Are you for or against the death penalty?

Answer 1

all for it.

Answer 2

I was in favor of capital punishment 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 3

for the death penalty. and it should be a longer list of death penalty crimes. also once convicted you and your lawyer should go into the next room, have your case reviewed by a panel of three judges for errors or violations of your rights. then if the conviction is upheld, you step into the next room and are put to death in as gruesome and horrible a manor as possible. then hose the room down and get ready for the next case. how likely would people be to commit crimes if the law took that seriously and swiftly meted out justice? besides after you eliminate the bottom tiers of criminal society, that would clean up the gene pool and ward off those on the line.

Answer 4

Against

Answer 5

I'm for it....I just hate them sitting on Death Row for 12 to 15 yrs waiting to be killed,when the people they hurt didn't have that option...
I belive it should be like in the western days,you killed someone,they hung you in 3 days...

Answer 6

If I end up being sentenced to death, I will be against it. Otherwise I will be for it.

Answer 7

Nope. If people wrongly kill other people then they need to die themselves. Their are too many people already in this world and our tax dollars are for them to sit in country club jails for the rest of their life. This world is better off without them. Killing ppl isnt a mistake that they should get a 2nd chance for. The dead person didnt get one, so why should they?

Answer 8

...after the accused has been "convicted" (that's the key word here), I'm a kinda-sorta an "Old Testament" guy... kill'um all, let God sort'um out... (vicious, vile, cruel criminals have no place in society and supporting them with tax-payers money for the rest of their "convicted" lives is a waste of revenue)

Answer 9

For it AND we should include crimes against children in the list of offenses punishable by it as well.

Answer 10

For. Fry the pedophiles.

Answer 11

For it. And I live in Texas, so they actually enforce it here.