Should we bring back the death penalty?

[fantastica]

I do believe in the death penalty, and I also believe in killing someone who attempts to enter my home uninvited, or attempts to harm my friends/family. Quite simply, I do not see the point of allowing someone to live in prison for 60 years (or more!) because the death penalty is "cruel". I guess I'm selfish, I'd rather see my tax dollars go to helping victims recover, feed the homeless, build better schools, etc. than go to feed and care for someone who is on death row.

But it costs more to give someone to the death penalty than to keep them in prison for life without parole (In California the sytem costs $137 million per year, it would cost $11.5 million without the death penalty.) If the death penalty was abolished then more funding would be available for those things.

I'd like to know why that is. Bullets aren't that expensive. I should have added, if someone has gotten the death penalty, and is out of appeals, they shouldn't then also be kept in the system for decades.

apparanetly this is why:
https://www.safecalifornia.org/downloads/2.5.A_costfactsheet.pdf


Also, in response to your post below that one, firing squad can still be used in 2(I think) states, Utah last used it in 2010.

 

[smelly07]

Would the people who agree with the death penalty actually adminstrate the lethal injection to the prisoner themselves?
and then what would that make you? in your eyes?

I personally think we should go back to a firing squad. 10 guns (or however many) and nobody knows which gun has the bullet.

the firing squad imo they all killed the prisoner,............ if a group of young adults get into a fight and kill the victim, they cant determine who did the fatal blow ... they all get charged with murder.... dont see it any differently with the firing squad.........apart from the fact that its legal!

war and other subjects some taboo.... where its legalised to take a life is a whole other complex topic maybe another thread in the debate section...? ....lol.....

 

[RoseKitten]

Would the people who agree with the death penalty actually adminstrate the lethal injection to the prisoner themselves?
and then what would that make you? in your eyes?

I personally think we should go back to a firing squad. 10 guns (or however many) and nobody knows which gun has the bullet.

the firing squad imo they all killed the prisoner,............ if a group of young adults get into a fight and kill the victim, they cant determine who did the fatal blow ... they all get charged with murder.... dont see it any differently with the firing squad.........apart from the fact that its legal!

war and other subjects some taboo.... where its legalised to take a life is a whole other complex topic maybe another thread in the debate section...? ....lol.....

I understand what you're saying. The reason I support a firing squad is because it means nobody but the shooter knows who took that life. I just really can't see how allowing monsters to live (sometimes fairly well! Some federal prisons are pretty swanky) is beneficial to anyone but the prisoner.

 

[xemmax]

Would the people who agree with the death penalty actually adminstrate the lethal injection to the prisoner themselves?
and then what would that make you? in your eyes?

I personally think we should go back to a firing squad. 10 guns (or however many) and nobody knows which gun has the bullet.

the firing squad imo they all killed the prisoner,............ if a group of young adults get into a fight and kill the victim, they cant determine who did the fatal blow ... they all get charged with murder.... dont see it any differently with the firing squad.........apart from the fact that its legal!

war and other subjects some taboo.... where its legalised to take a life is a whole other complex topic maybe another thread in the debate section...? ....lol.....

I understand what you're saying. The reason I support a firing squad is because it means nobody but the shooter knows who took that life. I just really can't see how allowing monsters to live (sometimes fairly well! Some federal prisons are pretty swanky) is beneficial to anyone but the prisoner.

No prisons are 'swanky' - honestly I hate this. Particularly in the UK it is a common media representation that prisoners live in luxury, it completely ignores the reality of prison.

I don't see how capital punishment is beneficial to anyone, at all (besides occasionally a victim who would like revenge - not always the case though). I think keeping people in prison is beneficial to society in many ways, but most of all maintains the right to life, which I feel should always be protected.

 

[smelly07]

what about the families of these prisoners on death row?

it must have huge negative knock on effects.

 

[BabyJayne]

I haven't read all the posts - but I just wanted to add my opinion on this subject.

Looking at this from a purely moral, legal and societal view (which is how I think it should be viewed, not from a "put yourself in the victim's shoes" view as that immediately distorts it) I am vehmenently against the death penalty.

For me to be even close to considering the death penalty acceptable the process would have to be infalliable. That is never going to happen.

I guess I don't fully understand what the reasoning is behind capital punishment. Is it an eye for an eye, revenge, for the benefit of society or something else? An eye for an eye I don't agree with, or revenge. I don't think it benefits society, and the killing of a human being as punishment, a kind of legalised murder, just doesn't sit comfortably with me.

I have qualifications in law and politics which included extensive work on the US systems. I've never found anything that has convinced me that capital punishment is the right way to go. I respect other people have different opinions, but for me I am whole-heartedly against it.

