Death penalty - yes or no ?
 

Are you for or against the death penalty ?

just curious how close this poll would be to public opinion polls

I am still undecided

im all for it, they take someones life, they should get the same done to them

Same. So many reasons to be against it. Some have innocently been killed, revenge solves nothing, it costs tax payers way too much, work prisons would be more of a deterrent, etc.

This is one of very few issues I've changed my mind on over the years. I used to be very much FOR the death penalty. But having seen so many people released that may have been executed, I've changed my mind.

HOWEVER, when someone IS convicted of a heinous crime, they do deserve the worst punishment possible. In my eyes, that's bringing back the philosophy of Alcatraz, but taken to the next level. They lose everything. They sit in a tiny cell for the rest of their life. Three square meals a day. But that's it. No visitors. No books. No TV. No yard time. No associating with other prisoners. Absolutely NOTHING. Sit in your cell, eat your three meals a day, and rot until you die.

for it - and pass on the lethal injection - public hangings.

society can deal with the fact that in a very tiny % of cases that an innocent man may die. not like there aren't innocent people dying of neglect on every city's streets that nobody does shit about.

couldn't give a shit if it's a deterrent or not - life imprisonement isn't a deterrent either.

Since 1973, 124 prisoners have been released in the USA after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. There were six such cases in 2004, two in 2005, one in 2006 and one so far in 2007.

(source: amnesty)

How can anyone be Pro?

I agree that I don't care if something is a deterrent. But what if it was your son or daughter that was one of those very tiny %'s sentenced to death row and you KNEW they didn't have it in them to commit the crime? Even though they have eyewitnesses that say otherwise. Keep in mind that eyewitness testimony is considered some of the most unreliable evidence admitted in a court of law.

I'm going out, so I'll check back later. I'm not ignoring your response.

well see? the justice system worked - they were exonerated of the crime before they were executed. one so far in 2007.

i'm not pro executions - i'm pro people not losing their lives to anti-social psychopaths. i'd rather there be no need to execute anybody.

Let God sort them out.

:thumbsup Lethal injection is for old/sick/hurt animals...should a man who rapes and kills a 6 year old get the same treatment as a 16 year old dog or an injured race horse?

If you can be 100% sure of their guilt and the crime warrants the punishment I'd be all for it, no sense in paying out the ass to keep a scumbag rotting in prison for the rest of his or her life. But is it worth the chance of an innocent person being executed? Not really sure.

Never a reason to kill someone.

i agree...

That's 124 people that they did prove were innocent in time. How many people DIDN'T they prove in time? We'll never know, but the odds are clearly for innocent people being executed.

Name the alternative then. Name the deterrent or actionable justice that responds properly to taking someone's life intentionally.

Life in prison??? one of the posts here said solitary with 3 squares a day.... there's proof out there that solitary drives people mentally insane, which by definition would mean that you are inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.

So what would be a proper punishment for a killer?

I'm for it in certain cases, but am fine with life in prison for other cases. Depends on the situation and evidence presented.

What do I find interesting in all this is how people who have always been against the death penalty suddenly change their tune when it is their son or daughter, wife or husband, loved one etc, who is brutally murdered by some gutter scum.

If the guy did it and isn't one bit remorseful about it I have no compunction whatsoever about them frying/injecting/hanging the asshole. Done and done.

124 out of how many total executions? and out of how many prisoners on death row?

I'm for it..our justice system needs a major overhaul.Especially for young offenders.Some poor kid was dragged to death underneath a car after some punks stole 10 bucks worth of gas.All they got was like 10 fucking years.
It's bullshit how the criminals get away with it..hang the fuckers

Usually costs way more to end the prisoner's life

I am against a state-imposed death penalty, since governments and courts are corrupt and evil.

