Why do we kill people that kill people to show people that killing people is wrong?

Question

...just a thought.
But is there really an answer to that?

Answer 1

Well erm,
Its just to punish them for killing people, but if he has killed like a million people, can we kill him like a million times to give him wat he deserves?

Answer 2

Because there is still a group of people out there who fervently believe in one of three things:

1) That capital punishment is actually a deterrent to additional killings; or
2) That the "closure" offered to families and loved ones and society in general, following in the wake of oftentimes horrific crimes, is stronger, more valuable, more just, and more beneficial to the collective psyche, than the life of the defective individual who was kept alive by abolishing capital punishment;
3) That the cost required to house, feed and maintain this defective individual is not a wise or "deserved" expenditure of funds given #2.

Answer 3

Yes, and the answer is that people are irrational enough to want revenge. The notion that the death penalty is a deterrent is completely fallacious. When people do think about it before committing a crime, they might think about how to escape or to remove evidence connecting them to the crime, but they don't change their minds about going through with the deed. Some 80% of murders are committed by family members or spouses who act out of rage or a desire to collect a hefty inheritance. In addition most crimes period are committed by people who are high and who are by definition not rational. Murders committed by gangsters in the line of "duty" take pride in their work and are not deterred at all by the threat of legal punishment.

Answer 4

Current forms of punishment, capital punishment included, ignore the criminal's reasons for having killed someone or committed a crime. Humans are too lazy and blind to look at and try to solve THOSE reasons, which are the true issues behind any crime.

Hypothetically speaking, perhaps there are some people who are more likely to commit crimes. For example people who live in poverty, and (believe they) have no access to jobs or education to get jobs. People like that may be driven to crime because they think they have no other choice. And those are the problems that have to be solved.

Answer 5

I think that it's probably because people who kill other people are a "danger" to everyone else around them. I don't really think that it is for "revenge", and if it is for revenge, the family members of the victim may need to look into getting counseling.

If it were a dog that attacked and killed another person...you would have it "put to sleep" with no questions asked...end of story. So why not put the murdering person "to sleep" too???

Answer 6

Should we tuck a killer in bed with cookies and milk and read him a story about why it's wrong? Get real. Ask the family of the people that are murdered if it's fair. Life in a world where people are murdered isn't fair. We do it because it is justice of sorts, for convicted murderer's in today's world.

Answer 7

Its a little something called revenge. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge!
♥

Answer 8

Because we have to make an example of what kind of punishment they dissever or they should get for taking an innocent life. And because society has to remain strong, because if it ever shows weakness, then the minority (criminals, drug gangs, mafia, etc) will find ways to control society and its people.

Answer 9

We don't do it to show what is right and wrong. We do it to instill fear of punishment as a deterrent. It's based in pragmatism, not philosophy.

Answer 10

Because some still live in the 'an eye for an eye' mentality.