What is your view on capital punishment?

[Civvin]

If anyone is bored of debating abortion lets talk about the pros and cons of the death penalty.

Let's assume you have a convicted murderer.

Assume for the sake of our discussion that the offender was of legal age, and that the murder was premeditated with no mitigating factors.

Should he/she be put to death?

Personally my judgment is biased by a religious upbringing but I'm all for killing them. The recidivism rate for executed murderers is 0. And I will SUPPORT the death penalty, as soon as I see people like OJ Simpson and Robert Durst on death row, and when I stop seeing these poor black men, in jail or on death row for 5, 10, 15 years, freed because DNA proves they didn't commit the crime.

Whats your view?

 

[Iggy]

Originally posted by Civvin
Personally my judgment is biased by a religious upbringing but I'm all for killing them.

Just curious, which religion is this?

 

[Civvin]

Well I was just refering to the general 'eye for an eye' mentality.
Perhaps I should have said fundamentalist Christian upbringing, as I realize different religions have different values. Anyway going there will take us way off topic, maybe later on in the thread....

 

[Stefan Haertel]

I'm strictly, totally and uncompromisingly against it. What kind of state kills it's own citizens? You condemn murder and yet support it! If somebody killed a murderer on the street, would you give him a death sentence?
Locking them away for good, or at least for a long time, is enough. Almost every European country (except Russia, Belarus and Serbia and Montenegro) abolished the death penalty, and murder hasn't spread. People who support capital punishment make it sound like in those countries where it has been abolished, people run around the streets killing people. BULL****! Any country in the EU -save for Northern Ireland, maybe- is safer than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or many other areas where the government kills people.

 

[Laughing Gull]

i've said this before, but life-long torture is the best "ultimate punishment". death is far too mercyfull.

so, yeah. I'm against the death penalty.

 

[Iggy]

OK Civvin I wondered if you were Christian as I believe they condone killing for any reason. Let God be your judge etc.
I am against the death penalty, but think life imprisonment should mean "life".

 

[Civvin]

Originally posted by Iggy
OK Civvin I wondered if you were Christian as I believe they condone killing for any reason. Let God be your judge etc.
I am against the death penalty, but think life imprisonment should mean "life".

You can argue that Jesus teachings don't condone killing for any reason but you see 'christians' killing for all sorts of reasons every day.

My point is even if its a 'just' punishment, the inequalities and errors inherent in any system of law, make it immoral, as you are bound to put to death the innocent.

 

[marioh]

If it can be proven 100% that a person is guilty of the crime charged against him, then I'm behind the death penalty.

I'd much rather see my hard earned tax money go to providing food and shelter to homeless people than to convicted felons.

 

[KaNick]

I'm against killing people, but I am also against locking up many people for the rest of their lives so I voted other.

 

[IglooDame]

Here's an alternative - instead of the death penalty, put the convict into an artificial coma until their (say) 70th birthday, or their natural death, whichever comes first. That way, it isn't "permanent" but has the same effect of preventing the person from ever getting their life back, and it would probably be cheaper than "normal" prison OR execution and would not endanger prison guards or other prisoners by close contact with a person who literally has nothing to live for. Also, it would function the same as life imprisonment as far as convicting innocents go - if the person is later determined to be innocent they can simply be woken up.

 

[KaNick]

Are you serious?

 

[IglooDame]

Originally posted by GrandMasta Nick
Are you serious?

Me? Sure. Feel free to point out flaws, if I can tune up the idea in CFC OT perhaps I'll push for legislation on it.

 

[KaNick]

Well I don't really feel like arguing, but I will say one thing. Personally I think that is worse than killing them and is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. I thought we were suppose to be better than these people.

 

[Dark Ascendant]

I think capital punishment is all right. Some people just really deserve that fate for what they did.

 

[IglooDame]

Originally posted by GrandMasta Nick
Well I don't really feel like arguing, but I will say one thing. Personally I think that is worse than killing them and is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. I thought we were suppose to be better than these people.

How is it worse?

You have been around here long enough to know that saying something is good or bad without giving any support to the statement is a cop-out.

 

[KaNick]

It just feels inhuman and wrong to me. That is my arguement against it. Let a person die with a little honor and humanity left in them, don't treat them like things.

 

[luiz]

Someone who commited a premeditated mureder certainle deserves death. So, at a moral leval, I do not oppose capital punishment.

But reality is another thing. To be fair, we must prove beyond all possible doubt that the defender is guilty. This makes the trials too long and expensive. As some people always point out, the trials for death penalty are sometimes more expensive then keeping the criminal locked up for life.

My opinion is that the worse criminals should get life in prison, with no priviledges - that is, the criminal would have to work hard for his food and clean clothes. That's a fair punishment.

 

[luiz]

Originally posted by Stefan Haertel
Any country in the EU -save for Northern Ireland, maybe- is safer than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or many other areas where the government kills people.

Actually New York has a lower homicide rate then most european capitals. The criminality dropped dramatically during the 90's

 

[thestonesfan]

Originally posted by IglooDude
Here's an alternative - instead of the death penalty, put the convict into an artificial coma until their (say) 70th birthday, or their natural death, whichever comes first. That way, it isn't "permanent" but has the same effect of preventing the person from ever getting their life back, and it would probably be cheaper than "normal" prison OR execution and would not endanger prison guards or other prisoners by close contact with a person who literally has nothing to live for. Also, it would function the same as life imprisonment as far as convicting innocents go - if the person is later determined to be innocent they can simply be woken up.

That's a good idea. If it could be done cheaply, I'd be all for it.

 

[Double Barrel]

Hang 'em high!*

*after being convicted in a court of law by evidence that proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the guilty person is, in fact, 100% guilty.

It is a tough issue. On the one hand, I understand the desire to prevent the power of execution being provided to the state. (Although, I must point out, the state has the power to kill via the various military conflicts that seem to be endless.) And the burden of proof for conviction, lack of evidence that the DP deters crime, and the overall moral arguments provide substantial food for thought to be opposed to capital punishment.

On the other hand, I can also understand the idea that "the recidivism rate for executed murderers is 0", the funds used for lifelong sentences could be better utilized for more positive purposes, and the "eye-for-an-eye" justice provides ample food for thought to support capital punishment.