I'm against the death penalty. Look what happened to Jesus

[Hazzle]

Yeah...we've done all the other obligatory controversial topics...so the death penalty...8th amendment of the US constitution...that sort of thing...discuss.

[Sarah]

I'm against it! 100%. For a number of reasons, it WOULD NOT deter people from commiting murder, as most murder's aren't planned, they're heat of the moment and plus you can't always get the right person. So thats it. Keeping it simple.

Can't wait to read the loooong, complicated essays people will write about this.
EDIT:

P.S: I like The Life Of David Gale. That film makes a damn good point. Texas sucks, (when we're talking about the Death Penalty)

[Hazzle]

My views are pretty simple. Against it, simply because it if it's applied to all cases, regardless of the specifics, simply because murder has been committed (or capital murder if you seperate them...even then it's not specific enough), then no mercy can be shown and it's cruel and inhumane. If you don't apply it to all circumstances, there is discrimination and arbitrariness in the system. In short, it cannot possibly be applied fairly.

Oh, and what Sarah said about mistakes in the system, getting the wrong person, it doesn't work as a deterrent, and thus runs contrary to criminal punishment principles, who are we to judge which lives are worth living and what not, the sheer complexity of the issue, at present, is such that it simply must be wrong.

That's all I've got for now

[Stormbringer]

This is a controversial topic...I'm not quite sure how I feel. Here is one question I have-What if the person who committed the murder killed a loved one of yours(as in family member, best friend, or significant other), would you still not want to wish death upon that person?

[ChocolateMoose]

I've heard it said by some people that executing someone is as bad as the murder its self. Not sure I agree with that though.

It has been recorded that people change when on death row...see the error of their ways, find God or whatever and some people use this as an argument against captial punsihment. However, then everyone whos on death row could insist that they have changed when in truth they haven't...so that argument dosn't work either.

My view is that it is wrong. Anyway, a better way to punish people is to lock them away for the rest of their lives. Execution i.e. death is a means of escape, and if you really want to let someone pay for what they have done, keep them alive in a horrible cell. I dunno, they would go insane but that wouldn't get the satisfaction of escape.

[Spire]

Our prisons are full, the innocent taxpayers are spending huge amounts of money to pay for the inmates food, shelter, and cable television, and I have no bleeding heart for murderers, child rapists, or any of the other scumbags that get put on death row.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Spire

Our prisons are full, the innocent taxpayers are spending huge amounts of money to pay for the inmates food, shelter, and cable television, and I have no bleeding heart for murderers, child rapists, or any of the other scumbags that get put on death row.

As long as they're put away, I would have no problem. I don't support (the chair) style execution, but rather the less painful (if it even is) lethal injection. Some people do deserve to die. I mean, is it our fault that they screwed up their lives and decided to choose that particular path? (If they even did, I'm trying to look at this thing both ways... because accidentally murders do happen.) Are we suppose to feel pity? No, because some of us will be eating cheeseburgers when a murderer gets executed. I really can't afford to worry about a cold-blooded murderer, and neither should anyone else. I definitely don't support what happened to Jesus, I don't even support any type of harsh execution's such as: The Chair, Firing Squard, Hanging, Stoned, :err: , and all that other Royal shit they did back in the day.

That's the way I've always felt about the death penalty.

They shouldn't get cable television. But then again, a world without television is chaos.

[Elijahfan]

Originally Posted by Spire

Our prisons are full, the innocent taxpayers are spending huge amounts of money to pay for the inmates food, shelter, and cable television, and I have no bleeding heart for murderers, child rapists, or any of the other scumbags that get put on death row.

totally agreeding, prisons are over crowded and tax payers are the ones footing the bills. plus it's a revolving door for the less serious offenders (stealing, fraud). i'm not saying all criminals deserve death but people who plot to murder and shit like that do.

[DragonRat]

The death penalty is meant to serve as a higher deterrent, for those who do not believe in prison time as deterrence in itself. I don't think that it's right, simply because it costs even more money to keep someone on Death Row than it is to keep them locked up in a prison. On a moral standpoint, I don't think it's rather correct either, though emotions do tend to get in the way of my thoughts. I mean, if I had a daughter theoretically, and some stranger kidnapped, molested, raped, and ultimately mutilated and murdered her, you're damn sure I'd want some blood out of that. As un-Christian as that sounds, sometimes things like this have to happen.

