Death Penalty. For or against?

Question

Are you for or against capital punishment? What are your reasons?

Answer 1

I am against.

If taking another's life is the most heinous crime one can commit then the punishment of killing that person in vengeance is just as wrong. It demeans us all. Not to mention all the ladies that were wrongfully convicted of killing their kids (Sally Clark for one), Barry George (Dando), Birmingham Six, Maguire Seven, Guildford Four ... etc.

xx VP

Answer 2

against. deaths too good for them,its the easy way out  

Answer 3

Against.

Especially if it's a penalty for murder.

Why should we kill people who kill people to show that killing is wrong?

Personally, I'd like to give the person a choice. If, for example, the sentence is life imprisonment, then they could have a choice of that or death by lethal injection (or whatever else there is)

Answer 4

If they are not going to be in prison for the rest of their natural life, then hang 'em. Too many are released and do it again.

In prison criminals DO NOT suffer. They have colour TV's, table tennis, on other nice games.

Onestep_42. You talk a load of tosh

Answer 5

For!It is better than letting them languish in jail for 50years!

Answer 6

I am for Life Forfeiture .If he/she takes a life then he/she forfeits his own. He punishes himself /herself.  

Answer 7

I'm against the death penalty because I'd rather see then in a jail for the rest of their life rather than be taken out of it....

Death Penalty for wookie's tho..

Answer 8

I am completely for the death penalty!!

arent the reasons obvious?!

If they are cruel enough and mad enough to kill then they should be killed! did you hear of the massacre on the sub website today? they killed a millionaire, his wife and 15 year old daughter and even killed their 3 horses, ducks, dogs etc and then lit the place on fire! if they dont deserve the death penalty then i dont know who does!! sick f******rs!!

also should be used for s*x offenders!

Answer 9

I think all convicted murderers should face the death penalty. Get what you give and all. Some people say they should be made to live with the guilt, but I disagree - prisons are like hotels these days, and it saves the taxpayer paying for their cushy life term locked away.

Answer 10

Against. From natural conception to natural death.

Answer 11

FOR

Answer 12

I supported capital punishment for a long time, but the more I learned about it, the more I came to oppose it. In the end, several factors changed my mind:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 30 years in the U.S. alone, over 100 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt."  Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most people to oppose it. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting a DP case, separate sentencing trials, and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty jurisdictions. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida - the most active execution state at the time - to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government fosters a culture of violence by saying, 'do as I say, not as I do.'

4. There's also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON'T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, "I wish you had killed me." Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (the architect of the 9/11 attacks) would love nothing better than to be put to death. In his words, "I have been looking to be a martyr [for a] long time."

5. Most governments are supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus praises mercy (Matthew 5:7) and rejects "an eye for an eye" (Matthew 5:38-39). James 4:12 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 13

FOR.  

I think it should be brought back for crimes such as murder, but only if there is no doubt that they did it.  why should they be stuck in prisons with all the mod cons they get at OUR expense.  

Answer 14

I am for the death penalty, I would vote for any government that bought back the death penalty, why should some one murder a person, then go to jail for the rest of is life to watch TV and play foot ball.

Answer 15

I have mixed feelings and it is obviously not a deterrent when you look at the crime rate in the USA where they have it in many states.

Answer 16

Against it.  The person will reap what they have sewed once their short time on Earth ends.  Two wrongs do not make a right.  

Answer 17

I have to say against.

Even though they say an eye for an eye, why should the criminal have the easy way out?

Death penalty is mainly used for murder and if you murder someone, you are hurting an entire family and that hurt will be with them forever.  The murderer should stay in prison (as long as they are not being treated like royalty!!!!!) and they should suffer.

Also, people have been given lethal injections, hung, gassed etc, then proven to be innocent.  There is no comeback from the death penalty.

Answer 18

Against.  I'm pro life all the way, no exceptions.  To kill them would make us no better than murderers.

Answer 19

Largely against except in very specific circumstances( Moors murderers,Ian Huntley and similar. ) Too many people who were Innocent would have been executed for a crime they did not commit ie.Guildford 4 Birmingham 6 or did the crime with some justification ie Ruth Elliss

Answer 20

For.  Why should hardworking taxpayers pay to keep someone up who killed their loved one?

Inhumane my hind end.  Most of the time they get lethally injected, and they are dead in a minute or two.  Their victims were often tortured for hours, days, etc.

You'll notice most people who think it's wrong are bleeding heart liberals.

Edit: Here's a shining example...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIC_rd5s...

As for giving them a choice, their victims didn't get a choice...

Answer 21

Definitely against the death penalty.

1.We are not God and have no right acting like him.

2.Death penalty is NOT a punishment. Its an easy escape for the criminal

3.The existence of death penalty has shown that it DOES NOT reduce crime AT ALL. Look at the USA: having the death penalty as the only western country, but yet the highest crime rate overall.

4.How do we know for sure 100% that one person commited a crime ?

Only because a judge or a jury decides ? Judges and juries make mistakes, because they are humans.

But once somebody is killed due to the death penanlty and later on new evidence comes up for his/her innocence or that former evidence was not thoroughly investigated or even forged, there is NO WAY of undo the penalty and make this person alive again

The tax is not an issue: first of all, some people think too much in terms of money, money, money, but life is more important than money. And we cannot just kill somebody just because of bloody tax. Furthermore criminals do not have to have the newest tv sets etc.

About murders, rapist, pedophiles: they are be bad, but killing them makes people as bad as they are. The reason to kill them would be to prevent them from killing others: so why not keep them in isolation and let them talk to psychologists instead. And if it costs money ? What about the powerful people in the country? They decide to go to war and let your sons, brothers and friends die for oil. Are they going to be killed by the dead penalty ?

If we judge them to be killed, then we put ourselves in God's position, which clearly can't our aim.

Its better to lock them away from potential victims and let people handle them , who know how to deal with them (e.g.psychology etc)

In short: dealth penalty DOES NOT work and is stupid for the reasons I mentioned, because its flawed.

Answer 22

I do believe in the death penalty because my brother was shot by his own son and i think he he should of paid he live in illion if they were in Texas he would of hanged what happen to are laws he only got 5 years and he walks a free man what is this about so he can kill again Yes imam for the death penaltyLETS PRAY FOR THE SICK PEOPLE OUT THERE AND LET'S PRAY NOW  

Answer 23

i remember us still having the death penalty in the 50s. we had about three murders a year then. now we have three a week. i think you can safely say that the figures speak for them selves. i say BRING IT BACK. let those that wish to menace people and take their lives be made to take full responsibility for what they do.

Answer 24

In the nineteen fifties before the death sentence was abolished there were about two murders a year now sixty years on there are about 5 a day , Then there was about fifty six million people in this country there are now only 10 million more .when the punishment doesn,t fit the crime the criminal has no fear. Question answered

Answer 25

Anti for pragmatic reasons.  There are a lot of misconceptions about this issue, particularly about costs. (Sources below.)  

129 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.  The system is intrinsically flawed, as is any system created by human beings, and the punishment is irreversible.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reliable study shows the death penalty deters others. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in those that don’t.

Life without parole, on the books in 48 states, also prevents  reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is not a picnic. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.

The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. (upfront=before and during the initial trial)

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute innocent people.

Sources:

Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org,  for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.

FBI   http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/tab...  

The Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/COcostte... page 3 and 4 on why the death penalty is so expensive

http://www.njadp.org/forms/signon-surviv... for statements of victims’ families

Answer 26

Against.

1. States with capital punishment have higher crime rates than those without.

2. Why is it ok for the law to kill people?

3. Surprisingly it is a huge expense (more so than maximum security prison for an extended period)

4. It is inhumane. Firing range still used in some places. Even being put to sleep doesn't always work immediately.

5. Isn't it better to punish than to kill and essentially let them off the hook?

6. The possibility of killing an innocent person that had poor representation.

Answer 27

Criminal trials are not infallible. There have been lots of cases where there has been a wrong verdict and an innocent person has been sent to jail. With a death penalty you can't bring them back. So I am against it.

Answer 28

This is tricky

I am FOR it because my beleif is if you take someone's life on purpose, then yours shouldn't be spared. But if it was by accident,t hat's soemthing else! case and point, this man was robbing another man and shot him in the leg, the cops arrested him for 1st degree murder, he said no he didn't kill them, he was sure of it because he shot him in the leg. Well the bullet broke an artery and the man bled to death. that's is murder but the intent was robbery.

But i do beleive that you ahve to be 100% sure because condeming the person to death, if there is 1% doubt then no. I don't beleive in killing an innocent person, that's murder

Answer 29

for it should b used on s*x affenders and murders

Answer 30

Against. we could house them for God's judgment if they would let out the drunks pot smokers and petty thieves..Oklahoma has more pot smokers in jail than any other state, and we are number 10 in poverty..but our prisons are mostly private and they intend to keep them full of whatever.

Answer 31

For it.

1) I don't want to pay for someone to sit in jail. ie Charles Manson

2) I believe it helps discourage people from killing others. (Only if we enforce it rather then letting people appeal, appeal, appeal.....)

For all those against it, what if it was your loved one killed? Unfortunately we live in a society where people are not held responsible for their actions. It is much easier to blame it on someone/something else rather then admitting fault.