Capital Punishment

[Darth_Rob]

I was just curious to hear everyone's views on capital punishment. We were debating it in my gov. class yesterday. I for one am for it, so long as the offense is a capital crime.

[General_Crespin]

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."

[JediHunter]

i really think that if you are a murderer than you deserve to die.. i find no point in giving a man 4 life sentences without parole.. or whatever else it is they do.. like.. 20 years for this crime.. but oh.. a life for this one.. but no worries.. you'll serve the 20 years first.. with parole... but then.. you have to stay for life.. if you dont get out then.. Rapists/Molesters of children deserve to die as well in my book... rapists depending on the severity... and drug dealers... LOL (kidding on that one)... in conclusion.. i would say.. murderers, Rapists, and Rapists/Molesters of children all deserve to die...

[DarthTex]

I prefer "an eye for an eye". But since that's deemed "cruel and unusual punishment", just put them to death, quick and painlessly (what a jip . If they caused great pain and anguish, then they should receive it back . Now THAT would be a deterrent).

[Jahled]

I subject that has always troubled me. I don't much like the idea of murderers not paying the ultimate price for their crimes if I listen to my gut instincts, but if you execute someone you can't very well later find them innocent in the same manor you can find someone innocent you've given a prison sentence to, can you?

 

And no legal system is 100% accurate is it?

[JediHunter]

i agree with you there J... and i guess thats the reason why some juries dont put murderers to death.. out of fear of convicting an innocent man... and of course we all know this to be possible... but i would think.. life without parole.. is the same thing.. i think you get appeals.. but i think you only get so many.. and its not like people on death row are convicted and immediately put to death.. if i remember correctly they get time to put in some appeals too..

[Mad78]

I agree some people are not apt to live in society and should be eliminated but I also think that sometimes people make mistakes.

[Darth_Rob]

I always laughed at the idea of "an eye for an eye" for one particular reason. What if the crime is rape. Do you rape the rapist?

 

Murderers definetly deserve to die. Though I don't agree with the method of execution being popularly used today. The states have been leaning on leathal injection as the form of execution, since it is seen as the least cruel and painful, but now some weirdos are saying that it might be painful and we just dont know. So now the prisoner is given a shot to numb any pain, and then the fatal injection. That is just ridiculous. I say stick to the firing squad. It's quick cheap and effective.

[turtle]

I'm not sure if capital punishment makes any difference to tell the truth.

 

I mean if someone murders someone then gets the needle it just means the state or county doesn't have to pay for keeping him in a prison and feding him for 10 or 20 years.

 

It doesn't really seem to deter anyone to me people are still murdering people.[/u]

[DarthTex]

I always laughed at the idea of "an eye for an eye" for one particular reason. What if the crime is rape. Do you rape the rapist? ...

Yeah, and you do it in public so the rapist is humiliated (rape is about power, not sex). I also like the "three strikes and you're out" philosophy. OK, so maybe the first time was a fluke (or accident, depending on the crime); strike one. You now get another "chance" at life after paying for your crime. Screw this one up, and you get a final chance . Mess up anymore and ... so long sucker

[The_Dane]

I'm not so sure on this subject.

If a terrible crime is commited: murder, rape, child molesting, etc. then it is my impression that these guys truly get what they deserve. If they are sent to prison they are the very bottom of the foodchain in there, at least that is my impression. They will be punished for their crime if not by the prison then by the inmates.

 

But on the other hand the death sentence could really help the family and friends of the victim(s) and the victim to get over the crime by knowing that he can never come back. If he is "only" sent to jail there is a possibility that he will be realesed later on and cause psycological harm.

 

[DarthTofu]

I subject that has always troubled me. I don't much like the idea of murderers not paying the ultimate price for their crimes if I listen to my gut instincts, but if you execute someone you can't very well later find them innocent in the same manor you can find someone innocent you've given a prison sentence to, can you?

 

And no legal system is 100% accurate is it?

 

I have to say, Jahled swayed my views quite a bit with that post. I was going to say that the death penalty should be imposed on all murders and, in some cases, rapists. However, as we all know from poor SOCL's ordeal, one 'victim' with no evidense of what they are saying can get pretty damned far in the American legal system (I appologize for not knowing anything about the legal systems of foreign countries)

 

I'd say that imprisonment is likely just as good as anything else- to quote "The Lord of the Rings":

"I do not fear death."

"Then what do you fear?"

"I fear the cage... Withering away to nothing without a friend in the world..."

 

I'd have to say that I vote against capital punishment except in the extremes IE cases in which there are multiple eye-wittnesses of a killing/raping or a killer with an overwhelming amount of evidense against them.

[malarkie]

I agree with Darth Rob.

Watching a guy put up against a wall and shot is much more of a deterrent than watching someone die in their sleep.

 

Pedophiles and murderers should be put to death in more imaniganative ways at the least.

[Krytos]

I'm on J's side or the argument here. Sure, there are the times that I loath some murderer so much I want them dead - but that doesn't make it the right thing to do.

You're lowering yourself to their level, at the very least, wishing someone be put to death - even if it's for a "legitament" reason.

What's the point in wasting another life? Especially, in J's point, if they find out they're innocent later down the track.

Let them rot in jail, and suffer with their own kind.

 

I can't say I have remorse for murderers, rapists etc. But at the same time, I'd like to see myself as a more civilised person, beyond the need of killing someone for their crimes, beyond the need for killing someone for any reason.

