death penalty: for or against?

Answer 1

For!

You kill a child or a cop, you should die.

Answer 2

Reading these answers really sickens me, for real. I'm not saying words. My stomach is in knots.

Revenge is NOT the opposite of justice. It merely makes the person seeking it the same as the person who has committed an injustice. I will not allow my enemies to turn me into them. I will not murder, because another has murdered, and I will not make a human being, who can't find a better job, murder for money. I cannot be part of that.

I cannot be part of putting one innocent person to death by mistake.

Do you know what prosecutors get paid? Much.
Do you know what public defenders get paid? Very little.

Do you know how many people have been put to death and later found out to have been innocent? What if this were your brother, your father, your sister, you?

Do you know how many people were on death row for years and years, and are now out, after Death Penalty Focus and Families of Murder Victims Against the Death Penalty, and other, passionate and wise groups obtained good defense for these innocent human beings? I once spent an entire day at a conference with 114 men who were waiting to be executed, who were proven innocent and freed.

Do you have any idea how RACIST the death penalty is, how CLASSIST? It's pure murder of disturbed, lost, lonely, street people and of minorities.

Do you know that it is a FACT that the death penalty is not a deterrent? Do you know that the U.S. is the ONLY country in the so-called civilized, the Western, industrialized nations that still has the death penalty.

It is BARBARIC; and the United States is in trouble right now, because of these answers, this blood-thirsty, self-righteousness. I'm ashamed. I'm so ashamed. The only life we value is our own, or so it seems. Beware, because after all is done, who will be there for you?

Read people; don't be glib and ignorant on issues like this one. Learn to think before you spout off.

Here's a site and a mission statement for you:
http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=about&menu=1"

"We believe that the death penalty is an ineffective and brutally simplistic response to the serious and complex problem of violent crime. By diverting attention and financial resources away from preventative measures that would actually increase personal safety, the death penalty causes more violence in society. We are convinced that when the public is informed about the inherent racism, injustice, and the true human and financial cost associated with the death penalty, the United States will join the growing community of nations throughout the world who have already abolished capital punishment."

And another from the FAMILIES OF MURDER VICTIMS:
http://www.willsworld.com/~mvfhr/
These are people whose children, husbands, wives, parents were murdered, but they will not stoop to the inhumane, vengeful behavior of their children's murderers.

"The death penalty is about revenge and hate, and revenge and hate is why my daughter and those 167 other people are dead today."
Bud Welch, father of Julie Marie Welch,
victim in the Oklahoma City bombing

And, for those who know nothing about what they're saying, it IS CHEAPER to feed and house a person for life, than it is to put a person to death. We, at least, are aware that when a person's life is at stake that person should be allowed several courts of appeal, which is more expensive than a life-time imprisonment.

Answer 3

Against. Totally agree with Susan . Who are we to judge that any person has to die ? we put ourselves on the same level as the criminal. And its true that its the poorest of poor - even in my poor country - India which are given the death penalty. Where is the justice in this ??

Answer 4

I look at it this way....

Can I pull the trigger to kill another human being?
Can I insert the needle to kill another human being?

The answer is no. I can not support that which I myself am not able to do.

Murder is wrong in my eyes. I would rather individuals who commit such acts be placed in prison for the rest of their natural life.

The Death Penalty is active in my state and there are over 600 individuals who are currently on death row who will remain in their cells for up to 25 years before they are executed.

Are you aware that it costs more to execute an individual then it does to give them life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Answer 5

Against!!

Answer 6

I'm for it but I'm against how long it takes to get done. I think if there is no doubt in your guilt and you get sentenced to death then as soon has you leave the court room it's bye bye. Some people are on death row for 10 plus years and for what.

Answer 7

susan is precisely right.....the cost for our government to kill a person is in the millions...while at the same time, there are numerous people sitting behind bars for non violent crimes related to things like marijuana...i am not saying that i am for marijuana, but, think about how much we are paying to house pot smokers, only to turn around and say that to house a murderer is too costly compared to an execution(which is wrong)....add to that, the fact that we have a flawed judicial system makes it impossible to prove the truth in all cases...which means, we are putting innocent people to death...add to that, the fact that most death penalty convicts are mentally handicap or black or poor....never wealthy, white, and mentally sound.....think about this....there was a guy in kentucky that was being put to death for killing his father even though it was proven that he was an extreamly bad off paranoid schitzophrenic...whos father had abused him his whole life....now we are condemning him to death for what was put on him...instead of making sure he receives his medication and therapy to lead a halfway normal life....okay...then there was a teenager from a very wealthy family in ohio who murdered his brother because he was mentally ill and felt that his brother received preferential teatment.....because he was rich, with money, he was put in a psych ward and given therapy and medication to not make him a danger to society...the difference in these cases was that one was rich and the other poor...the poor gets death...the wealthy gets treatment and no jail......this is the case all the way across the board...all the way across the nation.......if we want people to take responsibility for the way they behave, then, we, too, must take responsibility for the way we behave.....i do not support gov't sponsered murder of the poor with my tax dollars, but i would support actual treatment for human beings ... i do not believe our prison system is bennefiting our culture and society either....the only other industrialized nation that practices the death penalty is iraq...we need to look into other ways of helping people so that our society is not soo sick....that is the point...right?

Answer 8

Well, when someone chooses to act worse than any animal, feels no remorse, and will kill again... Then we should not have to subsidize keeping them alive.
You would put down a dog if it went crazy and tore a kid to shreds, and it doesn't even understand what it did. The human does., which makes the crime worse. Why should the punishment be less?

Answer 9

I was once for it. NOW I am against. There are two many cases where the person has been Innocent. Besides I think there are other ways to make them suffer.

Answer 10

Against.Giving the lethal injection to someone that murdered another innocent human being,is giving them the easy way out.I think that they should rot behind bars.

Answer 11

I have changed over the years to against!