The Death Penalty

[marharth]

On the legality of it I suppose Aurielius is right.

 

I don't really support it being legal, but it isn't stated otherwise in the constitution so it is to be left up to the states to decide.

 

If it was another country without a specific constitution like ours, it is a different discussion though.

[JimboUK]

I've always been against it for several reasons...

 

I don't believe the state should have the right to kill its own people, rulers killing their subjects might have been acceptable in medieval times but I would hope we've evolved a little since then.

The state telling people taking a life is wrong when it does the self same thing is rank hypocrisy.

Errors cannot be corrected by digging the person up and saying sorry.

When a persons life has been taken there is a greater incentive to hide miscarriages of justice.

It costs more.

Juries are less likely to convict when someones life is on the line.

People don't tend to think they'll be caught in the first place so it has little use as a deterrent.

 

In fact I can't think of one reason to be in favour of it other than a desire for revenge.

[hoofhearted4]

I've always been against it for several reasons...

 

I don't believe the state should have the right to kill its own people, rulers killing their subjects might have been acceptable in medieval times but I would hope we've evolved a little since then.

The state telling people taking a life is wrong when it does the self same thing is rank hypocrisy.

Errors cannot be corrected by digging the person up and saying sorry.

When a persons life has been taken there is a greater incentive to hide miscarriages of justice.

It costs more.

Juries are less likely to convict when someones life is on the line.

People don't tend to think they'll be caught in the first place so it has little use as a deterrent.

 

In fact I can't think of one reason to be in favour of it other than a desire for revenge.

 

im speaking of America when i say this so:

remember, the death penalty is placed there by the state. at any time, people can attempt to get rid of it because that is the power the people hold in their government. if it fails, then more people wanted the death penalty then who didnt, and here majority rules. but its not the state killing their subjects. people have a voice, and the death penalty is enacted in certain states because the people there believe it should be, not because the government says it should be.

 

if you read the costs of the execution, it costs more because of a lot of little stupid avoidable things.

 

it is not revenge. why would the state act upon revenge on someone because they killed someone? the state has no personal feelings to anyone. they didnt know the person(s) killed, nor the person being executed. so it cannot be an act of revenge, because the state holds no emotions to the execution. the death penalty is an act of punishment. if any punishment was based on revenge, then sending someone to jail is revenge. putting them in hand cuffs is revenge. a person killing another person based on their own personal feelings for something that other person did is revenge. the state enacting the law on a murderer is not revenge. there is no emotion in it.

 

it is not hypocrisy because as i said, they are not murdering someone. they are punishing them according to law.

[crimsonblade1]

There is no such thing as justice without the ultimate penalty being put on the table. A prisoner is basically a state welfare recipient, food, shelter and security are all provided to them at no cost to the prisoners themselves.

[hoofhearted4]

There is no such thing as justice without the ultimate penalty being put on the table. A prisoner is basically a state welfare recipient, food, shelter and security are all provided to them at no cost to the prisoners themselves.

 

and all you gotta do is kill someone, but no biggie, he might be innocent so he gets to chill under the benefits you listed for life! :thumbsup:

[marharth]

Yea, lets kill all of our criminals since they take up money!

 

Lets do it like medieval times, they had some great countries back then and understood how to punish criminals correct!

 

This is why justice is a flawed ideology. Thinking that punishing someone will help the crime and victim is foolish.

[HeyYou]

Yea, lets kill all of our criminals since they take up money!

 

Lets do it like medieval times, they had some great countries back then and understood how to punish criminals correct!

 

This is why justice is a flawed ideology. Thinking that punishing someone will help the crime and victim is foolish.

 

So, we should just do away with the criminal justice system altogether then?

[pseudobio]

I'm a bit iffy on this issue, which is why I didn't vote on it. Generally, I'm against the Death Penalty, but I understand the argument about putting a serial killer to death if only to keep them from killing again if they somehow are freed from prison, or escape, and go on another killing rampage.

[crimsonblade1]

There is no such thing as justice without the ultimate penalty being put on the table. A prisoner is basically a state welfare recipient, food, shelter and security are all provided to them at no cost to the prisoners themselves.

 

and all you gotta do is kill someone, but no biggie, he might be innocent so he gets to chill under the benefits you listed for life! :thumbsup:

 

If I was in charge, there would be no chilling in prison, there would be chain gangs doing public works projects, and growing/canning their own food on prison farms to alleviate some of the cost from the taxpayers. They would be kept too busy to be fighting each other in the yard and other random acts of prison violence. And they might even learn good work ethic in the process and have a chance in getting and keeping a job when they get out of prison.

[marharth]

Yea, lets kill all of our criminals since they take up money!

 

Lets do it like medieval times, they had some great countries back then and understood how to punish criminals correct!

 

This is why justice is a flawed ideology. Thinking that punishing someone will help the crime and victim is foolish.

 

So, we should just do away with the criminal justice system altogether then?

No. I think we need to focus on helping the victims resolve the crimes committed on them, and try to help the criminals find a better way of life.

 

Sending someone to jail does not help the crime. The most is does it lock someone away from society, but that doesn't fix individual crimes.

 

If you get robbed, the person should have to pay you back. If you get assaulted, the person should have to pay for medical expenses.

 

My point is that locking someone in jail is not the best thing to do. It rarely is the best thing to do, but that is almost always the ruling for crimes.

 

In a way, I agree with crimsonblade. Sometimes people should be forced to work to pay back the victim.