Should death penalty be legal in the United States?

Answer 1

You don't have to condone brutal crimes or want the criminals who commit them to avoid a harsh punishment to ask whether the death penalty prevents or even reduces crime and whether it risks killing innocent people.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence.

Doesn't DNA keep new cases like these from happening?
DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.

Doesn't the death penalty 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 do not.

So, what are the alternatives?
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.

But isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison?
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process, which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people.

What about the very worst crimes?
The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

Doesn't the death penalty help families of murder victims?
Not necessarily. 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.

So, why not speed up the process?
Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Many Americans are rethinking their views, given the facts and the records on innocent people sentenced to death. As we learn more about the system we are better able to make up our minds based on facts.

Answer 2

No. The death penalty has not solved anything. It probably has only made violent criminals even more violent. Once they know they have committed a capital offense and will get the death sentence, there is no reason for them to stop committing more crimes before they are caught. Thus, the deterrence factor of the death penalty is highly questionable.

It is gruesome for our government (which is "we the people") to kill another human being. Sure, some of them deserve severe punishment, but death hardly seems adequate.

The death penalty is also very expensive. It would be less expensive to have the person in prison for life.

Victims who want the death penalty want it out of revenge. Justice should not take such negative emotions into account.

Answer 3

The death penalty is legal in the United States. And.... Yes I think it should stay legal. Now it isn't performed in some states but that's a state to state decision.
Jeffrey Dahmer.... the Oklahoma Bombing....
Aileen Journos... these people weren't going to change with therapy. Anytime someone decides to kill for no reason but the sake of killing or to kill for some sick *** reason as pathetic as greed, jealousy. Then Yes, it's country should have a right and a responsibility to end things for him/or her. Now I am glad that the electric chair isn't utilized anymore. But if there's no true punishment I believe crime will run rampant.

Answer 4

If it were, there would be over a hundred men dead that were sentenced to death and released from prison when it was found that they were innocent, including several put in prison by Hoover when he was in charge of the FBI.
Instead, establish a prison with no tv, no visitation, and locked in 24 hours a day - put them in and weld the door shut. Any assets the man may have will be divided among the victims and the prison so that would pay for his incarceration and we would save a great amount of money by requiring far fewer guards.

Answer 5

It already is in many States. This should be a State by State Issue. My State does have the Death Penalty.

Why should we care if the person who killed someone else suffers when they're put to death? Did they ensure their victim felt no pain when they killed them?

The Bible tells story after story of Stoning 'Sinners'.

It is written in God's Book, "An Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth for a Tooth" Logic extends to "A Life for a Life."

Answer 6

Death Records Search Database : http://DeathRecordsInfo.com

Answer 7

It's not legal in other countries and they have less crime rates like England for example but they also have gun laws. I feel murder is murder. Should we really be playing god? Is the death penalty really a deterant. Considering all the crime I wouldn't think so. We have more gun deaths in a month in one single city than England has in the whole year.

Answer 8

If someone has brutally tortured, killed and dismembered a member of your family I am sure you will appreciate the death penalty. Or we can eliminate the death penalty and turn criminals over to the families they hurt for more of a marshal law society.

And the leftist that are worried about playing God... Funny how God is able to come up now.

Answer 9

Not only do I support it, I don't think we use it enough. I think we need to retire the electric chair and use the electric bench.

With all the heinous crimes going (murder, manslaughter, rape, child molestation to a point, etc) there are plenty of people out who need to fry.

The country needs to stop thinking that these people are just miguided and they rehabable. Look at Charles Manson. Unfortunately, he dodged the chair in CA. This is not about saving an innocent life, its about perserving the gene pool from idiots and psychos.

I have one final question to anyone who abjects to my comments: If a convicted killer/rapists/child molestor was paroled, would you let him/her move into your neighborhood next door?

Answer 10

Get your information immediately. The u.s. ideal court has ruled in Roper v. Simmons it is it no longer permissible to execute a newborn. As your premise is untrue, your comments are meaningless.