Keeping the Death Penalty?

Question

The death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment because…
• The death penalty is morally justified because…
• The death penalty deters criminal behavior because…
• The death penalty is fairly applied to convicts regardless of race because…
• Wrongful conviction is not a death penalty problem because…

Answer 1

I used to be pro-death penalty, but I have changed my stance, for several reasons:

1. By far the biggest reason is this: Sometimes our legal system gets it wrong. Look at all the criminals who are being released after years of imprisonment because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. No matter how rare it is, our government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most reasonable people. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of the extra expense of prosecuting a DP case and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty states. This may seem counterintuitive, but think about the mixed message it sends: we're taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government becomes the bad parent who says, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

4. There’s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst of our criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON’T have, until they rot of old age.

5. The U.S. government is supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. For example, Matthew 5:38-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. 1 Peter 3:9 argues AGAINST “eye for an eye”-type justice. Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 2

I think this question should be answered with facts. Here are answers to some of the points you have raised. 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. At least 50 had already served over a decade.

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. 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.

Isn't the death penalty applied fairly?
Actually, the race of the victim is the key. A sentence of death is 84% more likely to tbe sought if the victim was white. 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??

Answer 3

It does violate the eighth amendment
It is not morally justified Because God's comandment reads"Thou Shall Not Kill" and Christ has stated that "Vengence is Mine sayeth the Lord"
The death penalty has not proven itself to deter criminal behavior in contrast in areas that have adopted the Three Strike Law it quadruples the probability of a Law officer being Killed trying to apprehend a suspect.
The death penalty is defenetly unfairly applied to convicts in regards to race, Black convicts recieve and have death sentenses carried out for more often than their white conterparts.
Wrongful convictions are a death penalty problem because you can not resurect someone you have executed.
I believe so far I am the only one who understood or answered your question.

Answer 4

I donot know what State you are in, but for personal opinion I am pro-death penalty. I donot know anything regarding the 8th amendment, I suppose you are referring to the US constitution.

It is morally justified on what ground? I donot think moral value has anything to do with it. I donot believe also death penalty deters criminal behaviour, this one i believe that it is fairly applied to convicts regardless of race, wrongful conviction is not a death penalty problem? I donot get this one clearly.

For me death penalty is the concept of an eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. This pertain to the victims that the killer did for their immediately family. Some doesnot even deserve to die in such a young age.

Answer 5

Just to push back on a few things:

There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates.

No one deserves to die. When the government metes out vengeance disguised as justice, it becomes complicit with killers in devaluing human life and human dignity.

Study after study has found serious racial disparities in the charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty. People who kill whites are far more likely to receive a death sentence than those whose victims were not white, and blacks who kill whites have the greatest chance of receiving a death sentence.

Answer 6

You are correct, but do not have all of the reasons. For those who argue cruel & unusual punishment, there is a BIG problem with that argument. The Supreme Court has defined cruel & unusual as something beyond the morals of decent society. Most states have the death penalty, and for that reason it certainly appears that the "decent society" of the USA doesn't find it morally wrong, etc.

Answer 7

we would desire to continuously not save the dying penalty. - blunders happen. in the final 35 years in the U.S., a hundred thirty human beings have been released from dying row because of the fact they have been exonerated with the aid of DNA info. - It expenses taxpayers a lot greater to execute somebody than to imprison them for existence. - Violent crime costs are bigger in dying penalty jurisdictions. - it somewhat is unevenly and arbitrarily utilized. - Jesus became against it (see Matthew 5:7 & 5:38-39, James 4:12, Romans 12:17-21, and John 8:7).

Answer 8

I cant understand why laws are changed often. Death penalty was approved and then it was abolished. It depends upon the incumbent president and congress. They said its inhuman, some says its legal.

Answer 9

i agree with you but there are people who think it does because it falls under cruel and unusual punishment. like with the lethal injections people say that just because you feel the pain of the needle going in your arm that falls under cruel and unusual punishment and nobody even knows if you feel any pain after they load the stuff into you. im sure you dont feel pain but people say you dont know because they cant show it.

but as i said before we should keep the death penalty and i do agree with you