Why don't you believe in the death penalty?

Question

I see it as a necessary punishment for serial killers, child molesters and murderers. The whole insanity plea is why a lot of them still live.

Answer 1

For the worst crimes, life without parole is better, for many reasons. I’m against the death penalty not because of sympathy for criminals but because it doesn’t reduce crime, prolongs the anguish of families of murder victims, costs a whole lot more than life in prison, and, worst of all, risks executions of innocent people.



The worst thing about it. Errors:

The system can make tragic mistakes. As of now, 142 wrongly convicted people on death row have been exonerated. We’ll never know for sure how many people have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often irrelevant and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.



Keeping killers off the streets for good:

Life without parole, on the books in most states, also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free, is no picnic. Two big advantages:

-an innocent person serving life can be released from prison

-life without parole costs less than the death penalty



Costs, a big surprise to many people:

Study after study has found that the death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. The process is much more complex than for any other kind of criminal case. The largest costs come at the pre-trial and trial stages. These apply whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death.



Crime reduction (deterrence):

Homicide rates for states that use the death penalty are consistently higher than for those that don’t. The most recent FBI data confirms this. For people without a conscience, fear of being caught is the best deterrent. The death penalty is no more effective in deterring others than life sentences.



Who gets it:

The death penalty magnifies social and economic inequalities. It isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. Practically everyone sentenced to death had to rely on an overworked public defender.



Victims:

Like no other punishment, it subjects families of murder victims to a process which makes healing even harder. Even families who have supported it in principle have testified to the protracted and unavoidable damage that the death penalty process does to families like theirs and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.



The death penalty comes down to retribution or revenge—the only plausible reasons to support it.

Answer 2

I am conflicted. On one hand, I believe that those who have proven themselves a danger to society have abrogated their right to live. On the other hand, we humans make mistakes all too often. Innocent people are convicted of horrible things all the time. Do I want to execute an innocent person? How does that serve us, as a society?



If it were possible to be absolutely certain that we have the right person and that no innocent person would be punished for something they did not do, I would have no problem with the death penalty. But I am reminded of all the people who have been vindicated, after serving years, DECADES in prison. I am reminded of Dr. Sam Sheppard, Cameron Willingham. Man makes mistakes, harbors malice against the wrong person. I am conflicted.

Answer 3

To me, even though I don't think that they deserve to live, I don't believe anyone truly has the right to take someone's life. I mean if someone goes and kills someone, what do we do? We kill them in return? It just kinda sounds like an eye for an eye. And on top of that, death is almost a blessing to some of those bastards. It's must easier to die from execution than it is to sit in a metal cage for the rest of your life eating **** food, staring at the same walls, and getting the crap beaten out of you by other inmates. I do agree that the insanity plea is bullish*t though. They should be treated like any other criminal. Although having all these people is jail is costing us a boatload of money, that's one of my few pros in favor of the death penalty.

Answer 4

You haven't explained why it is 'necessary'. Locking someone up for life is more than adequate punishment and it keeps them away from the rest of society. And the comments about the insanity plea really have nothing to do with reality.

Answer 5

Because I don't think it's any kind of a deterrent to crime.



Life at hard labor without parole would be a better deterrent.



Make juvenile offenders watch prisoners working on a chain-gang for 12 hours a day. I think that will scare them straight.

Answer 6

It is impossible to prove with 100% certainty that anybody is guilty of anything to a jury. So life in prison makes more sense to me than the death penalty. DNA can be falsified, DNA has been falsified. Witnesses can lie, witnesses have lied. You get the picture.

Answer 7

Life is a terminal disease. When you're dead you're dead. There is no punishment after that they are then beyond the reach of the justice system. I would rather they be in a single cell with no windows or outside contact for the rest of their life.

Answer 8

I don't support it because of the people that evidence later shows were innocent. Some get executed first, others are more lucky. Either way, even one innocent person executed for a crime they didn't commit is too many.



Also, I'm conservative in most other political subjects, so suck on that society!

Answer 9

Reality overcomes the anti death penalty position.



The Death Penalty: Justice and Saving Innocent Lives

Dudley Sharp



The death penalty has a foundation in justice and it spares more innocent lives.



The majority populations of all countries, likely, support the death penalty for some crimes (1).



