Do you believe in the death penalty?

[OokamiShipper]

Um...I'm not sure...this is a really complicated topic. ^^;
I always end up overthinking it and contradicting myself in these kind of things...
I do think that the death penalty is kinda extreme...because I believe a life is still a life no matter how much...(I guess it's sins?) it's been burdened with. I also think that killing a killer is gonna set off a never-ending chain reaction...
And then vice versa, I argue with myself a lot...

 

[Druid]

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Think about it...

Plus there is always the possibility you are killing someone who is innocent.

I don't support it. If you execute someone, even if they were guilty of murder, doesn't killing them make you the killer? I remember learning that two wrongs don't make a right - is this not true in this case? Why not? What always scares me about the death penalty is that we are going back to our roots as savage people. In a civilization, everybody should have a life - even if their life is in prison. Murder is illegal, and we'd be hypocrites to commit it for any reason. Life imprisonment keeps these people away from us, but doesn't leave a stain on our conscious.

Also, people are framed for crimes, as well as simply mistaken for committing them all the time. With prison, there's always the chance that if you discover, in the future, that they hadn't committed a crime at all, they can be released to live a relatively normal life. If you kill them when they are found guilty, who would even look for evidence?

 

[Yamikarasu]

My view on the matter is that if you purposefully end someone else's life you don't deserve to live yours. of course, there would have to be concrete evidence that the person is guilty for this to be effective.

I also don't believe in the idea of "being the better person" by putting them in prison, or people say that "you are lowering yourself to their level". If someone knowingly and willingly takes the life of another then the consequences should be equal.

In many cases, by putting a murderer in prison, you are actually giving them a better life that they would have if they were free. If you need me to explain this, then I will. But in my view, the longer the punishment is not proportionate to the crime, then the rates of murder will be much higher.

All I have to say to that is this is the kind of rational that leads to unnecessary wars. "They did something bad to us so we need to punish them for it" rather than "they did something bad to us so we need to prevent them from ever doing that again."

 

[kw2tsg1]

I don't know what I feel about the death penalty but I guess I don't support it only because it seems that it would make me feel like the killer because I wanted that criminal to get the death penalty. I honestly don't know what to say about this but this is just what I think.

 

[Reina]

Honestly, I just think some people are a harm to the human race and just deserve to die. No one single person should be able to judge who lives and dies, but I still think sometimes it's completely necessary for people to die, if it's a severe enough crime...

 

[Kleinchen]

I support the death penalty, but I think it should only be used on people convicted of first- or second-degree murder or with more than one rape conviction.

Yes, everyone has the right to live, but when you take someone else's life, you forfeit your own right to live your life. Did the person they murder get a say in whether or not they got to live? No. So the murderer shouldn't be allowed to either. And rape can seriously destroy people's lives; rape victims generally need copious amounts of therapy or drugs like antidepressants to be able to resume living a normal life. One rape should be punished by jail time, rehabilitation, and very careful monitoring after the rapist's release from prison. If the person commits more than one rape, then they have shown that they obviously are unable to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, and because they have ruined more than one person's life, they should not be allowed to keep theirs.

And the death penalty is not cruel or unusual punishment. Nearly every method of execution is quick and painless, which is often much more merciful than the methods employed by the murderer or rapist on their victims.

 

[Sneeze]

Again going on Penn and Teller, apparently lethal injection is far from humane leaving the person completely paralysed for a while before the actual lethal part comes into play, can't remember the exact details but allegedly the protocol is less strict for lethal injection than it is for putting an animal to sleep. Of course there's always the electric chair.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

My honest opinion:

The death penalty is something that should be an exclusive option to those who've commited murder, and/or commited a crime of national or global level. Why? Because, those who've committed such vile, dispicable crimes as murdering a child, raping them, killing babies, killing/raping pregnant women, taking sexual advantage of the physically or mentally handicapped shouldn't be put to death, no, they should be cofined to life in prison without pural or bail. BUT they cannot be put in solitary-confinement, nooooo. They are to be put in a cell, and be forced to participate in all activities as other convicts. Also, they are to be announced to be a violator of children, pregnant women, or the mentally or physically handicapped. WHY? So the inmates can have their ways with these sick-os. Let them experience the violation and abuse they put their victims through. And when they're on their cells, bleeding and crying, pleading over and over to be put to death, deny them their request. Make them feel exactly how they made their victims feel.

