Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 49

Thread: The Death Penalty

  1. #1

    Post The Death Penalty

    This topic was originaly Conf1rm3d_K1ll's idea.

    Anyway, perhaps this topic should be debated in the Cosmos forum....
    Well, here it is. I waited for you to post on the subject but you never did. But, here's some food for thought. Are you for or against the death penalty and why? I'm not to thrilled about some one else haveing the ability to say if I live or die.. What method would you chose (if you could)
    if you were on death row? Fireing squad? Electrocution? Lethal injection? Gas chamber?
    If you would like to view Death Row Statistics for the US follow the link. Conf1rm3d_K1ll had a good statement:

    What if you kill just one innocent person? Is that excusible? It's not like the US Justice system is 100% correct all the time and innocent people do get arrested.
    And what if you did? It wouldn't be excusible.
    Where would the justice be in the loss of an innocent life?

    Remote_Access_

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    1,459
    Im against it... Why should we kill criminals.. Even if they did take someone elses life.... Killing the criminal doesnt bring closure to the family... Just more grief to the family of the killer... The only time the death penalty should be considered is in EXTREME cases.

  3. #3

    Re: The Death Penalty

    "Im against it... Why should we kill criminals..Even if they did take someone elses life.... "

    - Why should tax payers have to pay for their housing, food, and other expences while being locked up? Especially those on death row that are guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. I know there are some innocent people out there that have been wrongfuly accused and prosecuted but people like mass murders, terrorist, and others should be on death row.

    "Killing the criminal doesnt bring closure to the family... Just more grief to the family of the killer... "

    - Ermm.. have you ever seen on the news the crowd of people that were friends or family members waiting for the clock to reach the final minute? All killing dose is bring grief to the family of both parties. Number one, the victems and number two, the killer's family. They know that their son/daughter shouldn't of killed that person but they know just as well as the rest of society dose that it's wrong.

    "The only time the death penalty should be considered is in EXTREME cases."

    - How extreme? How many people should some one be able to kill be for they're put to a stop?

    Remote_Access_

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    257
    I'm for the death penalty in extreme situations, people who have killed others and is considered a danger to other inmates.

    I'd take lethal injection, seems like it would involve the least drama.
    -Shkuey
    Living life one line of error free code at a time.

  5. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    1,459
    My defenition of an EXTREME case is killing 1 person and being a threat to other inmates like shkuey said..... If the person isnt a treat why should they be killed just make them spend the rest of their life in prison and die there.....

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    872

    Post Re: Death Penalty

    I say the deathpenalty should be abolished. All it's doing is bringing the US government as low as the murderer. We are not under Hammurabi's Code here folks, an eye for an eye and life for a life should not be still in motion. Jail em up for life. Lock him up in an insane assylum. But don't murder a murderer... I mean, by doing this. The government is now a murderer, is it not?
    ...This Space For Rent.

    -[WebCarnage]

  7. #7
    Senior since the 3 dot era
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    1,542
    I'am against death penalty even in extreme cases

    Why?

    1)
    What if you kill just one innocent person? Is that excusible? It's not like the US Justice system is 100% correct all the time and innocent people do get arrested.
    this reason alone says everything.

    2) if the state kills people who killed other, then the state is not better than the criminal. It's a moral degradation to simple revenge. Revenge is not the main idea behind justice. There are other better ways to punish.

    3) in some countries the death penalty is some kind of social issue too. For instance in the VS: poor people can not spend much money to have a good lawyer. It's some kind of class-justice. Also there's a higher number of blacks that get the death penalty then white even when the amount of crimes is the same... so there's injustice in the system. If you kill people with that injust system as reference then you have a problem.

  8. #8
    Old-Fogey:Addicts founder Terr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,007
    I'd say no. There are numerous cases where people were on death row, only to be exonerated by new evidence or techniques, such as DNA testing. There is no doubt that innocent people ARE killed by our country. When you jail someone, and they are later found innocent, you can set them free, when you kill someone... There's no going back.

