Death Penalty

[finifugal]

I abhor vengeance. I am opposed to the death penalty so strongly, I have learned not to talk about to people here in the Rockies. Conservative types here. They love the death penalty. They actually think it's cheaper. I try to inform them of the facts on that. Appeals and what not. But they have made up their minds. facts don't matter to them.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

I don't believe in prisons or long sentences. I definitely don't believe that just because the government kills someone then that makes it okay. I also don't believe that torture does anyone any good.

i do have good feelings towards the idea of vigilantes.

With some criminals I would be tempted to think that they should be put into permanent solitary confinement in a room with nothing but a chair, a length of rope, and a hook in the ceiling. However, this would seem to avoid the reality that the justice system ought to dispense proportionate punishment for crimes.

 

[SpecialEdition]

I am indifferent about the death penalty.

I think the argument about murderers and such taking up space and resources is ridiculous. What takes up too much space and resources in prisons are people who shouldn't be there in the first place. That is to say people who are in there for possession of marijuana for example. Prisons are just full of people who don't really need to be there. But that's America's War on Drugs for you.

If they could clear out low risk, non-violent offenders from prisons then substantially less financial resources would be taken up, leaving prisons to be exclusively for violent offenders, murderers, rapists, etc who otherwise would be a danger to re-integrate into society.

I don't necessarily believe in "an eye for an eye." It doesn't make the people they killed, raped or otherwise. I do think that they could be studied and psychologically evaluated and be an educational resource... If they can't be rehabilitated we can learn to recognize the signs or what can change to prevent other people from taking a similar path.

 

[muir]

Yeah i'd de-criminalise drugs as well, that would empty the prisons a lot

I don't believe in the death penalty but i do believe in an individuals right to self defence

 

[finifugal]

Yeah i'd de-criminalise drugs as well, that would empty the prisons a lot

I don't believe in the death penalty but i do believe in an individuals right to self defence

And don't forget about prostitution. It may be intended to stop trafficking, but it only makes that worse. Wrong people in jail for that one.

 

[muir]

And don't forget about prostitution. It may be intended to stop trafficking, but it only makes that worse. Wrong people in jail for that one.

Yeah driving sex underground encourages trafficking and pimping

 

[sprinkles]

It shouldn't even be called "death penalty", it should be called simply "execution" or perhaps even "murder".

 

[Lark]

I actually would be fine with it being called retribution or consequences.

 

[sprinkles]

[video=youtube;8Dctocak6Hw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dctocak6Hw[/video]

 

[Faye]

Its hard to be for the death penalty considering it is used disproportionately against black men. The two states that do it the most are Texas and Oklahoma, and frankly, there are a large number of racist people in those states. It is also far more costly, and it requires doctors to violate the hippocratic oath.

Last, every once in awhile, people get executed who were innocent.

 

[sprinkles]

Its hard to be for the death penalty considering it is used disproportionately against black men. The two states that do it the most are Texas and Oklahoma, and frankly, there are a large number of racist people in those states. It is also far more costly, and it requires doctors to violate the hippocratic oath.

Last, every once in awhile, people get executed who were innocent.

I feel the prosecution should be willing to suffer the same fate as the defendant/convict if it turns out they were wrong. In general.

 

[Faye]

I feel the prosecution should be willing to suffer the same fate as the defendant/convict if it turns out they were wrong. In general.

Well, it is not their fault alone. Police, witnesses, and people in general all contribute to a climate that fails to give everyone a fair trail. Juries can be very biased.

 

[sprinkles]

Well, it is not their fault alone. Police, witnesses, and people in general all contribute to a climate that fails to give everyone a fair trail. Juries can be very biased.

I think they should be willing. And I mean willing. Whether its their fault alone or not, all parties involved should have some measure of confidence and sense of weight for what they are doing.

I believe one should be willing to have that conviction. This is not something I'm saying should be imposed on them, I think it should actually be their attitude when approaching things. I don't even necessarily say that it would actually have to be enforced, but I think if one is making a decision that could ruin somebody else's life, they should at least in principle and attitude put their own life on the line for it.

 

[Tin Man]

I think the death penalty could be useful in those cases where the guilt is clear and the criminal unrepentant. Where there's no chance of rehabilitation or reintegration into society. It would be a utilitarian act, rather than one of retribution.

 

[Lerxst]

Being a "librul" and all, people almost get offended when I say I do support the death penalty. When you learn that everything in life is impermanent and not to get attached to things, your mind kind of wanders into the area of "you shouldn't get too attached to life either"; it comes and goes, the world keeps turning. No big deal.

