. What do you think about the death penalty? Thank you

Answer 1

I believe in it. I always have. It makes me mad when someone says that it is wrong. What if it were your child or parent.
There are always different circumstances in different crimes but I feel that if someone murders someone that they should loose their life. If someone sexually abuses a child (especially under the age of 12) that they should loose their life. But there is always so much gray area.

Answer 2

I myself am a supporter of the death penalty. I think if commit the crime that carries the death penalty The death penalty should be carried out within a set time, not some thirty years down the line like they do here in California.
Here in California the person facing the death penalty Get the appeals process to turns things around and make them a victim instead of a perpetrator.
Limit the number of appeals on capital cases. If you have a death penalty use it, or else do away with and give life with out parole (LWOP)

Answer 3

I feel there are too many innocent people on death row or executed for crimes they did not commit - all because the actions of a few (note I said a FEW) crooked/corrupt/racist cops and District Attorneys who are even worse (thus making the good people in these professions look bad.) Also, the "race card" has been played so many times in this matter, executing convicted criminals just because they're black, Latino, etc. DNA evidence has actually cleared some of these people in the past. Plus, it's actually revealed that the death penalty process is actually more expensive to taxpayers than just putting them in prison. So, until we develop an infalliable justice system based on respect and "innocent until proven guilty" (instaed of the other way around) I'm all for putting criminals in prison.

Answer 4

Some of the answers you have received are wrong on the facts. Opposing the death penalty does not mean you condone gruesome crimes or the people who commit them. I hope that you want facts, not just sound bites. Here are answers to some questions often asked about the death penatly. The sources are listed below.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
124 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? (At least one of your answers is wrong about this.)
No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states that have it than in states that do not.

So, what are the alternatives?
Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

But isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison? (You received some mistaken answers on this one.)
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison. Extra costs include those 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 and subsequent appeals. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

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 124 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 and we are making up our minds based on facts, not eye for an eye sound bites.

Answer 5

You have to look at the reasons we imprison people
1) revenge
2) rehabilitation
3) Deterrence of others

The death penalty meets only one of the three goals revenge. It does not rehabilitate nor statically is it good for deterrence

Add to this that most murders are crimes of passion, that is not likely to be committed again and the fact it cost us more to put a person to death then to jail them for life (really it does) and the death penalty just does not add up

Better to put them in lock down 23 hours a day with the cell wall papered with the picture of their victim and only the Bible or Koran to read.

Answer 6

Personally, I think the death penalty would be a good idea if the punishment fit the crime. If you dismembered someone, you should be killed by dismemberment. You know, an eye for an eye. I think getting lethally injected is too easy of an out for some of these people.

Answer 7

Our judicial system, in my opinion is not tough enough. To be sentenced to death in most states, you do have to have been convicted, repeatedly of heiness acts. I'll pitch in for the bullets too.... We spend too much tax money on people that are a true threat to society, not to mention will never be law abiding citizens. As for the Bible answer, there is a difference between committing murder and killing. Murder is not justified, but killing, can be or is. You also mentioned killing someone for just making a mistake. When someone dismembers someone, it is not a mistake, they meant to do it. I'm so sick of people having pity on the scums of the earth, when they should be taking more consideration of the victims and rest of society. I am the survivor of an attempted murder, and unfortunately for another 24-yr old woman, our court system failed and she was murdered by the man.

Answer 8

Although capital punishment is meant to be a deterant.. with the number of inmates on death row.. and the number of years they sit there awaiting all their appeals to be heard... what is honestly the use???

I have no problem with the death penalty if used in very specific situations... and for specific crimes.... I also feel that there must be a confession from the perpertrator...

It is very easy to say yes to the death penalty.. UNTIL you put yourself.. or a family member in that position.... and what if the person is actually innocent??? imagine killing an innocent person for something they didn't do...

Answer 9

I think the death penalty is a must. Not only because these guys commited horrible crimes but we pay taxes to feed them in the prisons. Prisons are becoming overcrowded. This results in the goverment taking over properties to build new prisons. The death penalty is alternative that we have to take.

Answer 10

the death penalty doesn't decrease crime and is hypocritical- don't kill or we will kill you.
almost every other modern nation has outlawed capital punishment.
it further pushes us into a nation against community. these are still our fellow americans we're putting to death.
the justice system in general is unbalanced and unfair (even apart from murdering people). most people on death row are black- other races with the same crime get lesser sentences. we are finding that we've had innocent people on death row.

look up the book about the 4 years when there was no death penalty in the US. everyone was commuted to life sentences. the ones who were paroled (the ones who were going to be executed) reoffened less than other prisoners who weren't sentenced to death. these were not un-rehabiltatable men

(I have left in my will that is I am ever mudered I don't want my killer to be executed)