The Death Penalty

[Skyswallow]

(*Cough*editbutton*cough*)
If you think the death penalty is good because it scares people into behaving, but a long prison sentence is bad because they suffer, isn't that contradictory?
If you kill someone, they have no chance to become better. But if you put someone in prison, and teach them things, and help them become a better person, then they may just change. I know that murderers and so ons are often psychopaths and also often are too set in their ways to change -- but would it not hurt to try? And if we kill them instead of trying to help them, what does that say about us?

[xx-Jelly-Fox-xx]

I have a BIG problem with life imprisonment.
We pay extra taxes for a non-contributer and terrible person. Sure, the death penalty isn't right, but I do NOT want to pay for some serial killer's lunch.

[The redeem3r]

(*Cough*editbutton*cough*)
If you think the death penalty is good because it scares people into behaving, but a long prison sentence is bad because they suffer, isn't that contradictory?
If you kill someone, they have no chance to become better. But if you put someone in prison, and teach them things, and help them become a better person, then they may just change. I know that murderers and so ons are often psychopaths and also often are too set in their ways to change -- but would it not hurt to try? And if we kill them instead of trying to help them, what does that say about us?

I didn't say that - what I said that if you abide by that logic to state that you condone life in prison, logically, the death penalty is better. I don't think that a long prison sentence is bad because they suffer - I cited that argument because one of those speaking for the opposition, Ash Kelp, stated as such. It's logical to assume that this notion isn't intrinsic to him, and many others share his viewpoint.

If you kill someone and get life in prison, what point is there to get better? You'll be in prison for your entire life and will have no means by which you can show the world that you have indeed improved.

Furthermore, I do not think that the sole reason the death penalty is a superior alternative to life in prison is because it scares people into behaving better. People would have nothing to fear if they weren't aware these supposedly vindicated (I say supposedly because the legal system isn't perfect. People have been given punishments for crimes the did not commit. Not death sentences, but life in prison sentences which have been lifted decades after the unfair trial.) executions. This takes out the fear of a tyrannical justice system. An oxymoron maybe, but one that can exist, but wouldn't under the system that I advocate.

It's superior because it is more cost effective, can reduce crime, and eases up America's overcrowded prison system. In addition, many other reasons could be cited.

[Skyswallow]

It's superior because it is more cost effective, can reduce crime, and eases up America's overcrowded prison system. In addition, many other reasons could be cited.

1. Human lives can't be counted by money.
2. Ahem. Already argued against that. Also, isn't there a lot of crime in places with the death penalty, compared to places without it?
3. Why put so many in prison, then? What would be a better idea would be to give more people community sentences. That way it would cost less, fewer would have to go to jail in the first place, and society gets something from those who committed a crime. Jail would be reserved for those who truly couldn't be trusted.

[The redeem3r]

It's superior because it is more cost effective, can reduce crime, and eases up America's overcrowded prison system. In addition, many other reasons could be cited.

1. Human lives can't be counted by money.
2. Ahem. Already argued against that. Also, isn't there a lot of crime in places with the death penalty, compared to places without it?
3. Why put so many in prison, then? What would be a better idea would be to give more people community sentences. That way it would cost less, fewer would have to go to jail in the first place, and society gets something from those who committed a crime. Jail would be reserved for those who truly couldn't be trusted.

That is a personal belief that human lives can't be counted by money, and many people (to some degree myself) would disagree with you on that.

Secondly, I already addressed the part where allegedly lower crime correlates with the abolishment of the death penalty. I also stated that those two variables do not correlate. Which, might I mention, is not to say that they can't correlate, because they would, logically, if the death penalty was enforced in a legal system that conformed to it. Those places that have done away with the death penalty, have also *coincidentally* done many things about gun control. Crime rates can be attributed to the banishment of mediums by which to commit those crimes, not those punishments that will result from them.

You can't give killers community service nor can criminals that are In for violent crimes, and it doesn't take an expert to understand why. Murderers don't always get life in prison, and community service does very little, if anything at all to remediate them.

[Bang Your Drum]

Well it should be noted not all people slated to die may actually have committed their crimes. Peter Jackson helped make several films on the West Memphis 3, one of who was seventeen when he was put on death row. While DNA evidence/further investigation did not clear their names, they are treated as innocent.

[The redeem3r]

Well it should be noted not all people slated to die may actually have committed their crimes. Peter Jackson helped make several films on the West Memphis 3, one of who was seventeen when he was put on death row. While DNA evidence/further investigation did not clear their names, they are treated as innocent.

I believe that I have acknowledged that to an extent. Inmates have been kept in prison for decades before being released with a "sorry we got the wrong guy."

[Solinium Pulse]

Okay, after reading some of your post, I realize that my opinion may seem a little violent.

Capital punishment would teach others not to commit crime. In the cases of rape, murder, etc. I find this completely acceptable.

[I apologize, I've been reading so many articles about everything wrong with this world we live in, and I have found out that there is so much I don't know about. So much evil happens. How do I not know?]