Is it fair for a rapist/murder to get years in prison?

Question

I think what I am asking is; the person they raped and murdered or just a cold blooded murder that took a life that was pleading not to kill them, but did.... Is it fair even if they get the death penalty, that they die quietly in their sleep by lethal injection? They say its inhumane to do that to them, but it was VERY INHUMANE what they did to their victim. To me its not fair. I want to know what others think. To me its B S... But thats just me. Thank you.

Answer 1

We should ask whether the death penalty helps society by preventing or reducing crime and how we would feel hearing that an innocent person was executed. Before making up their minds people should have information about the death penalty system and a good alternative. The sources for my answer are below.

Risks of executing innocent people-
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides and its not a guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.

The death penalty doesn't 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 don’t.

We have a good alternative. 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.

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process. When the death penalty is a possible sentence, extra costs start mounting up before trial, continue through the uniquely complicated trial in death penalty cases (actually 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court), and appeals.

The death penalty doesn't apply to people with money. Its not reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. 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.

Problems with speeding 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 2

Fairness. Justice. Who knows? How can we know? Everyone has a different idea about what justice is. I know one thing, though. Comparing what the murderer or rapist did to what society is going to do to them is probably not going to make any sense. I do have problems with saddling a felony on someone who shoplifted something or possessed some meth, but not with saddling a felony on a rapist or a murderer. I think comparing what a shoplifter or a drug user does with the punishment society is going to give them does make sense and I think what society does to those people is overkill. But killing and rape is a different thing. Nothing we can do to a murderer or a rapist is going to compare to what they did to their victims. Saddling them with a felony is okay, but what about the death penalty? Is it fair? Why is it for us or our elected leaders to determine what is fair or just? Often times, fairness and justice is really about revenge. The victim's revenge or society's revenge. Why do we have power to say that we can execute someone no matter what they did?

If there is a God, does God give us the right to do it? I say there is doubt that God really gives us that right. If there is no God, then we can do whatever we want, but where does our authority come from? From our might? Just because we say we have it. Authority comes from somewhere and we have to be able to understand the limitations of authority.

Moreover, a few people on Death Row end up being proven innocent periodically. Can you really be completely sure that someone is guilty of murder or rape? "Beyond a reasonable doubt" is not "absolute certainty". Doesn't that have to be taken into account when determining whether to have the death penalty or not. (Although I think I'd rather die than be locked up in prison for the rest of my life.)

One should also note that people lie all the time. They lie to get out of trouble themselves. They lie to make themselves look better. They lie for other reasons. And the trouble they are trying to get out of pales in comparison to the trouble the defendant is in but for the lie of the witness or victim. Since our system is about the credibility of witnesses and the credibility of witnesses is often determined by what someone looks like as opposed to more objective factors, I say our system is fundamentally flawed.

Also, as I said, everyone has a different opinion. But because everyone has a different opinion, that puts all our opinions into doubt.

As such, I have major problems with the death penalty. It's the ultimate punishment, but it's a punishment in a fundamentally flawed system. If we had a system where guilt could be found with absolute certainty, I might be okay with the death penalty. But that's not the way it is, so I have problems with it.

Answer 3

They should be kept in solitary confinement, in an underground, dungeon-style cell, if necessary due to prison overcrowding. I took a tour of Alcatraz, and they had small solitary cells where the prisoner was kept in complete darkness, and received meals that were slid through an opening on the bottom of the door. That is where they stayed and did not come out. EVER. Very few, if any, murders or rapists can be trusted not to hurt someone again. We must protect the public by keeping these people in prison, until they die a natural death.

Answer 4

well if someone gets life without parole more than likely they are a bad person who probably will not change their attitude in prison...

so........they more than likely will kill or stab someone in prison......why do we have to put people at risk guarding them? oh no, don't tell me that's Hollywood, no that's MSNBC

as far as life without parole........lock them in a cell for 24 hours / day and when they die then and only then let them out..... it will save on medical costs ....it will save on injuries to guards ........and it will be "life in prison" that will be as cruel and unusal as the victim had it,,,

there is enough statistical evidence of malfeasance by police,
so if we set the standard for the death penalty, so only the blatantly guilty will fry ,but expedite the process and fry them QUICKLY!!!

some people will disagree and say the government should not be involved with life or death........
yea...
and the very same people who want to abolish the death penalty sit there and argue that the gov't should allow people to withdraw the feeding tubes of terminally ill people.......

so the only life worth saving is a convict , NOT an ordinary person tho.....

Answer 5

Once you put the government in the role of killer, what's to stop them. But, we seem to have a government that crosses that line all of the time.

You don't seem too concerned about the abysmal track record of police for planting and manipulating evidence. I'm not sold on the idea that DNA evidence is decisive in every case. There are numerious cases of mistaken identity and false convictions.

Killing people is barbaric. It's far cheaper and safer to put them away and throw away the key.

Answer 6

I believe that these punishments do not do society any good. Long sentences or death penalty? No way. These people should be sentenced to no more than one day in jail. Of course, that day would have to be spent in with the general prison population. Would true justice be served? You bet your as* it would.

Answer 7

I use to be for the death penalty until too many cases came up that the person wasn't guilty. I don't want someone death on my hands. Unless they are proven to be guilty beyond all doubts(that means airtight witness,weapon,and DNA) then I don't agree to the death penalty.

Answer 8

the death penalty is like an easy way out, they should suffer with the rest of their life behind bars. besides, nobody has the right to take life, only god.

Answer 9

Yeah, but if we did the same to the murderers or rapist then we will be just like them!!!

Answer 10

It's called an eye for an eye
Years not fair
death fair