Let me rephrase: Why do some PEOPLE not seem to care about the innocent. Better?

Question

Since I got attacked for saying that some conversatives think the innocent don't matter (although, technically, i wasn't wrong because I said SOME, and you can't tell me that there aren't conservatives out there who support capital punishment)

According to a Stanford Law Review study of approximately 7,000 people executed in the United States since 1900, at least twenty-three were innocent, eight of those in New York State. Why do people think that this doesn't matter? Do they think that just because MOST of the people were actually guilty, it's okay to wipe out an innocent life here or there, or what? What do they have against life in prison, to spare the possibly innocent?

Now, this time, I would like an answer, I don't want to be attacked.

A recent New Jersey Policy Perspectives report concluded that the state's death penalty has cost taxpayers $253 million since 1983, a figure that is over and above the costs that would have been incurred had the state utilized a sentence of life without parole instead of death. There you go

And did I ever say I wasn't pro-life? Yes, I'm pro-life. I'm not a wishy washy pro-life either. ALL life, not just unborn babies.

Answer 1

NOT to attack you, but honestly, you come off as someone who would rather editorialize about these mean ol' hard-hearted conservatives than as someone truly seeking an answer. That's what gets people angry. It's the difference between walking up to a street person and saying EITHER:

1. "Pardon. I was wondering what turn of events has resulted in your having to live on the streets?"

OR ...

2. "Pardon. Why won't you work? I REALLY want to know!"

See? You're question is FULL of accusations and value judgements. There is much less of a sense of seeking answers. It's as if you already know the answers. Sigh. With that said, I will ATTEMPT to explain this from my own conservative point of view.

One of your judgemental points was when your back to back lines: "Why do people think that this doesn't matter? Do they think that just because MOST of the people were actually guilty, it's okay to wipe out an innocent life here or there, or what?" WHO said that killing so-called "innocent" people is okay? I don't know ANY conservative who is cavalier about wrongful convictions and carrying out the ultimate penalty. So, you distort our position to make us seem hard and cold. See, YOUR point is that BECAUSE some people have been wrongfully put to death that ALL death penalties must be stopped. Here is where you lose us!

Microsoft releases software EVERYDAY with defects (AKA bugs) in it. Because they cannot release perfect software they should be stopped from releasing ANY software? Do we say to them: "Why don't you CARE about your defective software?" Did you know that polls randomly sample people? And that there is a margin of error in sampling? Do we say to pollsters, "Why don't CARE that your poll can be off? You need to conduct PERFECT polls or don't do it at all!" Quality Assurance ALSO uses random sampling. In other words, NO company checks EVERY product for flaws. It's a RANDOM sample with a margin of error. Do we say to them: "Why don't you CARE that some of your products have defects?" The same goes for EVERYTHING in life! Some houses have problems, even brand new ones. Some cars have problems, even brand new ones. Some power lines, some water lines, etc. The application process at companies is not GUARANTEED to get the best candidate.

We're dealing with humans! IMPERFECT humans! Look at your numbers! You said that 23 out of 7,000 people put to death were innocent. Do you realize that that is a 1/3 of one percent error rate, which is FAR FAR FAR above any known quality standards!!! Do I feel bad to think that some man was marched to his death for a crime that he didn't commit? OF COURSE!!! But if nowhere else in life do we think that it's right to stop doing something just because we can't be perfect at it then why would we think that here? The point is that you accept human error as natural, normal, and inevitable in every aspect of life, but you seek to EXPLOIT it here, not because you are unaccepting of human error, but because you hate capital punishment.

I am a Christian. I believe in an Almighty God. I say that we as a Christian nation should do EVERYTHING humanly possible to avoid taking the life of an innocent man. That's why it takes 10 or 12 or more years to do so! That's why the appeals process is soooooooo drawn out! But in the end, I'm philosophical. Just as my dad died in the hospital, after THREE life-saving attempts at surgeries, I said: "Hmmm. His death was meant to be." I say to you that if some poor schmuck finds himself in such a bizarre set of circumstances that he can be arrested, tried, convicted, and then lose on appeal, on appeal, on appeal ALL THE WAY to the Supreme Court then ...

A) We did everything we could to avoid that, and
B) It must have been meant to be.

We learn from our mistakes and try to do better next time. But we don't stop doing it, just because it isn't a perfect system.

IN FACT ... you see a lot of incorrect information exchanged on Yahoo Answers. IF you demand perfection from your systems then why are you here? Why are you using your computer, which has all sorts of bugs? Why are you using the written word, which is prone to all sorts of misinterpretations; e.g., you had to RESTATE your question! Even eyewitness accounts are wrong. Even polygraphs are wrong. Even DNA tests are wrong. IN FACT, how do you know with ABSOLUTE certainty that those 23 men determined to be innocent were in fact innocent? Were you there when the crimes were committed? Or are you relying on imperfect people using imperfect science to tell you of their innocents?

