Death penalty...no death penalty? What do we do with people that kill Innocent people?

Question

What do you suggest we as society do with murderers?

Answer 1

Life in prison.

I was pro-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 2

Our justice system is not perfect; witness the many people released from prison after serving years, decades, sometimes on death row, based on either DNA or the truth coming out that they were railroaded.

IF, and I mean IF, we are absolutely sure the person did it, I would prefer life in prison without the possibility of parole. One, it's cheaper. Two, if the object is revenge living one's entire life in a cage is a whole lot worse than lying down and going to sleep forever.

Even at that, there are some animals who just need to be put down.

Answer 3

Lock them up. In Colorado, we spend about several million dollars per year prosecuting death penalty cases. We've had two executions in the past three or so decades since the Supreme Court re-legalized the death penalty. That comes down to what, $50 million per execution? Ballpark?

A maximum-security prison costs about $70,000 per year per in-mate.

If for no better reason (ie, human rights), it makes more financial sense to do away with the death penalty.

Answer 4

First we establish thier guilt or innocence. There is a percentage of error there. But as a daughter of a man who was murdered, I want them to work, and to support thier own obligations with those proceeds, why should we as a society support them? and when all thier appeals run out- kill 'em.

Answer 5

" For a person who kills with no sense of remorse or regret,living is a punishment worse than death".
These are the people who need to be placed in a type of prison with manual labor,not lounging around with a T.V. in a cell. Do like that sheriff in New Mexico where he has the prisoners on chain gangs living in tents.

Answer 6

We should execute them asap. Why should we support them for the rest of their life. Kill them and get them over with. The only problem I have with the death penalty is that it isn't used enough

Answer 7

I support the death penalty. That's what I think we, as a society, ought to do with them. But I don't believe we should just execute them. I think each and every one of them should die in the exact same manner as the people they murdered. That, I would consider just retribution.

Answer 8

What society does is spend countless millions on maintaining them for years. Something the Bible never did. In the Bible once a person was a murderer he had no worth or rights anymore. Therfore they stoned him. It did not cost them even the cost of a bullet, they just used stones off of the ground. It would send him to God for judgment, it would prevent him from doing it again. It would stop him from having any more children, and it would give the right of revenge to the family give them ":closure". It was the way God decreed. Mostly it was done, according to the Bible, to put a fear in others who might consider murder themselves.

Answer 9

Truthfully, they should be put to death in the same way they put their victims to death. But because of a corrupt judicial system and pansy lawyers, the taxpayers will have to foot the bill for them for about 30 years before they are "LETHALLY INJECTED" and put to sleep PEACEFULLY AND NON-VIOLENTLY!! Even the bible says he who kills by the sword should die by the sword!! I bet there would be a lot less crime if STRICT laws were enforced and adhered to!!! Just my opinion though! Do we allow rabid animals (that we KNOW are harmful) to roam the streets? Do we have that much mercy that we could look at someone who raped and killed our child and say, "Nah, you go live a great life! Even though you took one away?" YES! YES! YES FOR THE DEATH PENALTY! JUST NEEDS TO HAPPEN A LITTLE FASTER!

Answer 10

I suggest that we give them fair, fast, trials to establish their guilt or innocence. On the day they are proclaimed to be guilty, we hang, shoot, electrocute, or gas them to Death. In one end of the justice system and out the other. Free as a bird or dead as a dog.