Should we still have the death Penalty

Question

Should we still have the death Penalty

Answer 1

I hate the death penalty, and I am in favor of it. The problem I have is that a "life sentence" does not mean life. People who abuse children, rape and murder end up back out doing the same thing again. If I could be guaranteed that a life sentence was actually a life sentence, then I would oppose the death penalty.

Answer 2

no

Answer 3

Yes.

I'm tired paying for their housing with my tax dollars.  These people rape and kill, children and women. They have bigger flat screen TVs then I do, faster computers and get paid education by me....the tax payer. I say fry them all and get rid of most of the prisons. I bet if we start executing them for more crimes....like for drug dealing and assault, there might not be as many crimes committed.  

....and for the people who say it's "barbaric"......I bet you would change your attitude if someone in your family was raped and killed. Your would want the same justice.

Also, I would rather take the risk that I might be wrongly accused by our judicial system and keep the death penalty.

Answer 4

Depends, the way we enforce it there is almost no point... well except in Texas.  What we need to do is actually use it more often.  Half the problem with crime in this country is apparently the majority of the people don't believe in actually punishing our criminals.  The legal system is a joke, why should I feel bad about executing some scum who rapped and killed 12 people?  I mean how is it that putting someone to death, a process itself when is dirt cheap, in the long run costs more than keeping them alive and supporting them for the next 50 years?  You say that it is barbaric and doesn't work but ask me this, you put someone to death are they ever going to comit another crime?  DING look it works.  As much as I love my country every day I seem to hate the people more and more.

Answer 5

Yes if only to maintain order within the prison system. As of now in many cases you've got the inmates running things. What else can you do to punish someone who's serving 3 life terms? Man don't care about anything else but trying to build a reputation so he attacks staff and fellow inmates just to pass the time of day.

What we're doing now is placing violent inmates in isolation in very expensive to operate super max type prisons where despite all precautions they still manage to attack correctional officers. Would be cheaper to put violent repeat offenders down like one does with a vicious dog.

Answer 6

Of course.

Why would you release a pyscopathic killer? S/he needs to get what s/he deserves.

Answer 7

I would say yes, although it is no longer in existence in my country (UK)

Answer 8

I think these monsters suffer more if they are in jail for the rest of their lives.    Death means they no longer suffer.   I am not for that.  

Answer 9

YES to CORPORATE DEATH PENALTY

http://www.votenader.org/issues/

Because of a mistaken interpretation of a Supreme Court reporter's notes in an 1886 railroad tax case, corporations are now legally considered "persons," equal to humans and entitled to many of the same protections guaranteed only to humans by the Bill of Rights - a clear contradiction of the intent of the Founders of the United States. The results of this "corporate personhood" have been:

Unequal taxes

Unequal privacy

Unequal wealth

Unequal trade

Unequal media

Unequal regulation

Unequal responsibility for crime

Unequal protection from risk

Unequal citizenship and access to the commons

To remedy the legal blunder of corporate personhood, http://www.ThomHartmann.com offers specific action steps that can be taken by citizens, courts, legislatures, and local communities.

Answer 10

We have taken away the "unpleasantness" of jails. They now have clean meals, cable tv, paid education, among other things. One of the only fears criminals might have is the death penalty. I think we should keep it and use it more often. The criminals who are executed are usually a waste and can never be rehabilitated. What is the point keeping them in their cell in solitary the rest of their lives? The countries who have abolished their death penalties are usually more restrictive in their freedoms and have a different type of society altogether. Bad comparison as every country is different.

Answer 11

no i think that person should just have a life sentence

Answer 12

Absolutely not.  I actually supported capital punishment for a long time, but the more I've learned about it, the more I've come to oppose it.  In the end, there were several reasons for changing my stance:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 30 years in the U.S., over 100 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. 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. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, extra expenses associated with prosecuting a DP case, 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 becomes the bad parent who says, ‘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 of our 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, Matthew 5:38-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. 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

Personally I am against the death penalty because of all the recent reversals due to new technologies (DNA) and people who have spent years on death row being cleared , so obviously mistakes can be made. At the same time, police officers and prison guards deserve to be better protected and killing of either in the line of duty should be a death sentence but how can we be assured that they are guilty? Over zealous prosecuters, judges up for re-election, dirty cops, all those can lead to wrongful convictions so at the risk of sending an innocent person to their death, I have to say the death penalty is wrong, life with no possibility of parole and hard labor for 1st degree murder would send a better message and allow an innocent person the chance at some time in the future to be freed. That's my take on it.  

Answer 14

I think the death penalty is barbaric.  Most developed, 'enlightened' countries did away with it a long time ago.

But even so, I would support it if I thought it worked.  But it clearly doesn't.  There isn't a shred of evidence that the death penalty deters crime. And it's much more expensive than life without possibility of parole.

The purpose of government crime policy is to protect society from crime (and criminals) in the most effective and cost-effective way.  The death penalty doesn't do that.  What it does is to allow politicians to posture as 'tough on crime'.

In the end, the death penalty is a 'feel good' measure!  And isn't it appalling what makes us Americans feel good?  8^P

Answer 15

Absolutely.  Just think, Bob comes over to your house, takes your 2 year old out of her bed, brutally rapes her, then painfully kills her.  Breaks my heart.  Can you honestly say you wouldn't want that man to be put to death?

Answer 16

yes, in some cases

Answer 17

Yes.  Not least for murder.

Answer 18

Wrong question: Should we still be asking this question that has been asked and answered so many times when we could just search for the previous answers given?

Look here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

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I won't post all 595 from only the past 30-60 days with "death penalty" in the title question.  I can only post ten after all.

Get the point?

Answer 19

Absolutely. Those who commit capital crimes should have to forfeit their own lives. We need to hold people accountable, and keep in mind the rights of the victim.