Capital Punishment, for or against?

I was debating on another thread, and the idea for this one popped into my head. Are you for or against the execution of certain criminals? What would be the criteria to warrant the death sentence? What methods would be the most humane? (ok, now I'm getting morbid... :D)

My personal opinion - serial murderers, above all else, deserve the death penalty. I mean, anyone who is unbalanced enough to kill a ton of people is probably not going to be reformable, and all prison will do is allow him to hone his technique. I prefer hanging, also, just because it provides a great example to others, to see the bodies of criminals rotting in the sun.

Probably serial rapists, terrorists (the big dogs, like if we ever found Osama), and possibly traitors deserve capital punishment, but I'm not too sure about those.

 

I'm against the death penalty. When you teach somebody a lesson, the purpose of teaching them that lesson is so that they can think about it, mull over it, and perhaps come to a healthy conclusion about the mistake that they've made. You can't do that if you're dead (at least, to my knowledge). I think a life sentence is better, because then the person is stuck there not endangering anybody, yet given the chance to think, to regret. Of course, killing or raping somebody is a horrible crime, but I'm a huge disbeliever in the whole "an eye for an eye" mentality. There are so many sides to the same story. And who knows? Maybe life imprisonment is an even worse punishment to the person being punished than death row is.

 

Yes, but the whole "multiple sides" argument was before we had reliable DNA evidence. And yes, I had heard of those convicts recently found innocent through faulty DNA, but that evidence had been gathered and processed in the 80's or something, with less reliable techniques. IMO, the death penalty would only apply to those of the most heinous criminals who have been convicted so soundly there is no doubt in any part of the proceedings, no confusion, no assumptions made, and all the evidence is incontrovertible. Ideally.

Also, all prison will do to these people (the hard-core serial killers, etc) will give them an opportunity to hone their techniques against other inmates. Most of the people in the prison system are not being reformed at all. They're just being locked up with a bunch of other bloodthirsty criminals.

In addition, putting someone in prison costs a lot more, in most cases (when they don't act all good and get a parole, which, IMO, should not happen as often as it does), than killing them. The costs of keeping all these criminals locked up 25 to life is extremely high, plus any court costs for appeals and such. If they have been convicted the way I suggested earlier in my post, they would have no parole, and death relatively quickly.

 

I'll save my longer post for later after this thread gets more response.
But I agree. The most heinous should deserve to be sentenced to death. I don't know about hanging... but something that will be an example for others. One good reason I'm for it, it would decrease the world's population, maybe not by much, but still...

 

I'm strongly influenced by the golden rule.

To make it simple, here's my worthy crimes of the death penalty:
Murder
DUI Vehicular Man Slaughter
Child Molestation
Attempted mass murder (Failed terrorist attack?)
Betrayal of your country.

The list goes on, but those are the main ones.

 

It would also take the dangerous elements out of the gene pool... :D

I just like hanging for the very visceral impression one gets from seeing the aftermath. It's just like... "I don't want to end up like that". It's also the most public way to do it, at least, if we go semi-traditional (for instance, new gallows, but still outdoors).

 

True

I think they should be hung, but hang the bodies in prisons. Make sure kids can't see them. That way, it would shock the inmates into not wanting to get arrested again and hopefully turn over a new leaf...or try harder not to get caught...

 

The death penelty is barbaric and outdated.

And endorsing it makes you no better than the convicts you would sentence.

 

To add onto what Stooge said, in agreement, it doesn't solve anything. In fact it's the stupidest and easiest way to manage crime, while not actually curing its cause.

 

^This, this and only this.

Capital punishment is a stupid way to get rid of all criminals. We have jails! the death penalty is horrible, I'd prefer at least a life sentence to jail or at least 50 years, whatever works. But i don't think capital punishment is necessary.

 

I would be alright with life sentence in jail, but these days, life in jail is better for a criminal than life out of jail.
We had a huge debate in my Government class about this. Jails are getting too crowded, convicts can work out, they get three squares a day, etc. Jail isn't really punishing them the way it should anymore

 

I'll agree with this one hundred percent.

Not only that but look at the people in prisons now, cases are being overturned very rapidly with new advances in crime solving, the introduction of DNA evidence has found so many people who were convicted to actually be innocent. You talked of how it should only be those who convicted so soundly there is no cause for doubt, that isn't possible, there will ALWAYS be a small chance that you are wrong. Even people using the best techniques can mess up.

Besides, you mock the abilities of those working in the 80s because we are allegedly more advanced now, so what happens in twenty years time when the authorities turn around and say that WE are behind and that OUR techniques now are not right. We may be ahead of those twenty/thirty years ago, but that doesn't mean they are perfect.

