What are your thoughts about capital punishment.

[EricSmarties]

i was doing this topic in history and i was wondering what people think about capital punishment.
What are your thoughts about the abolition of the death penalty?

[Lord_Mountbatten]

CAPITALS PUNISHMENT

[EricSmarties]

CAPITALS PUNISHMENT

Immature...

[random980]

Bring back the death sentence.
Dont care how they are killed, some < descriptive swear-word> deserve to be put down like animals.
For people where death is to good, throw them in an isolated, small, empty room and make them live on bare minimum food for the rest of their lives.

These punishments should still only be reserved for the extremes, for people who have taken/ruined multiple innocent lives themselves.

also i want to change my vote from stricter laws to, bring back the rope

[SneakyPie]

This is a very tricky subject as it's dealing with ending another person's life.

People these days are quick to condemn someone to death (incensed by vengeance, not justice) when most of the time it seems unwarranted to me. Sure there are instances where death is appropriate such as multiple cases of murder, but I that's more rare than we realize.

I don't believe in "eye for an eye." Justice isn't about exacting the same crime on the criminal. It's about repaying the debt they caused to the victim.

I don't think we should keep them in prison forever either. I'm a fan of hard labor and think we should get free labor from our criminals. Make them more useful doing work that needs done instead of having them in a cell all the time.

My sense of justice may be a little conflicted with how most others think as I am a very forgiving person.

[EricSmarties]

This is a very tricky subject as it's dealing with ending another person's life.

People these days are quick to condemn someone to death (incensed by vengeance, not justice) when most of the time it seems unwarranted to me. Sure there are instances where death is appropriate such as multiple cases of murder, but I that's more rare than we realize.

I don't believe in "eye for an eye." Justice isn't about exacting the same crime on the criminal. It's about repaying the debt they caused to the victim.

I don't think we should keep them in prison forever either. I'm a fan of hard labor and think we should get free labor from our criminals. Make them more useful doing work that needs done instead of having them in a cell all the time.

My sense of justice may be a little conflicted with how most others think as I am a very forgiving person.

Prisoners should maybe earn they're release through hard labor showing that they have changed and not just going to get released and commit crimes again so that is quiet a good view on things.

There was a story just recently about a woman in Iran. A guy asked her out and she said no. the guy threw acid in her face blinded her and gave her terrible scars. Now the government in Iran is allowing her to do the same to the guy who did it. I think that just promotes violence in society.

[Milo_Windby]

I'm a little worried about what "Stricter rules" would be... how far do we go with that?
We could go to far with such a thing and not even know it until its to late.

And Execution, well... I do agree with Sneaky that there can be a case where such a punishment is due.
Then again there is and has been cases where someone who is on death row should not be there at all due to a mix up. They are accused of something and in reality they have done nothing at all because they have the wrong person.
It saddens me to know there are cases where a purely innocent man has been executed for the crimes of someone else.

[EricSmarties]

I'm a little worried about what "Stricter rules" would be... how far do we go with that?
We could go to far with such a thing and not even know it until its to late.

And Execution, well... I do agree with Sneaky that there can be a case where such a punishment is due.
Then again there is and has been cases where someone who is on death row should not be there at all due to a mix up. They are accused of something and in reality they have done nothing at all because they have the wrong person.
It saddens me to know there are cases where a purely innocent man has been executed for the crimes of someone else.

an example of such a case is the case of Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig which is still getting debated over. hit up google for more info.

[XDelphi]

an example of such a case is the case of Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig which is still getting debated over. hit up google for more info.

Derek Bentley was officially pardoned in 1998, wasn't he?

[Zehydra]

I am against the idea of the death penalty for as long as we have an imperfect justice system.

We should never sacrifice innocent lives to uphold a faulty justice system.

[aflycon]

I wrote a long paper on this for one of my classes this year.. if I can find it, I'll put it up here and you'll all be bent to my viewpoint.

[Wildwill002]

Personally if it was my choice all evidence of humanity would be erased. This is not out of spite its just whats best for the earth and, well, we are pretty much a suicidal race

[Milo_Windby]

I choose to have faith in the human race...
you say we are going down hill and I say otherwise, sure we have hiccups from time to time but over all we as a race do have our good moments as well.

http://oaja.com/ Feel Good News Homepage, a site dedicated to showing off all the good news in the world instead of just the bad.

