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I voted that it is the easy way out. I don't ever support it, for one due to what the PP said above in that too many innocent people have been executed, but mainly because I see it as too easy for true criminals who are abhorrent. I think they should suffer lifelong imprisonment with heavy labor.
I use to be a strong death penalty supporter but since reading that it cost more to give someone the death penalty then to house them for life I have changed my mind. The appeal process is long and costly and people on death row are there for years. If some how the appeals process could be more cost efficient and less time consuming I would be for it.
I have never understood that, and I have never seen those numbers broken down.
How can it possibly cost more to execute someone than to medicate, feed and house that person for 30, 40, 50 years? And all the appeals? They get appeals every few years with a life sentence. How many appeals has Manson had?
Where do those numbers come from?
It just can't possibly cost that much to execute.
Shoot, in some cases, I'll push the plunger for minimum wage. Like the aforementioned Cheshire murders. Those hideous murderers just need to be gone.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juppiter
How is their any way to determine that evidence is "irrefutable"? I personally thought the evidence against Casey Anthony was irrefutable. Obviously, a jury didn't. There is no objective way to classify evidence as irrefutable.
There have been cases where a gang member wannabe has walked up to a stranger on the street and pulled the trigger as part of an 'initiation'. Is that action being caught by a security camera not irrefutable? AND deserving of the prompt application of the death penalty?
There have been cases where a gang member wannabe has walked up to a stranger on the street and pulled the trigger as part of an 'initiation'. Is that action being caught by a security camera not irrefutable? AND deserving of the prompt application of the death penalty?
I agree. Once convicted, do not pass go, do not collect $200!
When I was younger I was all for applying the death penalty. As I've gotten older I've been repeatedly struck by how amazing and precious life is and I've turned against the death penalty. And no, I don't know how to reconcile these feelings with the absolute disgust I have for people, like those two in CT, who killed for nothing but pleasure.
Do you think the death penalty has a place in the world or is it an abomination?
A person who murders another has no place in this world.
Look at all the money you waste housing murderers.
Would you rather spend money to house, clothe, feed, entertain and provide medical services to a murderer, or would you rather use the money to
educate a productive person
feed a productive person
provide health care to a productive person
house a productive person
Having said that, the application of the death penalty in the US is an abomination, but it can be fixed
You need to....
eliminate "qualified immunity" for prosecutors
eliminate "qualified immunity" for police
require prosecutors to submit written justifications for lesser charges
have those written justifications approved/denied by a neutral body
restrict death penalty to premeditated murder and murder during a capital crime (arson, rape, kidnap, robbery)
attach death penalty to crime instead of letting jurors decide
provide equal funding (the power of the State is unlimited in terms of financial resources)
require automatic review of death penalty cases by a special appeals court
Do those things and you protect the rights of all, while simultaneously prohibiting the execution of innocents and removing bias and prejudice from the system.
I was in favor of the death penalty until I was about 16. Up to that point, being a naive kid, I used to think, if you kill someone, you should be put to death. But then I had a criminal justice class in high school, and I remember the teacher saying, "I am categorically against the death penalty."
This really made me think. I thought, "Why would anyone be against the death penalty?" So I talked with him about it, and he explained that the research shows that not only is the death penalty phenomenally expensive to implement, but most importantly, it is not a deterrent. We had a good discussion and it really opened my eyes to the issue in ways I had never considered.
I think this may have been the first issue in my life in which I learned to think deeper about political and social issues. I learned that these issues are complex, not simple, not black and white. It really helps to have deep conversations and not to make snap judgments.
I have never understood that, and I have never seen those numbers broken down.
How can it possibly cost more to execute someone than to medicate, feed and house that person for 30, 40, 50 years? And all the appeals? They get appeals every few years with a life sentence. How many appeals has Manson had?
Where do those numbers come from?
It just can't possibly cost that much to execute.
Shoot, in some cases, I'll push the plunger for minimum wage. Like the aforementioned Cheshire murders. Those hideous murderers just need to be gone.
Lawyers cost a lot more to fight (for/against) the appeal than it does to just give a guy some food every day for the rest of his life with no lawyers involved.
In fact, the defendant usually cannot afford a lawyer themselves (how could they? they aren't working while they are locked up) so the state ends up paying for both the lawyer(s) to represent the accused AND the lawyer(s) to prosecute them.
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Is that action being caught by a security camera not irrefutable? AND deserving of the prompt application of the death penalty?
