The Death Penalty

[This Year's Girl]

I think it's interesting reading people's opinion about the standards in prison. I'm not out to start a debate, but here's my take on it: I don't think it's right that prisoners sometimes have it better than people who aren't in prison, but I'd rather have the standard raised for the non prisoners than lower the standard for the inmates. I'm not familiar with the prison system in other countries so I can't speak on a general level, but I think the swedish system is good (even though there's always room for improvement). For me prison is supposed to be about rehabilitation, not punishment. I believe that people are products of their enviroment, so putting someone who is in need of help in a toxic setting isn't the right way of going about things in my opinion.

 

[Thamior]

Not 100% will feel it but most will, guilt. Not so easy to live with no matter what fasad (?) you give to the world.

Death penalty will scare people off from doing horrible crimes. Does it seem to work?

I was half way to saying this in a reputation comment and I accidentally hit enter 🙁. I think the word you're looking for is facade.

 

[937]

I'm all for the death penalty, eye for an eye and all. Certainly no worse then most cases of abortion...

 

[Thamior]

I'm not 100% against the death penalty, but I do believe that prisoners should have it hard in prison. It should not be a place where they get TVs and pool tables and other luxuries. People are in prison often for serious offences and I don't think it should be somewhere that is as 'homely' as it is. If you've murdered someone you should do hard time for it with none of lifes luxuries for the rest of your life. I know prisoners have human rights too but through them being in prison means they must have inflicted on someone elses rights to be in there in the first place.

Yes, which is why they lose their freedom of movement, freedom of expression, their right to bear arms (depending on which country you're in), their right to vote, etc. I understand that it seems weird that prisoners have commodities, but I think the biggest thing you lose when you're in prison is your independence. I don't care if a prisoner is playing pool or not - frankly, I don't think having them sit around is any better. Boredom leads to bad ideas, so if you're gonna keep 'em occupied, to whatever you have to. That said, I'm not ecstatic that my tax dollars are going towards that, but still. I'd for sure much rather have a prison where prisoners get TV than a prison in which prisoners get abused, either by their fellow inmates or the guards, which used to (and still does) happen a lot.

 

[Mithol]

I'm all for the death penalty, eye for an eye and all. Certainly no worse then most cases of abortion...

How do you figure that one...? :\

 

[HalloweenRain]

How do you figure that one...? :\

To understand his comment you would have to first believe that life begins at conception. Believe that "A person is a person, no matter how small."
But let's not turn this into a debate on abortion, please.

 

[Thamior]

How do you figure that one...? :\

I think the logic is that in an abortion, the one that dies didn't do anything wrong. At least with the death penalty we're killing someone who deserves it.

 

[FaithsFollower]

I'm against. The reasoning is this: I don't believe in murder of any kind. To me, when someone is getting injected/electric chair/whatever, that's murder. I know that's not the 'true' definition of murder but my definition of murder is the killing of humans/animals.

That's what I think.

 

[Goby]

I'm against. The reasoning is this: I don't believe in murder of any kind. To me, when someone is getting injected/electric chair/whatever, that's murder. I know that's not the 'true' definition of murder but my definition of murder is the killing of humans/animals.

That's what I think.

Animals too? I like that.... you must be a fellow vegetarian! 😉

 

[Mithol]

I think the logic is that in an abortion, the one that dies didn't do anything wrong. At least with the death penalty we're killing someone who deserves it.

But in an abortion, the one that dies is not a person, with the death penalty they are.

 

[Taake]

But in an abortion, the one that dies is not a person, with the death penalty they are.

I suspect that there are different definitions of that...


But let's not turn this into an abortion debate but stick to the topic of the death penalty and your opinion about it.

Thank you.
🙂

 

[HalloweenRain]

Please guys, lets try and stay away from other topics, such as abortion. Mithol please, I don't expect everyone to agree with my views as to when life starts, so I don't state it forcefully like that. I ALREADY said let's steer away from that issue, I think most people here will agree that this thread should stay on topic, and the creator of it said to leave out strictly emotional ideas. Let's not start bashing eachother's personal feelings.

 

[kittenpoker]

I'm against the death penalty precisely because I don't believe in an eye for an eye.... I don't think a criminal justice system should be based on revenge, as has been stated here. Also, don't kill it's wrong, and if you do, we'll kill you irony is a little too much for me.