[Zinrius]

Fear and Control, enough said.

The word Justice is tossed around a lot, but each person who tosses it has a different defition for it. The morality of the sentence is in the eye of the beholder.

Just like Love, death cannot be universaly mutual.

[697134002]

Death is an easy way out for a guilty person. A few days of terror and it's over. Life in prison is a lifetime of hopelessness. And what if you kill the wrong person? I was reading an article a few months ago, and it was talking about this.

A guy's entire family died in a suspicious fire. After several years, even his own mother thought he was guilty. He went to the electric chair. Several years later, the case is reexamined with newer technology, and they find evidence to show that it was an accidental fire.
And something like that nearly happens in '12 Angry Men'. Everyone thinks the boy is guilty, but just one person looks at the facts a different way, and almost completely invalidates the testimonies of both witnesses.

[EricSmarties]

an example of such a case is the case of Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig which is still getting debated over. hit up google for more info.

Derek Bentley was officially pardoned in 1998, wasn't he?

oh crap i put that down in the coursework :0

[Tulonsae]

Your question is about the abolition of the death penalty. The choices refer to different types of punishment rather than about yea or nay to the death penalty and why. This indicates to me that you've already decided that the death penalty is only about punishment.

My debate topic in my senior year of high school was on the death penalty. I had to do a lot of research on both sides of the question for that debate (was a major part of our grade). And although my information is quite dated now, I learned that there are other considerations than punishment for the use or non-use of the death penalty.

Personally, I would have to choose "Other" which you didn't include in the choices.

(Oh, and my team was against the use of the death penalty. We won the debate. We presented many facts, but won on just one - no way to guarantee that an innocent person won't be convicted. It was kind of a triumph for us since the other team had the Captain of our high school debate team who was good enough to win the state championship that year.)

[makkaal]

I am against the idea of the death penalty for as long as we have an imperfect justice system.

We should never sacrifice innocent lives to uphold a faulty justice system.

[...] no way to guarantee that an innocent person won't be convicted. [...]

This. This is one of my main reasons why I am entirely against the idea of a death penalty.

However, my reasoning against capital punishment is the following.

If we create a justice system that, above all, grants human dignity, the right to life and limb/health, and equal rights before the law to all citizens, logically not a single person has the authority to take someone else's life. This would mean more rights to the executioner and those that approve the execution, and very much less to the convicted.*
Thus, capital punishment is not an option in an equal rights judicial system. It works against the very foundation of this system.

And we are not even talking manslaughter, either, for there is the precise intent to kill that very person. To exclude this act from the definition of criminal murder just by having it signed off by judicial actors is implausible, and in my eyes an atrocity. I believe this to be hypocrisy at its worst.

Using modern western law-sets as a base, we have to deal with hardcore criminals the way we used to - seperate them from society so they can do no harm.
I won't even go into detail about systems of other cultures, e.g. China, many African states or the Middle East. But since I believe in the value of above mentioned guarantees, I apply my reasoning to those areas as well.
__________
*I am using the German constitution as a reference here. Therefore my argument is applied my country, but I am quite sure that there are similar guarantees in the codes of law of the countries you are from.

[The_Fuzz22]

In a system where "life sentence" doesn't mean "life" at all, I think stricter rules AND a return to capital punishment are necessary.

I still remember the day I was watching TV and heard some guy had been given 4 life sentences, and I asked my dad why one wasn't enough and couldn't get my head around his explanation that it didn't necessarily mean life sentences.
I mean, how ridiculous does a judge feel every time he/she makes a sentence like that?

And another thing, prisons are a sodding hotel spa compared to the way they used to be. I understand the need to rehabilitate and form people into functioning parts of society before they are released back into the world but hot showers and Playstation are not the way to do that.

[makkaal]

In a system where "life sentence" doesn't mean "life" at all, I think stricter rules AND a return to capital punishment are necessary. [...]
And another thing, prisons are a sodding hotel spa compared to the way they used to be. I understand the need to rehabilitate and form people into functioning parts of society before they are released back into the world but hot showers and Playstation are not the way to do that.

About the former part:
Again, in a system that values life above everything else, capital punishment cannot logically be a valid option. This as nothing to do with the definition or form of prison sentences since those do not affect the implications the death penalty bears.