 

[JASMAK]

To the people for the death penalty..if it was a debate over capital punishment vs. life imprisonment without parole (rather than just abolishing the death penalty) which would you pick?

I would pick life without parole

 

[smelly07]

so there is no such thing as serving life without parole in the countries with capital punishment? its either a set tarrif then parole or the death sentence?

There is such thing as life with no parole in the UK, most serial criminals are highly unlikely to ever get out of prison and if they do they are very very old.

plus the situation where the man with the low IQ was killed and that people with low IQ's or mentally ill cant be sentenced to death............how can any person who repeatedly kills, rapes, abuses/kills children be mentally well?........... these people are not wired right that are all mentally ill.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

so there is no such thing as serving life without parole in the countries with capital punishment? its either a set tarrif then parole or the death sentence?

There is such thing as life with no parole in the UK, most serial criminals are highly unlikely to ever get out of prison and if they do they are very very old.

plus the situation where the man with the low IQ was killed and that people with low IQ's or mentally ill cant be sentenced to death............how can any person who repeatedly kills, rapes, abuses/kills children be mentally well?........... these people are not wired right that are all mentally ill.

Yes, there is.

 

[fantastica]

so there is no such thing as serving life without parole in the countries with capital punishment? its either a set tarrif then parole or the death sentence?

There is such thing as life with no parole in the UK, most serial criminals are highly unlikely to ever get out of prison and if they do they are very very old.

plus the situation where the man with the low IQ was killed and that people with low IQ's or mentally ill cant be sentenced to death............how can any person who repeatedly kills, rapes, abuses/kills children be mentally well?........... these people are not wired right that are all mentally ill.

Yeah there is, but apparently in polls where people are just asked if they are in favour of the death penalty...several people will pick 'yes' but when given a poll choosing between the 2, the amount in favour decreases slightly.


Another case just came up on my fb newsfeed...a man in Missouri is due to be executed, despite an apparent lack of physical evidence and claims of police misconduct. There is just way too much room for error to possibly allow the death penalty. It shouldn't go ahead if there is even just the slightest chance of innocence.

 

[smelly07]

i was looking for answers to the above ^^^^and what warrants recieving a death sentence (which i cant find) and found this:
Wrongful execution

https://babyandbump.momtastic.com//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a3/Timothy_Evans_Grave.JPG/220px-Timothy_Evans_Grave.JPG https://babyandbump.momtastic.com//bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.20wmf9/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png
Capital punishment was abolished in the United Kingdom in part because of the case of Timothy Evans, an innocent man who was hanged in 1950.



Main article: Wrongful execution
It is frequently argued that capital punishment leads to miscarriage of justice through the wrongful execution of innocent persons.[93] Many people have been proclaimed innocent victims of the death penalty.[94][95][96] as many as 39 executions have been carried out in the face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt in the US from 1992 through 2004. Newly available DNA evidence prevented the pending execution of more than 15 death row inmates during the same period in the U.S,[97] but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases

how awful

 

[vaniilla]

i was looking for answers to the above ^^^^and what warrants recieving a death sentence (which i cant find) and found this:
Wrongful execution

https://babyandbump.momtastic.com//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a3/Timothy_Evans_Grave.JPG/220px-Timothy_Evans_Grave.JPG https://babyandbump.momtastic.com//bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.20wmf9/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png
Capital punishment was abolished in the United Kingdom in part because of the case of Timothy Evans, an innocent man who was hanged in 1950.



Main article: Wrongful execution
It is frequently argued that capital punishment leads to miscarriage of justice through the wrongful execution of innocent persons.[93] Many people have been proclaimed innocent victims of the death penalty.[94][95][96] as many as 39 executions have been carried out in the face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt in the US from 1992 through 2004. Newly available DNA evidence prevented the pending execution of more than 15 death row inmates during the same period in the U.S,[97] but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases

how awful

it just proves the point that most people on death row are those unable to afford good legal representation and as such get swept under the system

 

[lhancock90]

Just one person, wrongfully put to death is enough to throw the whole concept into doubt surely.
Yes, murderers need to be punished, but when its possible to kill the wrong man, then what?
I don't agree with it. I never will. If you put all murderers to death what of the executioner? How can murdering someone be soley your job?
Of course if it was one of my own who was killed, i would want revenge, i would want blood, but that doesn't make it right.

 

[JASMAK]

To the people for the death penalty..if it was a debate over capital punishment vs. life imprisonment without parole (rather than just abolishing the death penalty) which would you pick?

I would pick life without parole

I should add that there is no death penalty in the country I live in. However, with murderers such as Paul Benardo, I am not sure I would be against it. Something about him being able to live, while all the teenage girls he raped, strangled (all videotaped), cut into pieces and hidden....just doesn't seem right. And prison is pretty posh compared to his victims coffin...just sayin. Depends what you are comparing it to...and I always go back to the victims and the victims families. I am sure those girls mothers would choose to live in a 4X4 cell to have their daughter back.