Say you have someone on death row, they are given the death penalty buzz buzz and all that jazz, and then you find out it was the wrong person and you just killed an innocent human?

People who are sent to jail have it so easy, instead of capital punishment they should work on making damn sure that the convicts don't have such an awesome time, like for example some prisons have PS3s and TVs and all that ****, plus they can do training courses and earn qualifications. That to me is not right at all and it certainly isn't a punishment. It isn't meant to be holiday, and I think that that should be the focus. Changing that.

Killing them won't solve anything, it just brings you down to their level.

That is absolutely ****ing disgusting, and personally, I think if you really have thoughts like that then that brings you down to the level of those serial killers you so wish to dispose of.

 

The prisons have a sophroni.. correctional system not a punishing system.

 

People learn from their mistakes. Taking an eye for an eye, a heart for a heart and all that other bullshit would only suit the time when those phrases actually meant something. Like Johnny Stooge said, they're outdated. In today’s world they don’t. Once you pick on one person from a different country, the whole country attacks. I’m against the death penalty. People who are sentenced to death don’t learn anything, like people expect them to. Jeopardizing someone’s life, killing or raping someone has to have a penalty, but it doesn’t have to be certain death. If they are in jail for the rest of their lives they’re sure to think about it learn from it and maybe have a positive/healthy ending.

If the person guilty actually realizes and regrets what he/she has done and see a death sentence is the only option for repaying their sins, then of course they’ll be happy to be hung.

They got rid of the whole “hanging†thing in Australia a while ago, due to what CtR said. They’ve found new ways of proving people to be innocent with new technology like DNA tests and development in Forensics.

Wishing that a person will be sentenced to death is ****ing disgusting, you should be ashamed of yourself >| It brings you down to a very bad level, to think that you would want people, some innocent, to die.

 

That sums it up for me.

 

Then maybe we should start making an effort to look into what wires them to be unremorseful and see if we can't do something about it or at least prevent it occuring in others.

Prison shouldn't just be used strictly as punishment. Yes, murderers and rapists forfeit their rights but that doesn't mean we just throw them in a cell and leave them there for 40 years. Prison should also be about re-education.

 

Death penalty isn't a way to take revenge on criminals, it's to eliminate elements that are proven (cold hard facts needed) to be destructive and having little chance of improving. I won't go in-depth about what should be punished with death penalty and what shouldn't, but there are cases when it's commendable.

From what I've read, many of you should learn that punishing the criminal is of inferior importance to the civilian's security.
- Capital punishment annihilates chances of escape (personal experience; Belgian gangsters including our most hated child rapist have escaped from prison).
- Capital punishment reduces the amount of occupied cells and keeps it at a lower level. Another important factor from Belgium's point of view: we've had to hire cells in The Netherlands to stuff our delinquents in (true story).

Sadly, contrary to popular belief, death penalty is actually more expensive than keeping a prisoner alive until he dies of natural causes.
If there were any way to cut back on the expenses that come with death penalty (yes, this includes considering methods that are generally viewed as "less humane") then I'm for it. Death penalty isn't outdated, it can be a step to a more rational future.

Also, there is a big ****ing difference between acting upon the law (a consensual set of rules, or at least it should be) and your own views on right and wrong (which are completely personal). Thus, the "we wouldn't be any better" argument does not take the collective vs personal conscience difference into account, therefore it is invalid.

To conclude I'd like to point out that capital punishment is perfectly compatible with other presented alternatives such as investigating and rooting out the causes of crime, the decrease of luxury in cells etc. There is no reason why these measures cannot be combined.

 

I'm actually for a death penalty (which is odd because I'm usually quite conservative), but against on how we do it here in America. I believe the states that have it use injections... though I think one state still uses the chair. Anyways, if someone takes a life of another it would only make sense to give them the same punishment. The methods we use today are quite expensive, and I think cheaper forms of Capital Punishment should be used such as a simple gunshot. The rights of the accused must always be protected and upheld. However, once the determination of guilt is made, those rights - including the right to live as a citizen of this nation - should evaporate. It is not unreasonable to devalue the human life of a murderer; the natural extension of that devaluation is capital punishment. But that's just my opinion on the matter. I don't think people deserve the right to live after they have taken someone else's.

To sum it up: Yeah I support Capital Punishment, but it should be modified to cheaper methods.

 

Again, barbaric.

A mobster takes out a contract on someones life.
A judge sentences a criminal to death.
There's no differance between the acts other than one is legally sanctioned.
I'm not religious, but I don't believe we have the right to condemn another's life.

Not really. It's really quite common for you conversative, religious types to be gung-ho for the death penalty, even though the Bible clearly states "Though shalt not kill".