About the latter:
Here I have to agree with you, at least partially. However, you always have to keep the thought of human dignity in mind. There is no possible way to lose it, neither by selling, nor by commiting crimes. Otherwise the whole idea would be obsolete.
Having said that, I believe that prison today seems to be more about "separating criminals from society" than "punishing criminals". But I would assume this depends very much on the kind of prison the convicts are in.

[Tulonsae]

My understanding (from a sheriff/prison guard friend of mine) is that "nice things" given to prisoners is not for the purpose of reform or being fair or whatever. It's simply a matter of keeping them under control. Prisons cost a lot of money to run and maintain - and over time, the number of inmates has increased and the number of guards decreased. Keeping the prisoners occupied with things like TVs and Playstations is a cheaper way to run the prison than hiring more guards.

[Once again, my data is a little dated, but not so much this time. My friend retired on partial disability a few years ago.]

[Sir_Luke]

Don't bring back the rope, bring back old sparky.

[TyrasEngineer]

I think that despite the fact that some people commit unimaginable crimes, any society which criticises murder and goes about proving the point by openly murdering people is hypocritical and wrong. However, current sentences do not seem to be much of a deterrent, and so the only logical thing to do would be to tighten laws. I do believe that prisons should be much, much worse than they currently are. My mind is drawn back to a case a couple of weeks ago when a prisoner successfully brought a human rights case against a prison because he couldn't have Xbox Live, and that's just stupid.
In short, I don't know what to do, but I don't think capital punishment is the answer.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

My mind is drawn back to a case a couple of weeks ago when a prisoner successfully brought a human rights case against a prison because he couldn't have Xbox Live, and that's just stupid.

Well, the UN has declared access to the internet a universal human right now don'tchaknow.

Besides, CreepsUTrust - I mean - Microsoft, gets a tidy bit of income from that.

[Minazen]

Humans are extremely hypocritical creatures that feed off violence and tragedy. This discussion is nothing but individuals trying to seem like they ‘care’ about discussing against the immorality of capital punishment but we all know that deep inside we don’t, in fact, it’s quite the opposite, we humans like seeing each other die off. (So long as it’s not us, am I right?)

[Lord_Mountbatten]

What, it's not normal to enjoy watching others die? I have people dropped into the lava lake outside my HQ for pure fun.

People don't do that?

[Minazen]

What, it's not normal to enjoy watching others die? I have people dropped into the lava lake outside my HQ for pure fun.

People don't do that?

So we're mutual on the matter.

[697134002]

Humans are extremely hypocritical creatures that feed off violence and tragedy. This discussion is nothing but individuals trying to seem like they ‘care’ about discussing against the immorality of capital punishment but we all know that deep inside we don’t, in fact, it’s quite the opposite, we humans like seeing each other die off. (So long as it’s not us, am I right?)

So you would see a falsely accused person put to death, rather than prison, where they might finally get justice and be free, just because it is our instinct to enjoy that it is not us who is dying?

[Minazen]

Humans are extremely hypocritical creatures that feed off violence and tragedy. This discussion is nothing but individuals trying to seem like they ‘care’ about discussing against the immorality of capital punishment but we all know that deep inside we don’t, in fact, it’s quite the opposite, we humans like seeing each other die off. (So long as it’s not us, am I right?)

So you would see a falsely accused person put to death, rather than prison, where they might finally get justice and be free, just because it is our instinct to enjoy that it is not us who is dying?

Yes, so long as it's not me or anyone I know. If I do know them they would have to be pretty close for it to cause some reaction.

Seen the news? One gets pretty desensitized over the years of hearing and seeing the same thing over and over.

Got a problem with my moral values?

[697134002]

Humans are extremely hypocritical creatures that feed off violence and tragedy. This discussion is nothing but individuals trying to seem like they ‘care’ about discussing against the immorality of capital punishment but we all know that deep inside we don’t, in fact, it’s quite the opposite, we humans like seeing each other die off. (So long as it’s not us, am I right?)

So you would see a falsely accused person put to death, rather than prison, where they might finally get justice and be free, just because it is our instinct to enjoy that it is not us who is dying?

Yes, so long as it's not me or anyone I know. If I do know them they would have to be pretty close for it to cause some reaction.

Seen the news? One gets pretty desensitized over the years of hearing and seeing the same thing over and over.

Got a problem with my moral values?

Yes, I do. You would allow the deaths of people who may be innocent?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3472872.html
http://deathwatch.wordpress.com/2008/04 ... death-row/