Now, who it's used against, is my only contention. There is just plain evil out there. You know it when you see/hear/read about it; the guy in that tower in Texas, the North Hollywood Shootout suspects, the DC Sniper, Charles Manson. Jeffrey Dahmer. Whether it's a mental break, insanity or whatever, once they willingly kill a person their lives all become forfeit as far as I'm concerned. Read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" if you want a detailed look at a couple deserving candidates for the death penalty.

People like that who have shown a complete disregard for life don't deserve to continue living.

 

[sprinkles]

Being a "librul" and all, people almost get offended when I say I do support the death penalty. When you learn that everything in life is impermanent and not to get attached to things, your mind kind of wanders into the area of "you shouldn't get too attached to life either"; it comes and goes, the world keeps turning. No big deal.

Now, who it's used against, is my only contention. There is just plain evil out there. You know it when you see/hear/read about it; the guy in that tower in Texas, the North Hollywood Shootout suspects, the DC Sniper, Charles Manson. Jeffrey Dahmer. Whether it's a mental break, insanity or whatever, once they willingly kill a person their lives all become forfeit as far as I'm concerned. Read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" if you want a detailed look at a couple deserving candidates for the death penalty.

People like that who have shown a complete disregard for life don't deserve to continue living.

At what exact point does one become evil enough that you could go straight to killing them out of principle?

What's "plain evil" vs "just slightly less than plain evil"?

 

[sprinkles]

[MENTION=2890]Lerxst[/MENTION]

Also you should probably become a vigilante. If you decided some people should die then you should be able to do it yourself.

In fact you should probably just assassinate them regardless of the law or due process or even your own life. If you feel that strongly to kill then you should be willing to die.

 

[Lerxst]

At what exact point does one become evil enough that you could go straight to killing them out of principle?

What's "plain evil" vs "just slightly less than plain evil"?

In Cold Blood... seriously, read it. Can a person who knowingly, intentionally targets innocent, unsuspecting people and executes them, children and all, be rehabilitated? The purpose of prison should be for rehabilitation. The purpose of the death penalty is for the ones who can't. If killing one person could save 5 more, why should the one be allowed to live?

Even in prison, inmates kill each other. Do you think a person facing 3 consecutive life sentences has any future they look forward to outside of prison? They just become part of the system and... so what if they kill another person behind bars, what will the system do? Add another life sentence? Better to kill them outright than let them spend 3 decades behind bars killing others, or getting out and killing more in the future.

 

[sprinkles]

In Cold Blood... seriously, read it. Can a person who knowingly, intentionally targets innocent, unsuspecting people and executes them, children and all, be rehabilitated? The purpose of prison should be for rehabilitation. The purpose of the death penalty is for the ones who can't. If killing one person could save 5 more, why should the one be allowed to live?

Even in prison, inmates kill each other. Do you think a person facing 3 consecutive life sentences has any future they look forward to outside of prison? They just become part of the system and... so what if they kill another person behind bars, what will the system do? Add another life sentence? Better to kill them outright than let them spend 3 decades behind bars killing others, or getting out and killing more in the future.

Why stop there is what I'm asking you.

There's plenty of people who do worse than kill. How about them too?

 

[Kanamori]

In Cold Blood... seriously, read it. Can a person who knowingly, intentionally targets innocent, unsuspecting people and executes them, children and all, be rehabilitated? The purpose of prison should be for rehabilitation. The purpose of the death penalty is for the ones who can't. If killing one person could save 5 more, why should the one be allowed to live?

Even in prison, inmates kill each other. Do you think a person facing 3 consecutive life sentences has any future they look forward to outside of prison? They just become part of the system and... so what if they kill another person behind bars, what will the system do? Add another life sentence? Better to kill them outright than let them spend 3 decades behind bars killing others, or getting out and killing more in the future.

An execution isn't in cold blood? I totally understand the urge/desire to kill a wrongdoer. Doing it is something else. I've been through this here before in other areas on the forum, but I don't think there are too many people who could honestly say they've seen a parent or family member sitting in a giant pool of blood after they've seen somebody try to kill them... I know very well what that feels like, and the urge for vengeance. If I could have acted on it, I probably would have, or at least tried to. Getting to the point where I could trust people again took, and would have in any situation, a lot more than vengeance.

3 Consecutive life terms is asinine. If you're going to do that, you should at least give them the option of a mercy kill, if you're not actually going to try to fix them... but then you'd be receiving an uncomfortably long list of people looking for mercy kills wouldn't you? Let's turn this around a little... Did Germany deserve to be wiped out to the last person for WWII? Is karma more about reaping what you sow for yourself, or more about what others sow for you, or are they really the same by different words? Just what is it like to grow up in a household where someone is a raging and violent alcoholic, or addicted to some other drug? Frankly, accidents don't happen, ever.

If I can feel good and then bad about wanting to kill somebody, what might that say about people who have killed? Can you have 7 w/o also having 6?