However, I have no problem with vigilante justice. So I am split on it.

i'd feel the same hopeless feelings and anger that somebody who loses a loved one to a drunk driver or a psychopath who just likes killing people.

if i really KNEW somebody in my family didn't commit the crime and was executed then i'm sure i'd turn against the death penalty. but unless that family member was actually in my sight during the killing how would I ever know if they did it or not.

i really believe in an eye for an eye - i don't believe jail is an eye for an eye.

it's unfortunate that an innocent person may die but like lots of things in life i believe in the larger purpose knowing that it won't be perfect. do you know how many things we do as a society KNOWING that people will die because of something we do or don't do? There are roads that we know statistically have more fatal accidents than they should but we don't do anything about them for economic reasons. Lots of other situations like that - our medical care system, long waiting lists that politicians know cause extra deaths that could be avoided. Mentally ill people dying in the cold of winter on the streets because nobody can be bothered.

i'd leave it to the victim's family to decide if they want to.

None. You are speculating.

Only because of the drawn out appeals process. Convict and carry out the execution. Very inexpensive.

I'm against death penalty

I respect that answer. I don't agree with it, but I respect it. Especially you admitting that you'd probably change your mind if your child was executed when innocent.

You know, I'm against the death penalty but don't believe that's a valid argument. Noone can tell me it's going to cost more to fry a guy than feed him, house him and guard him for 50 years. As baddog says, that's the appeals process. Nothing more.

Admittedly yes. But you can't say that in ALL the time the US has been executing prisoners, it's been so lucky as to have NEVER killed an innocent man. Speculation or not, that's taking a giant leap of faith on your part if you truly believe that.

Oops. I may have spoken too soon.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0504-09.htm

Willingham was duly convicted of murder and, after 12 years on death row, was executed by lethal injection in February 2004.

Now, though, compelling evidence has emerged that Mr Vasquez did not in fact know what he was talking about. None of his testimony has passed muster with a panel of acknowledged arson experts, which has gone over it in detail. And without his testimony, the case against Willingham is left essentially baseless.

Why kill them when you could make them ride an exercise bike hooked to a generator that was wired into the electrical grid?

You also would have a trap door covering the whole bottom of their cell, so if they quit pedaling for a certain amount of time the doors would open and they would fall into a pit of hungry crocodiles.

interesting question: how about a wild animal with no conscious that kills without regard and is a continual danger to the community. what do you do? is there a difference between that animal and a human that will always kill with no regard and cannot be rehabilitated? would you kill one and not the other?

undecided

one on hand, if the crime is bad enough, let them rot in prison for the rest of their lives, fuck em, death is too easy

on the other hand, we can execute them and not have to worry about supporting them until they die + this would also be a testament to their irrelevance

so it's okay to torture someone and not kill them, what if a man was found not guilty after 15 years of this treatment?

And another...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...3517.htmlstory

But 16 years after De Luna died by lethal injection, the Tribune has uncovered evidence strongly suggesting that the acquaintance he named, Carlos Hernandez, was the one who killed Lopez in 1983.

Ending years of silence, Hernandez's relatives and friends recounted how the violent felon repeatedly bragged that De Luna went to Death Row for a murder Hernandez committed.

The newspaper investigation, involving interviews with dozens of people and a review of thousands of pages of court records, shows the case was compromised by shaky eyewitness identification, sloppy police work and a failure to thoroughly pursue Hernandez as a possible suspect.

These revelations, which cast significant doubt over De Luna's conviction, were never heard by the jury.

His case represents one of the most compelling examples yet of the discovery of possible innocence after a prisoner's execution.


That's two. Two too many.

how about after a conviction the person is subjected to actual in depth questioning to determine if they are guilty as opposed to polite questioning now allowed by the 'society'? that might clear a few things up? the innocents can be sorted out right away ...

cost millions of dollars to legally kill someone

When I sit and think about it I have to say no..

but I can think of many times I would have happily pulled the trigger myself when I hear of crimes that defy the imagination.

Its a hard one..... of course there are fates worse than death.

He'd be compensated by the state surely and if nothing else, he IS still alive. Some may argue he'd be better off dead, but until someone is in that situation, like baddog says, it's speculation.

I don't have all the answers, nor do I pretend to. What I know is I HATE the idea that someone could be put to death for a crime they didn't commit. But I ALSO hate the idea that someone, albeit under incarceration, can move on with their lives and live and even thrive in a "Community". (edit-while their victim is laying in the ground).

Yes, for the lawyers. Unless I'm missing something, where else does the money go? And if someone is in jail for 50 years, do they NOT have the same number of appeals? Or do the lawyers jack up their rates because it's a capital crime?