 

[Yuukihime]

I do support the death penalty in certain circumstances, in others I think they should just spend the rest of their sorry lives in prison. :|

 

[twocows]

My honest opinion:

The death penalty is something that should be an exclusive option to those who've commited murder, and/or commited a crime of national or global level. Why? Because, those who've committed such vile, dispicable crimes as murdering a child, raping them, killing babies, killing/raping pregnant women, taking sexual advantage of the physically or mentally handicapped shouldn't be put to death, no, they should be cofined to life in prison without pural or bail. BUT they cannot be put in solitary-confinement, nooooo. They are to be put in a cell, and be forced to participate in all activities as other convicts. Also, they are to be announced to be a violator of children, pregnant women, or the mentally or physically handicapped. WHY? So the inmates can have their ways with these sick-os. Let them experience the violation and abuse they put their victims through. And when they're on their cells, bleeding and crying, pleading over and over to be put to death, deny them their request. Make them feel exactly how they made their victims feel.

You're assuming that everyone that goes to prison for a charge like this is actually guilty of that charge. There are false positives in the justice system more often than you'd think, and this is one reason why a "revenge" system like this is such a bad thing. You're condemning potentially innocent people to torture, and for what?

Like I said, assuming re-education doesn't work (we need a way to figure out on which people it will work best), we simply need to isolate these people and have them do something actually useful for society, though the death penalty should be an option if they wish to receive it.

 

[Spikey-Eared Pichu]

Okay, sure we get false-positives, but for the majority, these people are convicted on correct terms. WHY should these sick bastards be given the easy ways out? Therapy, the death sentence, isolation, they're all terrible ideas because these people, no, these scum will go without having to pay for their crimes in an equal way to what they did in the first place.

 

[RivalGator]

Absolutely.

I believe the Death Penalty is justice ONLY if you have taken another life... Or there is just too much damn room in the cells. I don't believe they should keep making prisons to hold all of those people...

In all opinion, I feel like the systems are being way too nice to criminals. They use the death penalty as little as possible. If people kill someone, then they should die in the exact same way that they have killed... Unless they were, like, in the army or attacked and had valid reason to kill. But I believe that if a guy rapes and kills a woman, he should be raped by a really big gay man and then killed the same exact way. That's exactly how I see it.

I love the death penalty. It teaches people that they aren't so high and mighty in the world after all and gets rid of the worthless cowards who have nothing better to do than make other people's lives miserable.

I know I sound mean, but that's the way I see it.

 

[Tonda]

Eh, I just spent ten minutes writing a massive post on why I dont support the death penalty, got logged out and lost the entire post. Yay me!

Anyways, my main points were that its cheaper to keep someone in jail for life without parole than it is to put them to death; the legal paperwork is huge and court costs because of multiple appeals isnt cheap either. Innocent people have been put to death for crimes that they didnt commit before, and that alone is a reason for why it shouldnt be allowed I think. I did some research a couple of years back, and found that (in the USA) states that have the death penalty have a higher crime rate than those that dont.

Im also a believer in that everyone should have the chance of rehabilitation. I know that it doesnt work for everyone (I went on a trip to a prison for a law subject once), but it should at least be attempted. Everyone deserves a second chance.

I live in a country where we dont have the death penalty, and I think our system works fine as it is. Being in prison is a horrible enough deterrent for most, and for those that arent deterred by it probably wont be deterred by the death penalty either.