I believe that rehabilitation and eventual re entering into society should be the goal, but how exactly to accomplish this, I'm not sure. I don't think the current way is the best but I'm not sure what would be better.

 

[Taake]

I believe that rehabilitation and eventual re entering into society should be the goal, but how exactly to accomplish this, I'm not sure. I don't think the current way is the best but I'm not sure what would be better.

I wanna start off with saying that I think it's great that there are people out there who feel like this because I think it's important to society as a whole. As a pro-captial punishment though I just have to mention that things like this makes me personally see red. My opinion is colored, I realize this, by personal experiences where the justice system has failed but for me the thought of somebody permanently causing damage to others, perhaps by stealing a life away, affecting not only one victim but that persons family and loved ones as well... for that person to get the chance to grow and evolve and change their mind... it's like a slap in the face to those affected. For them to have the ability to come years later and say "I'm sorry, I've seen the error of my ways and I'm sorry..." is just... it's appalling to me because they have been given the chance to do exactly what they stole from someone else. And what gives them that right? So for me the 'revenge' aspect doesn't trouble me, becauseI do believe getting on death row should be the stricktest of sentences and used very limitedly.

I'm not bashing anyone's opinon here, I just wanted to give a clearer picture of why my opinion is what it is, hoping to shed some light from the other side so to speak.

But I'm glad for societys sake that not everyone thinks like me, but most con-capital punishment arguments to me sound mainly naive.

 

[kittenpoker]

I wanna start off with saying that I think it's great that there are people out there who feel like this because I think it's important to society as a whole. As a pro-captial punishment though I just have to mention that things like this makes me personally see red. My opinion is colored, I realize this, by personal experiences where the justice system has failed but for me the thought of somebody permanently causing damage to others, perhaps by stealing a life away, affecting not only one victim but that persons family and loved ones as well... for that person to get the chance to grow and evolve and change their mind... it's like a slap in the face to those affected. For them to have the ability to come years later and say "I'm sorry, I've seen the error of my ways and I'm sorry..." is just... it's appalling to me because they have been given the chance to do exactly what they stole from someone else. And what gives them that right? So for me the 'revenge' aspect doesn't trouble me, becauseI do believe getting on death row should be the stricktest of sentences and used very limitedly.

I'm not bashing anyone's opinon here, I just wanted to give a clearer picture of why my opinion is what it is, hoping to shed some light from the other side so to speak.

But I'm glad for societys sake that not everyone thinks like me, but most con-capital punishment arguments to me sound mainly naive.

Hi taake!

Thank you for such a cordial disagreement. Seriously! 🙂

And I'm sorry you've had personal experience with the worst that human beings are capable of. Really!

I guess, I just have to believe in the possibility of redemption. I can understand the fuel of your fire though and I'm in no way immune! I just don't think this should be the basis of a supposedly objective system.

But it's ok that we see it differently. 🙂

 

[Professor Walsh]

Someone I held in very high regard became a murderer, killing someone I cared equally much about. He killed himself, too, so punishment was never a question in this case. Had he survived, though, I cannot see what good could possibly have come from him being sentenced to death. I don't think the thought of capital punishment could have deterred him from his actions. I don't think the bereaved - not the people close to them, not us who were further away - would have found any solace in it. I don't think it would have served as a frightening example to others who become killers. I just don't think capital punishment can create anything good in a society.

I don't even think Quisling should have been shot, really. Even if the thought of him living to ripe old age feels really, really odd. (And on a Buffy note, I hated watching the demise of Ben, Warren and Lindsey.)

 

[caritas08]

I wanna start off with saying that I think it's great that there are people out there who feel like this because I think it's important to society as a whole. As a pro-captial punishment though I just have to mention that things like this makes me personally see red. My opinion is colored, I realize this, by personal experiences where the justice system has failed but for me the thought of somebody permanently causing damage to others, perhaps by stealing a life away, affecting not only one victim but that persons family and loved ones as well... for that person to get the chance to grow and evolve and change their mind... it's like a slap in the face to those affected. For them to have the ability to come years later and say "I'm sorry, I've seen the error of my ways and I'm sorry..." is just... it's appalling to me because they have been given the chance to do exactly what they stole from someone else. And what gives them that right? So for me the 'revenge' aspect doesn't trouble me, becauseI do believe getting on death row should be the stricktest of sentences and used very limitedly.