Why? Justice.



Anti death penalty arguments are either false or the pro death penalty arguments are stronger.



THE DEATH PENALTY: SAVING MORE INNOCENT LIVES



The 140 Innocents Frauds: Standard Anti Death Penalty Strategy

and

THE DEATH PENALTY: SAVING MORE INNOCENT LIVES

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-innocent-frauds-standard-anti-death.html



OF COURSE THE DEATH PENALTY DETERS:

A review of the debate

and

MURDERERS MUCH PREFER LIFE OVER EXECUTION

99.7% of murderers tell us "Give me life, not execution"

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/03/of-course-death-penalty-deters.html



Saving Costs with The Death Penalty

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/02/death-penalty-cost-saving-money.html



RACE & THE DEATH PENALTY: A REBUTTAL TO THE RACISM CLAIMS

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/07/rebuttal-death-penalty-racism-claims.html



"The Death Penalty: Neither Hatred nor Revenge"

http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/07/20/the-death-penalty-neither-hatred-nor-revenge.aspx



The Death Penalty: Mercy, Expiation, Redemption & Salvation

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-death-penalty-mercy-expiation.html



"Killing Equals Killing: The Amoral Confusion of Death Penalty Opponents"

http://homicidesurvivors.com/2013/02/19/murder-and-execution--very-distinct-moral-differences--new-mexico.aspx



"The Death Penalty: Not a Human Rights Violation"

http://homicidesurvivors.com/2006/03/20/the-death-penalty-not-a-human-rights-violation.aspx



MORAL FOUNDATIONS



Immanuel Kant: "If an offender has committed murder, he must die. In this case, no possible substitute can satisfy justice. For there is no parallel between death and even the most miserable life, so that there is no equality of crime and retribution unless the perpetrator is judicially put to death.". "A society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else's life is simply immoral."



Pope Pius XII; "When it is a question of the execution of a man condemned to death it is then reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned of the benefit of life, in expiation of his fault, when already, by his fault, he has dispossessed himself of the right to live." 9/14/52.



John Murray: "Nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of human life." "... it is this same atrophy of moral fiber that appears in the plea for the abolition of the death penalty." "It is the sanctity of life that validates the death penalty for the crime of murder. It is the sense of this sanctity that constrains the demand for the infliction of this penalty. The deeper our regard for life the firmer will be our hold upon the penal sanction which the violation of that sanctity merit." (Page 122 of Principles of Conduct).



John Locke: "A criminal who, having renounced reason... hath, by the unjust violence and slaughter he hath committed upon one, declared war against all mankind, and therefore may be destroyed as a lion or tyger, one of those wild savage beasts with whom men can have no society nor security." And upon this is grounded the great law of Nature, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Second Treatise of Civil Government.



Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "In killing the criminal, we destroy not so much a citizen as an enemy. The trial and judgments are proofs that he has broken the Social Contract, and so is no longer a member of the State." (The Social Contract).



Saint (& Pope) Pius V: "The just use of (executions), far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this (Fifth) Commandment which prohibits murder." "The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent" (1566).



3200 additional pro death penalty quotes

http://prodpquotes.info/



1) US Death Penalty Support at 80%: World Support Remains High

95% of Murder Victim's Family Members Support Death Penalty

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-death-penalty-support-at-80-world.html



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Victim's Voices - These are the murder victims

http(COLON)//www.murdervictims.com/Voices/voices.html



Much more, upon request. [e-mail]

Answer 10

God himself did not kill Cain after he murdered his brother. If God does not use the death penalty, then I refuse to. That being said, I have no impulse to work to stop it either. Also, I find it amazing that the same people that are against the death penalty are also in favor of abortion. I am against both.

Answer 11

but I DO believe in it!..I think it is VASTLY under used!..if people were confident that murdering that 5 year old child would result in a quick and painful death, they might think twice before KILLING her, right? edit: and I challenge "poison fish" to point out ONE person wrongly executed in modern times!

Answer 12

Because accountability has gone out the window in this country. no one will take responsibility for their actions. everyone has an excuse for everything and it's everyone's fault except theirs.

Answer 13

Everybody hates the Republican Party, especially Tea Baggers.

Answer 14

We can't pay $40,000 per yr per inmate to house them for the rest of their lives.