Death Penalty?

Do you go for it?
I used to, but have changed.
It costs too much and takes too long.
Often the criminals want to be killed.

I think they should sit in jail and think about what they have done.
What do you think?

Justifications:

1. Punishment
   
2. Rehabilitation
   
3. Deterrent
   
4. Avoids the cost of supporting the prisoner for life
   
5. Removes the offender from society
   
6. Revenge (aka closure)
   

1. We don't know whether dying is punishment or reward
   
2. After the execution, we don't have a rehabiliated offender
   
3. Statistics don't support the deterrent argument. Jurisdictions that have the death penalty have no fewer per capita capital crimes than those without it.
   
4. It takes an average of fifteen years to fully litigate a death penalty. The costs are far greater to the state than life imprisonment.
   
5. Life imprisonment without parole removes the offender from society every bit as effectively as killing him.
   
6. Revenge? Maybe. Friends of mine, parents of a child murdered by a convicted (and released) child molester, waited that 15 years. After the execution, they seemed not to have found closure.
   

So, to answer your question, I oppose it and have ever since I saw "I Want to Live" when it first came out. My dad was a prison guard who had to do two weeks death row duty every couple of years. The effect it had on him made a profound impression on me.

I agree with Al. I saw "I Want to Live" and "Birdman of Alcatraz." Both films had significant effects on my perspective.

Ann

12/3/2010

Today they sentenced the guy in Conn., who killed a man's
beautiful wife, two daughters, a horrible crime, even when
he got the $15,000- cash they guy's wife got him, he still
raped and murdered them, this is a psycho case ! My heart
goes out to her husband and the three beautiful lost souls.
Now, at first I said yes they will execute him, but now I
have a better method....Make him watch videos of these
three beautiful people, every video that was ever taken by
their family, he would go nuts, I say do the same to Peterson
who murdered his wife and un-born child....Same for the
Mendez boys who murdered their father and mother. Then
again Sociopaths have no soul !!!!!!!!!!!


Cheers..Joe

I do not believe in incarceration. I do not believe in the death penalty. Prison is archaic and barbaric, a remnant of the days when the only way to exact justice was maiming, murdering, pilloring, stoning, or caging.

Mentally unstable needs mental hospitals. Addicts need programs. White collar criminals need jobs that exact restitution to those financially harmed. Youth need adrenalin activities and education to redirect their energy and their psyche.

A few criminally insane people need restraint, just as other mental patients may need restraint to save them from harming themselves or others. These are a very few.

Incarceration teaches budding criminals how to become experts. It destroys the mind. No person can leave prison and restore their lives. Prisons are not for rehabilitation; they are horrid, tortuous places, even the so-called country clubs. Lock a door and a mind snaps. Destroy dignity and you destroy a soul.

Consequences for actions? Absolutely. We need to be creative, however, so that the consequences benefit someone else and do not cost the taxpayer $50,000 per inmate a year or more with zero return on the investment except for those employed in the prison system. Like politicians, they justify their jobs by building more prisons.

I ask you: If prisons are overflowing; is the system working? I think not.

And capital punishment? I believe all human life is divine. I cannot destroy a human being. I cannot go to war. I will protect my home and my physical being if cornered, but I would hope for an intellectual resolution if at all possible.

DK,


What you say is true. I am acquainted with a case where a sex offender became worse after treatment. He probably got ideas from the other inmates.

I don't know that we can do away with prisons though. Somehow we need to keep folks safe.

We would have to adjust our definition of insanity, first of all. Murderers often are able to logically plan and think their crimes through. By today's standards, that makes them sane.

It's a complicated issue. I, personally, believe we each have a "dark side" that we have to acknowledge and accept if we are to keep it under control.

On the one hand, trying to isolate all the "bad people" so that they cannot harm the "good people" doesn't work. On the other, until we reach a level where we can all cooperate to settle matters peacefully, we need some means of protection from those who are willing to offend the laws.

In the meantime, getting rid of the death penalty would be a good start. Most countries have already done so.

Back during the 60's, I learned so much good stuff from watching Star Trek, like the segment where Kirk advises the people of a warring culture to learn to say, "I will not kill - today," and another where he is split into two people - one totally good (and completely ineffectual) and the other totally evil. The crew realized that they could not just kill the evil Kirk; they had to find a way to re-integrate the two parts.

This is an interesting idea. If you haven't already, check out LC's thread about Celebration, Florida, the Disney-created town.

Ann

Most of the civilized , enlightened world has done away with the death penalty and has health care for their citizens--why are we laggiing so far behind?

You answered your own question. We are a young country, founded on violence. We are still not civilized.

DK, Sad, but true.

The difference of opinion about the death penalty is as controversal as gun ownership. Is there a connection?

I think so - violence, power and retribution.