do you think that capital punishment will get any easier in the future?

Answer 1

Not unless human beings become perfect. The death penalty system has many practical problems. I think it is unlikely that they will go away. (Sources 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 isn’t 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 (including Texas.) It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

Death penalty costs. 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 trials, one to decide if the defendent is guilty and the second to choose the sentence, 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

Not likely. As the public starts to understand the failure of capital punishment to deter crime, more and more people are becoming opposed to this backwards practice. The United States is almost alone as an industrialized nation that still executes prisoners. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment#Global_distribution_of_death_penalty). There is a great discussion on the failure of capital punishment here: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf

Answer 3

If, by "easier," you mean less appeals and swifter executions, then God help us.

That would definitely mean more innocent people executed.

As it stands, with the current, seemingly "endless" appeals process, 124 people have been released from death row in the last 30 years because DNA evidence has proven their innocence.

Unfortunately, DNA evidence is only available in about 10% of cases. That means that hundreds more stand to be wrongfully executed, ESPECIALLY if the appeals process is made "easier."

Answer 4

Its easy now...throw the switch and ZAP!!!

Now the legal process, as in the case of known scumbag Mumia Abu-Jamal, and to get them to that point is another story and is already too difficult and overly open to appeal...And depending on who President on January 9th will determine if this process gets "harder or easier"...

Answer 5

No.
I think the opposite will prove to be true.

Answer 6

Chinese actually figured it out.short trial,no appeal,bullet to the back of the head,case closed.