 

[ttc_lolly]

I don't believe in the death penalty whatsoever. There's no way to regulate it, innocent people will be killed and it doesn't have a place in modern society.

I can say though that if anyone hurt one of my daughter's I'd more than happily take care of them myself. When I say hurt, I mean done so intentionally. It would be revenge and I know it's wrong but I do also know it'd make me feel a little bit better on the whole. I'd happily go to prison for it to. I don't care if this makes me sound like a bad person, because I know I'm not!

 

[xemmax]

I don't believe in the death penalty whatsoever. There's no way to regulate it, innocent people will be killed and it doesn't have a place in modern society.

I can say though that if anyone hurt one of my daughter's I'd more than happily take care of them myself. When I say hurt, I mean done so intentionally. It would be revenge and I know it's wrong but I do also know it'd make me feel a little bit better on the whole. I'd happily go to prison for it to. I don't care if this makes me sound like a bad person, because I know I'm not!

I have had the most horrible thoughts about a man who hurt someone in my family. At the time I hoped he died and I honestly thought that if I saw him I could kill him with my own bare hands given half a chance. But the thought of a judicial system doing it legally scares the absolute crap out of me! I don't think wanting revenge on a personal level makes you a bad person at all, I think it is natural, but can you imagine if the law did it for you and answered crimes like for like? That thought terrifies me.

 

[ttc_lolly]

No you're right Emma, you've said it better than I did For it to become legal would absolutely terrify me, and wouldn't be a country I'd be comfortable living in at all.

I suppose if I did it myself out of revenge, I at least know it would be totally wrong and I would be willing to be punished myself! Not that that it makes it any better

 

[moomin_troll]

Even if someone causes the death of a person u love and it was a accident u still want their blood. Well I do anyway.

Sometimes there is just pure evil that needs wiping out, such as the moors murderers. There's no doubt it was them who tourtured and killed all those children.
I'd happily live in a country where things like that were killed when it is 100% the right people/person

 

[BabyJayne]

Even if someone causes the death of a person u love and it was a accident u still want their blood. Well I do anyway.

Sometimes there is just pure evil that needs wiping out, such as the moors murderers. There's no doubt it was them who tourtured and killed all those children.
I'd happily live in a country where things like that were killed when it is 100% the right people/person

It is nowhere near as simple as saying The Moors Murderers definitely did it - bring back the death penalty.

Who decides if it is 100 per cent the right person. A jury? Are they less likely to convict or reach a verdict if they know they are condeming someone to death. Or does the person have to admit it? Would anyone ever admit crimes if they were then facing certain death?

What about Stephen Downing - the man who "confessed" to killing Wendy Sewell and spent more that 20 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. When he was sent down, in the minds of the jury he was "beyond all reasonable doubt" the right person. Yet years later, he wasn't. What about the Birmingham Six? It could go on and on.

What about the parents in the news today who actually helped the man who killed their son (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...ten-death-thugs-come-face-face-offenders.html). If we had the death penalty, would he have been spared because the victim's family wanted him to be? Would that be morally right - if someone committing a similar crime had already been executed? Or would we just execute anyway and add to the pain of victim's family if this is something they didn't want. Would he even have been eligible for the death penalty? If not, why not? He'd taken a life, would that be enough? Or do we have to have a minimum on the amount of lives a murderer needs to take to face the death penalty?

This is just the tip of the iceberg on the practicalities of having the death penalty, without even touching on the moral and social implications, which horrify me, incidentally.

 

[Tasha]

It is different, but my daughter died because of someone else. If she was in any other job she would of been put in front of a court for criminal proceedings for negligence but because of her title she wasnt. I hate her most of the time (sometimes I dont and I feel like I've moved forward from that). But never once have I wanted her dead or her to feel my pain. I wanted consequences, sure, but for me that was it affecting her career and also for me to look her in the eye and tell her what impact her negligence had on our lives, and will continue to have on our lives for the rest of our days. So as a 'victim of negligence' which had the worst possible consequences, I dont want blood because a) it would be on my hands b) it wont change anything for me and c) she has a Mum, and I would never want her mother to go through the pain I do every day.

And as babyjayne says there can never be a 100% thing, even DNA evidence can be wrong because it a % and that percentage is never 100% sometimes it is 98% so someone has to be that 2%, imagine that 2% was killed based on DNA evidence

Edward Earl Johnson is a case to look at, he 'confessed' to the murder of a policeman and the rape of an elderly woman. Yet it later came out the confession was under duress. WHen he was in court the person he was with that night came to the court and tried to give evidence but they wouldnt let her in. He was innocent but he was killed