Death penalty - thoughts?

[Jed K]

What are your thoughts on the death penalty? For or against? If for, in what circumstances? If against, why? What do you suggest as an alternative?

I'm a bit undecided myself.

[sunken]

For a lot of people, death is not something to be afraid of and thus state assisted suicide is not a deterrant. The ones who do fear it, are more likely not to invoke it on others. Of course, this isn't always the case, but it's enough of a cause to make one wonder whether it's the right action. To me, rotting in a prison cell in solitary would be far worse punishment.

The other thing bad about the death penalty is that not all on death row are guilty. At least DNA is helping in this regard.

[Jed K]

Yeah, I agree with your last point about all who are on death row not being guilty. Movies like The Green Mile show the misunderstandings that can happen and how sad it is for those who know the truth. Even shows such as Prison Break deal with this very issue.

I also agree that rotting away in a prison cell for life seems like a much worse punishment than death. In situations where the person in question is guilty of something horrendous, getting the death penalty is a rather quick and easy way out, is it not?

[hideip]

In alot of high profile murder cases, it actutally costs the governemnt mroe money to put someone to death then to let them live. I think that it should be allowed do to the nature of the crime.

[Niki L]

I oppose death penalties because they don't belong to a civilized society. In my opinion, it's a barbaric and medieval way to punish the criminals. Executions, even though they're carried out by the authorities and sentenced by the court, only create one of the numerous shades of evilness in this world.

During captivity the murderer has plenty of time (10-20 years) to think about his/her horrible crime. Instead of approving the death penalties we should concentrate on giving the murderers psychiatric help and try to get them realize that what they did was wrong and a great sin. We should help them to get back to their feet and tell them that after a sin comes repentance and then comes forgiveness.

The time spent in the prison doesn't bring the murdered person back but it expiates the crime and gives the murderer an opportunity to repent of his crime and after the time in prison return to the society as a reborn person who wants to help others the way he was helped when he needed help. This is of course the ideal situation and I know that some murderers stay as criminals after the captivity. However, they don't usually commit a murder anymore, but drift into a cycle of prison-freedom-crime-prison.

When thinking about crime, it would be advisable to understand, that we have the power to decrease the number of crimes and prisoners by taking a better care of our children and give everyone a chance to get enough education to achieve the skills for a vocation. During captivity the prisoners should be encouraged to study something new and do some work. This way, it's easier to stand the imprisonment and avoid the feeling of emptiness and the suicidal thoughts.

[tsmaster]

I don't think it should be allowed. As someone said earlier in the thread - it's a quick way out for someone who knows he's guilty of doing something really bad. I doubt someone cruel enough to deserve the death penalty would be scared of death.

[KarenM]

I agree with Niki L. Besides, we have too many issues in our criminal justice to make sure we don't put an innocent to death. I think our biggest problem is our inconsistency with whether prison is for reform or punishment.

[BlueNose]

How any civilized society can accept the death penalty as a form of punishment is beyond me however I understand peoples frustrations with the judicial system and their need for what they perceive as justice.

Maybe if the term 'Life Sentence' actually equated to nearer a life sentence rather than the 'soft' sentences that seem to be the norm in modern society there would not be as many people who agree with the death penalty.