I'm not bashing anyone's opinon here, I just wanted to give a clearer picture of why my opinion is what it is, hoping to shed some light from the other side so to speak.

But I'm glad for societys sake that not everyone thinks like me, but most con-capital punishment arguments to me sound mainly naive.

That's an interesting argument and one I hadn't considered. My main concern is I don't think most murderers and sex offenders can change. I wish I had more faith in humanity than that but I just don't. You look at victims like Jaycee Lee Dugard and her kidnappers had already had multiple arrests for rape etc before they kidnapped and raped her but had gotten out on parole.

Again, I'm not saying death penalty is the answer. I personally am satisfied with life in prison. But I don't think that even if these people "change" "find Jesus" etc. that they should ever have any form of freedom again. If they have murdered or raped/molested people etc they do need to be off the streets and not trusted.

It's an interesting argument. It's almost similar to "was Buffy right to spare Glory?" or "was Giles right to kill Ben?"

 

[Willow My Love]

What's sad is that it sometimes costs more to kill someone than it would have if they had lived out the rest of their lives in prison.

That being said, I believe that if the crime was heinous enough,that person should be put to death. Especially crimes of murder of children. It just seems wrong that a child's life is taken, and the last thing that innocent soul knows is fear, pain, and sorrow, and this horrible monster that's done that to them should get to experience joy again.

I don't believe in the death penalty for any murder. I think it has to be an extreme case. Serial killers, (or their master minds, i.e. Charles Manson) those who murder children, or especially brutal murders are the exception, in my mind. People that sick shouldn't be allowed to live.

 

[Flannen]

That being said, I believe that if the crime was heinous enough,that person should be put to death. Especially crimes of murder of children. It just seems wrong that a child's life is taken, and the last thing that innocent soul knows is fear, pain, and sorrow, and this horrible monster that's done that to them should get to experience joy again.

I don't believe in the death penalty for any murder. I think it has to be an extreme case. Serial killers, (or their master minds, i.e. Charles Manson) those who murder children, or especially brutal murders are the exception, in my mind. People that sick shouldn't be allowed to live.

This is an argument, or even a solution, that I hear a lot. And it's something I really struggle with. The first thing always comes to my mind is: would you want that job? Would you [general use here] want to be the person who chooses whose death is more "heinous" than someone else's? Because I really, really wouldn't. I just find this whole thing about only some people's death being worthy of the same penalty really difficult to accept because it's just not as black and white as it seems.

One of my biggest issues with the death penalty is that there have been far too many cases where the wrong person was put to death. I vehemently believe that the first time they "got" the wrong person, it should never have been used again. Similarly, it is not an effective deterrent so I personally see it as an absolute waste of life; no matter what that life may have done.

Ultimately, there are far too many flaws in the justice system to justify putting people to death.

 

[Goby]

What's sad is that it sometimes costs more to kill someone than it would have if they had lived out the rest of their lives in prison.

That being said, I believe that if the crime was heinous enough,that person should be put to death. Especially crimes of murder of children. It just seems wrong that a child's life is taken, and the last thing that innocent soul knows is fear, pain, and sorrow, and this horrible monster that's done that to them should get to experience joy again.

I don't believe in the death penalty for any murder. I think it has to be an extreme case. Serial killers, (or their master minds, i.e. Charles Manson) those who murder children, or especially brutal murders are the exception, in my mind. People that sick shouldn't be allowed to live.

Todd Willingham killed his children. Well, the jury said so. It turns out he didn't. Gov. Rick Perry commissioned a panel to investigate. On the eve of the findings, Gov. Perry fired three of the members of the panel.

Gov. Perry is evil. Instead of looking at the facts, he talked about the comments made by Willingham before he died. He called his ex vile names because she was at the execution and went public before the execution that she though he did it.

The State of Texas's arson expert used hillbilly science, and the defendant did not have an arson expert. EVERY arson expert who has studied the case has said that there is no way it was arson.

In the Sept 7, 2009 edition of the New Yorker David Grann comprehensively examines the Todd Willingham case in which an innocent person was executed by Texas. The 16,000 word article examines every aspect of the case and concludes that there is no doubt that an innocent person has been executed. There is scientific evidence to prove that the fire was not arson.

The Death Penalty is wrong in EVERY case because it is very unlikely that any case will be 100% perfect.
http://camerontoddwillingham.com/