    <geeky metaphor>It's sort of like backing up data you don't think you need. Backing them up has a cost, but you can always restore them. Not having them when you DO need them is worse.</geeky metaphor>

    As for the cost issue... Putting a $/year value on human life?? Jeez, how about giving them the ability to do useful partially self-supporting work in prison? I'm sure comparatively secure schemes can be found.
    [HvC]Terr: L33T Technical Proficiency

  9. #9
    AO Curmudgeon rcgreen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    2,716

    Thumbs up

    To me, it isn't so important whether it's
    an extreme case, if by that you mean an
    especially horrible crime.
    And I'm even less concerned about how
    dangerous the person seems to be.
    What's most important to me is whether
    you can prove that this person is actually
    the one who committed the crime.
    The biggest flaw in the death penalty,
    as practised here in the USA is that we
    seem to convict a lot of people where there
    appears,to me, that there is reasonable doubt
    of the facts, while many, manifestly guilty,
    get lesser sentences.
    OJ Simpson goes free, while many men would
    be sentenced to death on much less evidence.
    One of the least reasonable arguments for
    the death penalty is thas it will "deter" others
    from committing murders.
    Even accepting, for the sake of argument that punishing
    one man will prevent another from murder, it still doesn't
    justify executing an innocent man.
    Having said all this, I cannot categorically oppose
    the death penalty on principle.
    If it is a capital crime, and the defendant is proven guilty,
    go for it.
    I came in to the world with nothing. I still have most of it.

  10. #10
    Banned
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    30
    I didn't become for the death penalty until I placed myself in the mindset of the criminal. That's really all it's about -- mindset. Everyone has heard all the arguments from both sides before, but verbal reasoning does not change anyone's way of thought. It's only after you've decided to accept how other people think and *try* to think as they do that you can fully undertsand their reasoning and make an educated decision as to what you feel is right.

    I used to be against it. I used to be very idealistic about a lot of things. The idealistic, moral side of me knew it was wrong, and strongly opposed it. I won't state the reasoning, because it's been stated by others already.

    After September 11th, a lot of things changed for me. I sat and reevaluated life. What is was worth, and the many aspects of it. I changed from believing in doing always what was right, to doing what is best, because, as you know, a lot of the time the best thing to do and the right thing to do are not the same.

    When scrutonizing the beliefs that you've developed to make sure you still feel as if they are still right in your eyes, sometimes you need to take things to extreme. Kill a murderer? No. Well, how about killing Osama bin Laden? Extremes may affect what you believe.

    Life is too complex, and there are more facets to questions such as these than we know and include in our reasoning. Before the 11th, if someone asked me if Hitler deserved to be killed, I would have said no. I had scrutonized my beliefs with extremes -- Hitler -- but something was missing. My beliefs were changed when they were challenged with a real evil, not a theoretical one. I guess because time healed the wounds from the Holocaust and the wounds from the 11th are still healing.

    As I began this post, I didn't become for the death penalty until I placed myself in the mindset of the criminal. We all see the good and the bad aspects of Capital Punishment. If I had done something so horrific as murder and was sentenced to death, I would know in my heart that I deserved the consequences. People say they changed in prison. Had time to think. If someone is truly sorry for the things they did, they will accept their punishment and not try to get themselves out of it by telling everyone how much they've changed -- even if they really did. It may not be what's right, but it's sure what's best.

    A lot of the time I question the ways of the world. Why are things the way that they are? It's not wrong to question, or to attempt to come to an understanding for yourself, but what I've come to realize is that most of the time, things are the way they are because that's what works best. Other people, just like you, have thought out the same things you're thinking before you ever started, and have come to their decisions. They, like you, wanted what's best, and that's why things are the way they are now. It's important to think, though, because if you can come up with a way for something to be better, you may do the world a great service.

    I know I went a little off topic, but I tried keeping it general rather than using specific examples because then this thread would become cluttered with reasoning from many topics rather than the one it's supposed to be about -- Capital Punishment.

    Ramzi

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •