How do you feel about the death penalty and why?

Question

Tyler - I read your piece - very informative! Interesting how the government first makes criminals and then punishes them...

Answer 1

I am not a proponent of the death penalty.  I much prefer life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  The reasons I'm against capital punishment are:

1) Due to the advancement in DNA technology several people sentenced to prison, including to death row, have been found to be innocent.  We can release and compensate people sentenced to life who are later found to be innocent.  If an innocent person is executed then what do we do?  Tell the family "Sorry, we made a mistake"?  It would be an absolute atrocity for an innocent person to be executed so I think we should err on the side of caution.

2) It's never been shown to be a deterrent.  States which actively use capital punishment do not have lower murder rates than states that don't have the death penalty or states that rarely incorporate it.

3) It's unfairly applied.  Racial minorities, men and people in lower socio-economic classes are more likely to be sentenced to death.

4) I don't believe in the "eye for an eye" ideology.  I don't think that we as a society should sink to the level of these people who commit these monstrous acts.

Answer 2

I was for it when i was younger; however at this point in my life i oppose it. Life without the possibility of parole would suffice - i think - in all cases.

Answer 3

I think the death penalty works in certain types of crimes..serial killers..

Answer 4

In my mind it totally depends on the situation...Lets say two people are killed....and you arent 100% sure on the suspect...it's not right to use the death penalty in this situation because what if he is really innocent??

However, I am 100% for it in situations where you KNOW who the killer/sicko is for sure. Lets take the Manitoba Greyhound bus murder...You can read this article if you like

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/3...

I heard about this last night & ever since then I have been distressed...I feel so bad for the victims family, friends, THE CHILDREN/PEOPLE WHO SAW THE KILLING, & of course the young man who was stabbed, beheaded & even eatten!! Some people are sickos...Supposivley the man had a mental illness but that is no excuse in my book.

A murder is a murder...and this guy TORTURED an innocent 21 year old to death! He was soo young!! I started crying as I heard about it...& it usually takes a lot for me to cry...I live in New York so I hear about all these crazy things but for some reason this really affected me. I'm getting images in my mind and I wasn't even there!!!

So in that case I think the death penalty MUST MUST be used!!! How can the family of the guy and even regular civilans go on living knowing that this sicko tortured and killed someone like that? He deserves the same torture he did to that guy. An eye for an eye....

some people are sick

Answer 5

It protects honest innocent citizens from being raped/murdered by someone that's already done it once.

Answer 6

Although I personally think that in some cases, it should be used, I don't believe how enforcement and judicial system is effective enough to utilize it properly.

So at this point, I would have to oppose it for moral reasons.

I posted a detailed answer on the discussion forum on http://www.blables.com.

Answer 7

I would like it reinstated in United Kingdom .The Yorkshire Ripper should be dead like his victims.Also Ian Brady

Answer 8

there are certain crimes as we all know that do deserve the death penalty but until women who kill children and men who rape children can be put to sleep when it is deserved it needs to be rethought and redone in the law books.Just for the sake of argument look up the amount of people a woman has to kill to get the death penalty compared to how many a man has to kill. It only takes one for a man but the woman who drowned her kids well think about that one. and also look at how race plays a part in it it is a very essential part of our justice system but it is at time extremely unfair.

Answer 9

the death penalty is very tricky. you have to consider what if the person is really innocent? what if the courts were wrong and now another innocent person is dead. that is why they did away with the death penalty in maine. cuz and innocent man was put to death. then you have to think we are paying taxes to keep killers alive in jail. is that fair? why should we pay? would it be easier if they were dead? less costly? i think the death penalty is good but that is just personally. i dont believe in paying for criminals to live. but i also think they should only use the death penalty for people who are going to be spending life in prison not everyone.