I trust that you get my points.

Answer 2

It really cant do much since in our system these people were judged by their peers and deemed guilty beyond all resoable doubt. it is unfortunate that these things happen but dont blame the bystanders for not jumping in to save every one that is put to death in this country. The only time people even eem to care about a person being put ot death is if they some how got a hold of jesse jackson. I dont nessicarly agree with the smell girls comment about it being an acceptable loss but while we did accidentally kill a few people that were innocent of thier crime we took care of a whole lot more that did commit the crime. the reason people dont like life in prison is because our prison system is full. mostly by small time drug dealers that serve longer sentances than rapists and murders with better laywers. Overall dont blame the people for the systems mistake,it is regretable but your complaining to the wrong people.

Answer 3

We DO care about the innocent, but we realize that in any system where humans are involved, there are going to be mistakes. This is also the case if we were to abolish the death penalty all together and use life in prison with no possibility of parole. It has already happened that such people have been accidentally released from prison and have killed again. In the case of the convicted felon, he at least had a trial, appeals etc. The innocent victims of their murders do not, and often are killed in a brutal fashion.

Now let me ask you a question. Why don't Liberal care about all the innocent babies killed by abortion, particularly late term abortion?

Answer 4

If it has never happened to them or someone they care about it will never be a subject that hits close to home. There are a large number of naive, ignorant, and uncaring individuals in this world. If it doesn't effect them then they think it is a great thing. Stanford needs to take a better look at the system. They are way short of the actual number of people who have no business being in prison. Many people are there because of false declarations of guilt and pleas bc they are not willing to trust their fate to 12 non-peers. The uneducated masses need to see that this a growing trend amongst courts, cops and attorneys. They have no clue how difficult it is to have to lie to the court to insure they don't get a 20 yr. sentence for a $2 crime.

Answer 5

The system works like this...12 of the accused peers have to believe beyond any reasonable doubt that he or she committed the murder...at that point, they are not "possibly innocent"...they are guilty according to the laws of the United States...we don't need to sit around waiting for 50 years for miracle evidence that they didn't do it...the system says they did do it, and the safeguard that is in place is the jury system.

To me the issue is not about cost or about deterrence, it is about vindicating the rights of the victim and justice. If my daughter or son or wife were a victim in a murder, do you think I would be comforted by the fact that the murderer got three squares a day and a comfy cot and cable TV and free college and a rec room?

Answer 6

Tell you what, you show the same concern for millions upon millions of human babies slaughtered since Roe vs Wade in 1973 as you do for 23 innocent people since 1900, I'll show more concern.
No form of government or justice system is foolproof. Mistakes are made, unfortunately. But it is the best system we have. As far as the death penalty is concerned, it is a proven fact that putting a convicted murderer to death deters him from ever killing again.

Answer 7

The only reason it costs more to execute is the insane appeals that the states have to go through. Other than that, what costs more? Are they fed better, given luxuries, what? Have one appeal then get on with it. Besides that there are a lot more doing life that should be on death row. get on a murder trail jury and just try to put someoone on death row. It is very hard to get 12 people to play God.

Answer 8

Why did you delete your other question that asked the same thing? I liked my answer....I'll see if I can rewrite it ver batem...

Wow - 23 whole people? In over 100 years. What is that, like 0.003%? I guess I don't care. I would rather have 23 dead innocent people than to have 6977 rapists and murderers sitting in a cell paid for by the American tax dollar.

EDIT - [Something along the lines of bullets being cheap...could you provide a source for your claim that it is more expensive to convict to death than to keep on death row...]

Answer 9

that is why there is the appeal process that takes many years and yes it is truly sad when an innocent person pays the ultimate for a crime they didn't commit.

it would be rare to find a criminal in our penal system who would admit guilt..99.9% claim innocence when they know different.

one has only to read the news to see how many of these career criminals are release only to kill many innocents again and again...so innocents die tragically anyway.

the most recent occurrence is the poor students in NJ who were attacked and killed, one survived, by criminals who had been in jail many times and were released by liberal judges. these young ppl were in college and had good lives ahead of them. now they are dead and their families lives forever altered.

with scientific advances, i hope that the day comes when no one that is truly innocent is ever jailed again but until then,

i don't believe the death penalty is a deterrence to criminals but i think public executions takes the life of someone who has the potential to kill many.

Answer 10

They don't subscribe to the most basic value in any decent legal system.It's better to have ten guilty men on the street than one innocent man in jail.They believe the opposite.They also don't believe in rehabilitation but believe the legal system should be about revenge first.I think that's regressive.Society should try to always take the moral high ground not give in to our most primitive instincts like revenge.We're humans,the whole death penalty is wrong,cruel and needs to be ablosihed.
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. It has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments.