I'm against the death penalty, but I can see it in cases like the BTK killer, where it could be put to good use. The problems with the death penalty are that it's expensive to try and incarcerate, its introduction is totally subjective on the prosecutor's whims, it doesn't serve as a deterrant, and there aren't guarantees that the Death Row inmate is the actual felon. It's racial and class biased, unmoral, prohibitively expensive on the state, and inaccurate. In certain states, the entire process of maintaining a felon in prison for life is less expensive than a Death Row trail and execution.
This is true, I read this before. I don't have the exact numbers on me, but it's a fact most, if not all the time.
I struggle with this issue -- I'm not sure that someone who molest and kills children deserves to live --- but I also know that innocent people have been executed. The latter makes me lean to the anti-death penalty side. I'm surprised that all you Texans don't want to "string 'em up" -- then again this is a very liberal board
At the dawn of the 21st century, the death penalty is considered by most civilized nations as a cruel and inhuman punishment. It has been abolished de jure or de facto by 106 nations, 30 countries have abolished it since 1990. However, the death penalty continues to be commonly applied in other nations. China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States and Iran are the most prolific executioners in the world. Indeed, the US (Until yesterday thank God!) is one of six countries (including also Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen) which executes people who were under 18 years-old at the time they committed their crimes. http://www.derechos.org/dp/
I'm for the death penalty in theory. Haven't done a lot of research so I can't really say if it is being implemented correctly in particular states. Theoretically, if someone did something horrendous to my daughter, I would want that person killed. I wouldn't care about the "deterrant" factor. Sometimes death is a just punishment. "Rehabilitation" or "deterrence" are not why we have jails. I always thought that we sent adults to jail to punish them. For example, Adolph Hitler deserved to die. But if not the death penalty, how about a lifetime of hard labor? At least, the criminal would be forced to help society in some marginal way - and pay for his room and board!
death penalty is great...nobody deserves to take anyone elses life and get another chance... however the proof has to be 100% there...there should be some kind of DNA or First hand evidence or else no... cause we are humans and we all make mistakes... i don't know how the death penalty works so i am just stating my own opinion.
I would prefer life without parole. That way no innocent gets put to death because of a bad lawyer or any other mistake. There needs to be an option to keep monster off the street and then let God judge them in the afterlife.
I totally agree with MadMax on this one. I don't believe we can ever have a perfect criminal justice system because we as humans are always going to be imperfect. The risk of the state putting an innocent person to death to me outweighs any sense of justice or retribution gained by executing a 1000 guilty ones. In regards to the argument that the death penalty keeps people from offending again to me that's why we need better prisons. IMO I don't care if we keep criminals in cryo-storage as long there is every chance for exoneration. Eventually I believe the death penalty will be found unconstitutional on the grounds that it artificially stops due process since once the person is executed there is no chance for exoneration if later evidence comes out showing the person was innocent. On a side note Giddyup brought up the question in terms of abortion, should we make lifestyle over life one of our foundational values? IMO as long as we are willing to keep the death penalty when it has proved to not be a deterrent and there is the option of life without parole because we value retribution and what we feel to be justice we've already made lifestyle over life a foundational value.
What makes the Death Penalty hard to get out is that once a person is tried and convicted, the burden of proof shifts upon the defense to prove their client's innocence. So if the client doesn't have the adequate money for a good competent lawyer, most likely the guy is ****ed. If the defendant had a good lawyer in the first place, his lawyer could most likely wriggle out of getting tried for the death penalty. We've witnessed how some serial killers have been able to escape getting tried for the DP in exchange for more bodies. It's no surprise that the court system is skewed towards the highest bidder.
