What are your oppinions about the death penalty?

Question

Should it be legal or not? Why/why not? I'm sorry again for posting questions like this; I know it's a very emotional question. I think it should be illegal and I'm curious about what all of you think.

Answer 1

I think the urge to see the perpetrator of a horrendous crime killed is a normal and understandable human reaction. I was pro-death penalty for a long time, but I have changed my stance over the years, for several reasons:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. Look at all the people who have been released after years of imprisonment because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most 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, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of 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. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, “I wish you had killed me.”

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. James 4:12 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of 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 am opposed to the death penalty because some of the people who get convicted are innocent, and if we have killed them before we find out, that is not something we can "un-do". As a lawyer, I see witnesses who, after a crime say "you know, I really didn't get a good look at the guy. All I can tell you is he was tall and had a red hat on" metamorphize. When they go to the first police line up, the cops will sometimes take the person they are pretty sure did it and have that person wearing a red hat while the others don't have any on. The witness might say "well, that might be him, I am not sure". In the next line up, that same fellow is there, with a red hat, next to a bunch of other people - men or women - and again is identified as a possible suspect. As this process is repeated, the witness, trying to support the police who he/she thinks has the right suspect, now starts looking for the fellow he/she always sees in the lineup and by the time they get to trial, you could put this fellow in a yellow dress and they would pick them out and say "yes, I remember his face as clear as day and every time I see him the hair on the back of my neck stands up". While everyone might be well intentioned, the jury never hears the "I didn't get a good look at him" statement and only hears "yes, that is him right there" so errors are made. Additionally most of the errors seem to run against black men and a disproportionate number of them are wrongly convicted. I don't know what to do about the prosecution/ police line up problem but b/c of the mistakes that can be made, and are made, in the conviction process, I am not comfortable with an irreversible punishment like death.

Answer 3

I oppose the death penalty because it is not an effective way of preventing or reducing crime and it risks executing innocent people. Here are answers to some questions about the practical aspects of the death penalty system and alternatives with with sources listed below.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence.

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 and regions 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?
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process. Anytime the death penalty is a possible sentence, extra costs start to mount up even before a trial, continuing through the uniquely complicated trial (actually 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases, and subsequent appeals.

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?
Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Answer 4

If someone did something REALLY, REALLY bad, I am for the death penalty. Some people just aren't worth the air they breathe on this earth. But if there are questions of whether they really did it, or it wasn't terribly disgusting or gruesome, and the person wants to live and turn it around, give them a chance.

Answer 5

I think if your gonna have it, use it correctly. It is supposed to be a deterrent. In order to deter you must not allow them to live for years on death row. You should also only be able to use it when there is DNA proof. Too many people are found innocent later because of DNA evidence. No more than two appeals. And once your last one is up, you die in a weeks time.

Answer 6

i've got confidence the dying penalty is high-quality how that's...I chosen this not simply by fact I believe it, yet simply by fact it terrific suits my opinion. it is the problem approximately opinion polls, the techniques are constrained so as that the tip result suits the needs of the polltaker. hence, any pollcan grant the wanted effects (for or against) based on the questions.

Answer 7

It's not used nearly enough.