My other post was much more convincing, but oh well. I believe that its barbaric to have the death penalty, but thats just my opinion.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I don't believe any human should have the right to take the life of another. The power to take away someone else's life is not a power we should have. Sure, lock the bastards away so they never see daylight again, but killing them is not something we should be able to do. Even the most despicable human being has the right to live.

 

[Rogue planet]

I don't believe it should be used as a predetermined penalty for a certain crime, each case is different so I don't think there should be any sort of set routine that is used to deal with particular offences. Although, I do support it as a viable option, it just totally depends on the circumstances of each individual criminal case as to whether it should be used or not.
The laws that we're supposed to follow are something humanity created so we can try to exist as peacefully as possible. Once someone has committed a serious crime, they shouldn't retain their 'rights' and shouldn't remain protected by the laws they refused to follow.

 

[Throat]

Yes, if you do kill people, you should be killed for the whole society's sake, not for bloodlust. Surely it should only be applied when there's no other way, no chance the person adapt to society.

 

[Muffin™]

I support the death penalty, but I think it should only be used on people convicted of first- or second-degree murder or with more than one rape conviction.

Yes, everyone has the right to live, but when you take someone else's life, you forfeit your own right to live your life. Did the person they murder get a say in whether or not they got to live? No. So the murderer shouldn't be allowed to either. And rape can seriously destroy people's lives; rape victims generally need copious amounts of therapy or drugs like antidepressants to be able to resume living a normal life. One rape should be punished by jail time, rehabilitation, and very careful monitoring after the rapist's release from prison. If the person commits more than one rape, then they have shown that they obviously are unable to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, and because they have ruined more than one person's life, they should not be allowed to keep theirs.

And the death penalty is not cruel or unusual punishment. Nearly every method of execution is quick and painless, which is often much more merciful than the methods employed by the murderer or rapist on their victims.

I actually agree to this one. :)

 

[chadgraphix]

Yes. They need to be taught a lesson, or obviously they won't learn not to kill people.

 

[EJ]

I'm against the Death penalty. I feel as though both sides have some very interesting and swaying arguments, but ultimately I have to disagree with it. Yeah, there's horrible people out there that commit heinous crimes but we also have to think about the falsely accused people that are in there. If anybody is interested, try googling "the innocence project" just to see how many people are wrongly convicted. Not only that, but we also have to consider the responsibility of murdering another human being. Nobody should have that responsibility or power in my humble opinion.

We can't just be ignorant and say "They killed so let's kill them!" because then we'd be following the "eye for an eye" approach (and well the whole world goes blind from it like somebody else had stated.) So I voted no.

 

[Ivysaur]

I'll just stick to the "The whole point is not getting revenge, but keeping that guy away so he doesn't do it again". Murdering won't teach anybody a lesson- because once you are dead, you can't learn anything, duh. But spending a dozen years in prison will sure teach you things.

Some of you say that killing is bad so you are fine with killing these people. Nonsense. If killing is bad, it should be bad always (unless it's a life-or-death scenario, you know). As many people said, two rights don't make a wrong.

So let's see: killing people is immoral. Killing people is more expensive. Killing can't be undone. And spending years and years waiting for the final day, knowing that today might be your final day in the Earth, it's a cruel torture, even bigger than spending years and years in a prison.

And, finally, killing a convicts means that you believe in the worst of the people, that there isn't any chance for them to pay for their crimes, think about what they have done and rehabilitate. I myself think otherwise- I believe there is such chance. So I'd rather have them spend years and years and years in prison thinking about what they did and paying for it, before giving them a second chance. And if they do it again? Life imprisonment, for what's left of their lives.

But really, if you have spent 30 years in prison, you'll get out with 50/60 years unless you were really young when you got caught. And, when you are that old, chances of going back to your old misdeeds aren't really that huge, unless you are a psychopath. And they aren't that common, either.