The Death Penalty - Inspired by Scott Peterson thread..

[cynsaun]

Originally posted by southernclass


I do not think that some judge who snorts cocaine on the weekends and hires prostitutes should decide the fate of the world.

Who has been doing this?

 

[janette]

I'm against the death penalty, these are the main reasons.

1) Our justice system is not perfect, I believe that in order to use a non-reversable punishment our system must be perfect. Completely fair and without error, as long as it is managed by humans it won't be.

2) There is no evidence that it is a deterrent, I read an interesting point on this that simply stated for something to be a deterrent the criminal has to believe they will be caught. No matter how intelligent they are few are worried about the consequences of their crimes.

3) There is no way to predict who will committ future crimes. Not all murders are committed by someone who has done it before. Some may never do anything again in or out of jail, to use this as part of the decision of whether someone lives or dies just doesn't work. I couldn't find a link but I heard on the news that the TX death penalty is being challanged on this since part of the determination of whether the death penalty is used is if they are considered a future risk.

 

[poohandwendy]

2) There is no evidence that it is a deterrent, I read an interesting point on this that simply stated for something to be a deterrent the criminal has to believe they will be caught. No matter how intelligent they are few are worried about the consequences of their crimes.

How do you explain the extremely low homicide rates in countries that swiftly execute criminals who commit murder? IMO, the only reason our system is so ineffective is because the criminal KNOWS they will not recieve a swift harsh penalty.

 

[cynsaun]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
How do you explain the extremely low homicide rates in countries that swiftly execute criminals who commit murder? IMO, the only reason our system is so ineffective is because the criminal KNOWS they will not recieve a swift harsh penalty.

I completely agree.

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by meandtheguys
Oh...do you have a PROBLEM with that?

Instigator!!

 

[SandraM]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
How do you explain the extremely low homicide rates in countries that swiftly execute criminals who commit murder?

Just wondering what countries these are, and what are the official figures?

 

[janette]

Using these 2 sites I can look at the list of countries with the lowest homicide rates and those that have a death penalty. I don't see any overwhelming correlation.

Death Penalty by Country

Lowest 100 Murder Countries

 

[emmagata]

Originally posted by MHopkins2
The guy was already in for life - he didn't have much to fear.

Life in prison sure wasn't a deterrent for him was it.

 

[C.Ann]

Is a dead murderer capable of killing again? If the answer is no, I don't see how ANYONE can say that it's "not" a detterent..

 

[Laura]

Originally posted by janette
Using these 2 sites I can look at the list of countries with the lowest homicide rates and those that have a death penalty. I don't see any overwhelming correlation.

Death Penalty by Country

Lowest 100 Murder Countries

I think you're exactly right. There isn't an overwhelming correlation. The point of the death penalty is to stop a potential murderer from committing the crime in the first place, isn't it? And just look at the numbers for the US: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=168

I remember a bumper sticker about this: "Why do we kill people who kill people to show them that killing people is wrong?"

Doesn't make sense to me...

 

[treesinger]

Didn't read the thread. Just chiming in to say that I do not believe in the death penalty for any reason. My belief is that life is God's to give and God's to take. If someone does something that horrid, he should be locked away with no parole. Perhaps we need to bring back "Hard Labor" into the penal code. A lifetime breaking rocks or cutting onions wouldn't hurt my conscience one bit for these degenerates.

 

[ripleysmom]

To me the death penalty is not about vengeance, it is about culling the herd. Gotta love Dennis Miller!!

 

[ripleysmom]

Originally posted by broken8ball:

"One main reason the death penalty is not a deterrent is that we have sanitized the entire criminal justice process. People used to be flogged, sent to the stocks, and hung in front of the community. These actions reinforced the sense of community and reinforced the harshness of the punishment.

Today, it may take 20 years for someone convicted and sentanced to death to actually die. All that time that the rest of us are footing the bill for their stay in jail.

The death penalty SHOULD be harsh and cruel. These perpetrators do not deserve any sympathy from the rest of us, they are animals who should be put to death inthe most horrrific way possible. It should be televised and held live in public.

IMO, we need to make many changes to our punishment system. A time limit needs to be set for appeals. 3 years after conviction should be the maximum time it takes before sentance is imposed. The trial should be started within 6 months of the arrest. Punishment for crimes of murder, rape, child abuse, and terrorism should be swift and harsh. Additionally, anyone given a sentance that lasts past their life expectancy should also be summarily given the death penalty. Why do we need old folks sitting in prison where they are housed, feed, and provided medical care on my tax dollars? They should be given a choice - pay your own way or die. We do these things and we'll see a reduction in prision costs and a reduction in violent crime."

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by ripleysmom
Originally posted by broken8ball:

"One main reason the death penalty is not a deterrent is that we have sanitized the entire criminal justice process. People used to be flogged, sent to the stocks, and hung in front of the community. These actions reinforced the sense of community and reinforced the harshness of the punishment.

Today, it may take 20 years for someone convicted and sentanced to death to actually die. All that time that the rest of us are footing the bill for their stay in jail.

The death penalty SHOULD be harsh and cruel. These perpetrators do not deserve any sympathy from the rest of us, they are animals who should be put to death inthe most horrrific way possible. It should be televised and held live in public.

IMO, we need to make many changes to our punishment system. A time limit needs to be set for appeals. 3 years after conviction should be the maximum time it takes before sentance is imposed. The trial should be started within 6 months of the arrest. Punishment for crimes of murder, rape, child abuse, and terrorism should be swift and harsh. Additionally, anyone given a sentance that lasts past their life expectancy should also be summarily given the death penalty. Why do we need old folks sitting in prison where they are housed, feed, and provided medical care on my tax dollars? They should be given a choice - pay your own way or die. We do these things and we'll see a reduction in prision costs and a reduction in violent crime."

I regards to time limits for prosecution...

In a perfect world, we wouldn't have overcrowded judicial dockets slowing everything down. And, as ALLEGED criminals (not to say that Scott Peterson doesn't look guiltier than SIN) they have the right of due process. We can't just forgo the US
Constitution just so we can kill supposed criminals more quickly.

 

[emmagata]

Originally posted by treesinger
they have the right of due process. .

IMO, due process should NOT take years and years and years and years..............

 

[ripleysmom]

Then speed up the due process for homicide conviction appeals. If someone has an appeal on a homicide conviction then let them move to the head of the line.

 

[N.Bailey]

ITA with 3 of the 4 posts prior to my own. I think everyone can figure out which they are.