I am conflicted about this subject. One thing people seem to misunderstand though is how much it actually costs to execute somebody. The amount of tax payers money that goes into appeals and review boards and things like that actually cost more than putting someone in prison for the rest of their lives. Source. I am not against the death penalty for ethical reasons, but because of how the justice system is currently set up. Another problem that comes up is the amount of innocent people that could possibly be executed. I think the number is too high. Due to advancments in criminology and forensics, more people are being exonerated every year. "A total of 166 wrongly convicted people whose convictions date as far back as 1964 were declared innocent in 2016" Source. I understand that statistically this is a miniscule amount. Imagine being on death row knowing that you are 100% innocent but there is nothing to do. That is just so wrong to me. There has been 20 inmates released from death row since 1992 due to exoneration, that's actually a scary amount. Source. Another problem I have with the justice system is how often juries get things wrong in court. There was a study done that found 1 out of 8 trials with verdicts determined by juries were incorrect. Source. The average population is pretty fucking dumb. There was a murder where I used to live and it was quite a big deal. The guy was convincted but appealed the convinction and was able to get another trial because the jury didn't realize the prosecutor wasn't doing his job properly. Source. Kasim Davey was jailed for being in contempt of court when he posted this online about his jury service: “Woooow I wasn’t expecting to be in a jury Deciding a paedophile’s fate, I’ve always wanted to F*** up a paedophile & now I’m within the law!” Basically, some jurors decided that you are guilty/innocent before the trial even starts. Source. For these reasons, I do not currently support the death penalty as it stands. I will be against it until we have some way to guranteed no innocent people will be executed, which is impossible with todays technology. I do think that certain crimes do deserve death, such as; mass murder, war crimes, crimes against humanity, etc. I also think that the USA needs to focus on rehabilition instead of punishment but if somebody is impossible to be rehabilited then the death penalty could be the right choice. edit: Some studies found that 1/20 people on death row are later taken off death row and up to 82% of people on death row did not deserve the death penalty. That's freaking scary. Source
Before I put my input on this thread, I'd like to propose a question, preferably to be answered by @Python~ as he made the thread. I don't know if you have any siblings, but for this situation I'll give you a brother. You and your brother are walking along a lonely road, you're approached by a mugger. He takes your items of value, and shoots you both. Your brother dies, but you survive the shot, and spend time in the hospital. Despite your description of the mugger, he isn't caught by the police. You've healed, and months or a year has gone by. You pass a man on the street and you've seen him before. He doesn't recognize you but you know he was the man who murdered your brother and tried to kill you as well. You stalk him, and learn his habits. When you deem the time is right, you get him alone, and you kill him. You turn yourself in after, or perhaps you just got caught. Should you be given the death penalty for committing murder? There is no right or wrong answer to this, I'm just curious to hear your answer.
The 166 people released from prison just emphasizes the fact that forensic technology has gotten to a good point where very little, if any, inmates have been wrongly convicted. Show me some stats from recent years (and yeah, I know it'll take at least 10 before we see if anyone was wrongly convicted, but you get the point). But the point is that you're comparing 1964 to now, over 50 years later, and innocent people being sentenced to die is tremendously unlikely And again, if there is doubt that the person on trial committed the act whatsoever, the death penalty does not apply. At least, that's what I suggested in the OP If I took the time to find out his routine and where he lives and everything, I wouldn't be dumb enough to just kill him, especially if he just "looks like him". I'd at least attempt to contact the authorities and put him on trial, especially if it was just a year after But yes, if this hypothetical person were to kill someone he believed had killed his brother, and he turned himself in, I don't believe he should be sentenced to die, because he had motive, and he gave himself up immediately If he was caught, maybe a different story, not really sure
An interesting answer. More or less I agree, I wouldn't sentence the person to die either. I'd very much like to take the "moral high ground" and say I wouldn't support the ending of another's life for any reason, but morals are subjective, and I would be lying. If a person made an attempt on my life, or made a serious threat to it, I would see them killed, by my own hands or by the powers at be. To quote Abraham from The Walking Dead, see spoiler below. Spoiler: Quote This would extend to attempts or threats on the lives of my family. I wouldn't disagree with death sentences for murderers. (No good motive, no good reason, no remorse.) But for those on death row I would give them a chance for their lives. They could choose servitude, and would be housed and fed, while put to work for the benefit of the community. The other option, medical testing. Same assurances as the previous option. This wouldn't be forced on them, but their choice. As for rapists and pedophiles, I think chemical castration would suffice. In a perfect world my best option for these people would be that of exile as was the intended goal with early Australia.
The matter was that you wanted to kill them with your own hands, not the death penalty. Also, rich people can avoid the death penalty just like they can avoid jail
That's just it though. A situation with the same circumstances shouldn't matter if it is done by the government or a person. The point I was to make is that something can't, or shouldn't, be wrong when it's done by one man and right when done by a governing body. If that were the standard you could do anything and be right and just so long as you have the numbers.
Not that I'm pro death penalty either, but a single person can't carry out due process just like one person can't send a rocket to space or cure cancer. These are complex tasks that require lots of people.
im too lazy to read all of this thread. yes I did say I'd kill the sumbitch who caused death of my mother, but I mean, would I really? That just ruins my life, my mother would wish better of me. We're not savages, though some of us are. People can still hurt people in jail, and those people deserve to die. However I'd say the death penalty is flawed and was proven by the movie called "The Green Mile" Our justice system has some problems with it. But I will say some people deserve to die out there, and honestly it won't put anyone at peace in the head in my opinion. Sure knowing that the person who brutally raped and murdered 50 children is not out there, but knowing that your child died in the way you saw/heard of is the most painful thing you can live with. I'd say @feИRa is a better man than me. To come to peace with what someone did, and then to let the offender live with his guilt the rest of his life could possibly be more painful than death. I agree with your conditions, Python. Thing is though, read up on this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shanda_Sharer Its a brutal case, it made me cry when I read up on it, and the fact those kids got away with it, just 60 years in jail, and less of a sentence for confessing???? Really? The ringleader Melinda Loveless was a cunt. But she's not anymore...or is she? Idk, but I mean her last name..."loveless" says something. Honestly I don't trust this bitch...but can people really go from insane to sane? "As of 2018, Melinda Loveless is the only one of the four girls remaining in prison, scheduled for release in September 2019" She will be 43 when she gets out of jail.
Let's be clear, I doubt I could live through what you had to endure, so I have to respect your opinion just a bit more than the random chat poster's or my own. And I don't say it's wrong to WANT to get revenge on the guy, of course this is a natural reaction, instead I agree with you that it's acting on the impulse that just ruins your life too. When a criminal does an injustice that's so big, nobody can make him realize the magnitude of it, apart from himself. Our interest is then limited to preventing that person from doing evil again, and this may or may not include giving him the death penalty, but that is another can of worms.
Here are my thoughts on the death penalty that doesn't really apply to the OP: In an absolute ideal society, where everything was 100% efficient, assuming crime is still an issue, if there was a person that needed to be permanently removed from society, and we could absolutely confirm they were the perpetrator, I would always support them being put to death over life in prison.