But that's just me.

 

Oh, and here's a quote that kind of suits this thread

"An eye for an eye, leaves the whole world blind."

[Paul]

I believe that Serial killers should definately be put down there normally is plenty of evidence so innocense is not a problem. Child molestation is horrible but one of my friends was convicted with NOTHING but the girls word which was later proven to be lies. He was released but had a horrible time in prison because of his alleged crime. So I am not for death in that case unless it is proven with more than the child/teenagers word. We have the three strike law here in NY State which has not lowered the crime rate much so I think it doesn't work too well. What irks me is the Insanity excuse: I am a paranoid, schizophrenic, manic depressed person but if I kill someone without defending myself from a criminal I should die. Just my 2 cents worth. - Grand Moff Conway

[turtle]

Public executions I can't see working. didn't they stop doing that in most civilised nations 150 years ago?

 

Public rapings for rapists or pedophiles? How would you work that?

[Defender_16]

By captial punishment I assume you mean execution instead of the mandatory prison term that counties without the death penalty employ.

 

If you can be 100% certain without any doubt about the person in question then I would be for it. Otherwise it really depends on the situation.

[CorellianAce101]

As someone going to college for a Criminal Justice degree, i can tell you it's a good thing. of course, I'm also an old-line conservative, so i dont buy into all the bleeding-heart liberal nonsense. does the serial killer feel pain? big deal. so did his victims-and they felt a lot more. i keep hearing arguments that it costs too much. in a sense, thats true. we spend hundreds of millions to execute people. here's a simple solution. prisons have cops. cops have guns. guns have bullets. bullets cost 50 cents each. stand em against a wall and shoot em. plus thats what the empire does!

[Mad78]

Public rapings for rapists or pedophiles? How would you work that?

Now that is rather novel.

[Jahled]

I'm also an old-line conservative, so i dont buy into all the bleeding-heart liberal nonsense.

 

I do, and not necessarily as the type of 'liberal,' as your language might be suggesting to define or categorize. As a society we have a moral and legal responsibility to protect our fellow citizens, from criminals in our midst, and miscarriages of justice as well. Convictions for a crimes someone is not guilty of are surprisingly frequent in the democratic western world, and their later exposure by the legal process is something we can term the essence of being 'civilized' and 'democratic,' and having the 'civilized' and enlightened opportunity to do so.

 

In most of the world, the legal process is observed with all the attention and detail of a schoolchild's rant in the playground, applied to law, and subsequently applied with the state's force. In China, it's got to the extent where execution has virtually become an industry; the 'people's state,' selling off the organs and body parts of the executed to western wallets as exposed by that renowned 'bleeding-heart liberal' organ the BBC last week.

 

Whilst I at times wish the furnace on the scum of society when they are caught, it is some aspect of our status as being truly civilized as a society that allows a convicted citizen perhaps time to prove they were never guilty of the crime they were guilty of, without being a coffin in the ground.

[Defender_16]

Indeed, that is one of the few reasons I often oppose the Death Penalty.

 

The ultimate question: What if he didnt do it?

[DarthTofu]

I'm also an old-line conservative, so i dont buy into all the bleeding-heart liberal nonsense.

 

I do, and not necessarily as the type of 'liberal,' as your language might be suggesting to define or categorize. As a society we have a moral and legal responsibility to protect our fellow citizens, from criminals in our midst, and miscarriages of justice as well. Convictions for a crimes someone is not guilty of are surprisingly frequent in the democratic western world, and their later exposure by the legal process is something we can term the essence of being 'civilized' and 'democratic,' and having the 'civilized' and enlightened opportunity to do so.

 

In most of the world, the legal process is observed with all the attention and detail of a schoolchild's rant in the playground, applied to law, and subsequently applied with the state's force. In China, it's got to the extent where execution has virtually become an industry; the 'people's state,' selling off the organs and body parts of the executed to western wallets as exposed by that renowned 'bleeding-heart liberal' organ the BBC last week.

 

Whilst I at times wish the furnace on the scum of society when they are caught, it is some aspect of our status as being truly civilized as a society that allows a convicted citizen perhaps time to prove they were never guilty of the crime they were guilty of, without being a coffin in the ground.

 

Mr. Ace, you've just been owned! What're you gonna do, now?

[JediHunter]

Indeed, that is one of the few reasons I often oppose the Death Penalty.

 

The ultimate question: What if he didnt do it?

 

If man (as in mankind.. as in the human race) lived his life in constant doubt about his actions we would never progress... there is that doubt if we as a society have jailed the right person.. if our justice system has prevailed.... but thats why they stay in jail a while before their death... to remove that doubt... if man became more honest perhaps we wouldn't have guilty men proclaiming their innocence up until their last moment.. and we wouldnt be so doubtful... but thats not going to happen i dont think... we cannot be scared to act... if we are... we are doomed to failure..

[Mitth_raw_nuruodo]

The ultimate question: What if he didnt do it?

Well, that's just too damn bad. The person should have had either a better lawyer, a better alibi, or better proof of his innocence.

 

It's not that I'm trying to sound like a cold-hearted asshole. Really it isn't. Mostly I just am one.

[DarthTofu]

Okay, A) That was a good quote at the end, Mitth, and B) What if the judge is corrupt, or the accused was framed?