The death penalty.

If there is a one in a million chance an innocent person has ever been executed, it needs to go away...so in other words, it needs to go away.

 

I think if there is an admission by the offender and evidence that proves the admission beyond a doubt, the death penalty should be an option for certain heinous crimes.

Any sexual crime commited against a child would be the first one that pops into my head. Also child murder, abduction and in general rape and murder crimes across the board should have the death penalty as an option.

I'm not saying this as some sort of guilty pleasure of seeing these criminals die, but more that I am offended that these sorts of people breathe the same air as I do.

 

John Christie — The Trial of Timothy Evans — Crime Library on truTV.com

Read this & you will see why I am Against the Death Penalty

 

Also, it hasn´t proved to be effective to stop murder from happening...

 

That too. The US has a pretty horrendous murder rate compared to other developed nations.

 

Only in cases of crimes against peace or crimes against humanity.

 

I'm normally very liberal, but this is one case where I really have to side with the connies. I'm all for the death penalty, if the punishment matches the crime (as in a murderer getting the death penalty).

 

I'm sympathetic to the case that some crimes are just that horrible, but how does allowing the state to murder people solve anything? Life imprisonment without parole is probably worse for most people.

 

I dont understand any argument for the death penalty at all. It doesnt seem to bring any form of justice for a heinous crime, and it promotes the theme of revenge. Also, who are we to kill a man because of his terrible actions. Does that not make us the same as him. In no circumstance is taking someones life acceptable, because it brings no benifit. Plus life in jail is cheaper than putting someone on death row. And it is probalby more of a consequence than losing your life. Just my opinion

 

Death Row in itself is Cruelty, especially if the person on Death Row repents at what they have done & becomes a reformed character

 

Obwiously, but it is also an expensive and immoral treatment of people. The people on death row are horribly mistreated, and many end up commiting suicide. Can we as a country condone treatment of our fellow man this way, no matter what he has done. You can't fight fire(murder) with fire (death penalty)

 

I am staunchly against the death penalty. I agree with all the 'against' points said above.

However I'd also like to add another point. The death penalty for enemies against the state doesn't destroy their cause, it makes them a martyr to those who follow that cause making it more difficult to squash down on what the criminal has made. It's just not a very good tactic.

Plus I can't picture myself executing someone if my life depended on it, it's just wrong, my morals tell me that killing a person doesn't bring salvation to them, or yourself or any victim that's involved.

 

I'm against the death penalty in every circumstance.

The chance of an innocent person getting executed is just too high. The system can be corrupt, the evidence can be false, you'll never know. I'd rather see 1.000 murderers doing life in prison than one innocent person being put to death. (example: in 2003, a Dutch woman got convicted to life in prison without parole for killing 7 elderly people. If we had the death penalty, I'm almost certain she would've been sentenced to that. But in 2010 new evidence showed up which without a doubt showed she was innocent.)

And why should it be allowed for the state to kill people, when individuals can't? Or better said, the death penalty would make the state/jury/judge/everyone involved just as bad as the criminals.

It's also more expensive than putting someone in prison for life. People tend to think "executing is cheap we don't need to feed him if he's dead so just finish him" but they're wrong. The death penalty is a massively complex process, with loads of appeals etc.

Finally I feel like life in prison without parole is more of a punishment than death. I'd rather die than spend 50 years in a cell with no chance of ever getting out.

 

If a murderer is quite clearly guilty, quite clearly a danger to society, he will NEVER atone for what he did, and even if he changed completely, the community could never accept him. His life is all but over as it is, so why the hell waste all that money supporting him?

 

1953: Derek Bentley hanged for murder

Teenager Derek Bentley has been executed at Wandsworth Prison in London for his part in the murder of Pc Sidney Miles.

The 19-year-old was hanged at 0900 hours after last-minute appeals for clemency were rejected.

Bentley was sentenced to death on 11 December for killing Pc Miles during a bungled break-in at a warehouse in Croydon, Surrey.

The court was told his co-defendant, Christopher Craig, fired the fatal shot but because he was still a juvenile in the eyes of the law he escaped the death sentence and was ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Bentley must not die

A large crowd began gathering outside Wandsworth jail from early this morning. Some sang the hymn Abide With Me and the 23rd Psalm.

Others began booing when a prison warder came out carrying a glass-covered board containing the execution notice.

Bentley's sentence was sealed last night when the Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, said he could not see any reason for intervening in the case.

A deputation of MPs had earlier gone to see the home secretary with a petition, said to have been signed by about 200 members.

They urged him to ask the Queen to exercise her royal prerogative of mercy.

They pointed out Craig was the ringleader of the two and that Bentley's mental age was probably younger than his partner - a fact that had not been disclosed to the jury.

They also claimed big public support for a reprieve.

But the home secretary said he could see no grounds for modifying the sentence. Earlier, he had written to Bentley's parents saying the same thing.

A crowd of up to 300 gathered outside the Houses of Parliament last night, chanting "Bentley must not die!" The demonstrators marched to the Home Office and later to Downing Street.

The crowd eventually dispersed in the early hours of this morning after handing in a petition at Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Eden's home.

Bentley's execution comes just three months after the warehouse break-in in Croydon in which Pc Miles died.

Bentley was convicted on the basis of police evidence. Three officers told the court they had heard him encourage Craig to shoot by shouting "Let him have it".

Bentley's defence claimed he was already under arrest at the time the shots were fired and was simply urging Craig to give up his gun.

BBC ON THIS DAY | 28 | 1953: Derek Bentley hanged for murder

 

Because he is a person. How can you feel morally ok with yourself if you are so quick to say its okay to kill someone. You act as though attempting to preserve someones life and help them fix their ways is negative. We cant sink to the same level as these people or we all should just be sentenced to the death penalty because we have murdered someone

 

So very against. Firstly, if there's a chance that the death row inmate in question is innocent, the blood is on the hands of everyone who stands for his/her death. Secondly, the answer is not incarceration, it's rehabilitation. We shouldn't be killing these people, we should be helping and educating them (seeing as from what I know from my uncle who used to do pro bono work almost exclusively with death row inmates, the vast majority of these people are very uneducated racial minorities, which is depressing as hell).

 

I can feel morally okay because he is simply getting what he did to others. Attempting to "fix" them is negative. It doesn't do anything, and even if it somehow magically turns a person inside out, do you really think society will welcome back a known murderer? Burning money will accomplish the same effect.

 

How can you have so little value for human life that you would rather spend twice the money to kill him on death row than putting the man in prison for life. Look it up my friend. Life in prison is cheaper, safer, and it is morally just right.

---------- Post added 3rd Aug 2013 at 02:15 AM ----------

Preach brother preach! Hahaha