[Hazzle]

But y'know...noone's addressed the points of:

a) sure...a GUILTY murderer does...but how many convictions are overturned later?
b) What about people who repent...DR...as a Christian...would God not allow someone to repent their sin? Should they not be allowed a chance to lead their new purer life?


Also...the prisons are overful because we don't know how to handle crime. Firstly American prisons are full because of petty criminals like people who merely possess drugs being given mandatory sentencing...that's just fucking retarded. Also we don't use parole enough, or suspended sentences, and we simply don't know how to rehab people and put them into the RIGHT sort of program.

Also isn't the whole bloody purpose of criminal law to protect and insulate us from our baser desires? Murder...this can often be the result of anger...theft...greed...rape/child molestation...lust. The urge for revenge is a base emotion...it's a neanderthal emotion...and whilst it's ENTIRELY understandable...the purpose of the criminal justice system is to stop us exacting our revenge, not do it for us. It's supposed to replace a biased emotionally charged punishment with a fair, balanced and proportionate punishment...can we say the death penalty is always fair and balanced? And even if it's evenly applied, what about when it's not appropriate? Then doesn't it become cruel?

[rabbit]

erm ok...so much for my 2nd post as a newbie here....


I'm supposed to be a christian..but i'm not very religious. For me, religion shouldnt come into it..in regards to repenting etc etc.

Death penalty i'm against but only for non mass murderers. Mainly if lets say, the wrong person was convicted and maybe that person who killed e.g. his friend was provoked in some way or the other. Whatever that provocation or 'thing' that made him kill...i dont think the death p0enalty justfies it..(i hope i make sense here)

but i think the death penlaty should be for mass murderers..like Harold Shipman for example.

[Hazzle]

If we apply it to some and not others it introduces arbitrariness into the system...there already is some, we don't need to add to it...otherwise the legal system becomes a mess.

[KRev]

If the Islamic extremists and the Zionists got anything right it's

EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH

[Hazzle]

Originally Posted by KRev

If the Islamic extremists and the Zionists got anything right it's

EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH

How well reasoned an argument...why don't we all just have vigilante justice and end the modern civilised world?

[DragonRat]

If they were to repent, it's difficult to believe them. Such is the heinousness of their crime, that the majority of peoples would hardly think that they have truly changed their ways. But I think that Death Row inmates should be given a chance to parole, to rehabilitate. If they learn the errors of their ways, then perhaps they can contribute to society in the later part of their lives.

Perhaps rehabilitation is that most civilized of methods. Revenge assuredly is a passionate and extreme emotion, but do not discount it. As a Christian, I dislike the death penalty, but do not disregard the fact that it is a major deterrent for crime. Unfortunately, there are numerous mistakes in it.

[Sarah]

Originally Posted by KRev

If the Islamic extremists and the Zionists got anything right it's

EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

[KRev]

For those of us who have an inkling about what the EYE FOR AN EYE command's original context is, my post makes more sense.

The original purpose of the Hebraic verse is to, in modern terms, make the punishment fit the crime.

Thus the question is begged: Who determines which punishment(s) fit which crime(s)?

[DefyingGravity]

I'm against the death penalty. Nobody has the right to take another human life away. Even if someone did murdered, how would killing them make us any better?

I agree with Sarah.

[alby]

The chance for rehabilitation should be given to those who have committed nonviolent, petty crimes. I don't have any sympathy for murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc. -- including white-collar criminals who steal millions of dollars. I wouldn't shed any tears if they were used as crash test dummies.

I disagree with the death penalty because it costs the public more money to pay for the appeals of death row inmates than it would to give those inmates life imprisonment and because our justice system doesn't afford poorer members of society adequate legal representation, thereby resulting in the possible conviction of innocent men and women.

I think violent criminals should be forced to work to help defray the costs of their institutionalization. I wouldn't have a problem with forcing them to make license plates or toys for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Take away amenities like television, weight rooms, visitation, etc.

Originally Posted by Sarah

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

A clever man, Gandhi was. But some would say that the whole world became blind a long time ago.

[Spire]

This is one of those things I don't dwell on. I'm not against the death penalty, that's my opinion, I don't see why I should try to prove it to anyone. If someone raped and murdered my little sister, I'd want them to be executed, assuming I didn't get to him first. I would never settle for having the bastard live in prison for the rest of his life.