Im looking for an expert on the death penalty.
133947
I don't think death is even the answer. Thats just barbaric.
440037
i've done this before too. alright. the death penalty is bad for many reasons.\n\none. the death penalty is cruel and unusual. the death penalty lowers us down to murderer status. we are murdering a person that could very well be kept alive, and that very person could be kept in life imprisonment. sure, they couuld break out, but the chances are so slim, we have to say that it's worth it. we as america keep ourselves to be a very humane country, and when we kill people, we really aren't keeping that title. when people die on the chair, they sometimes have to be electrocuted multiple times before they die. i'm sure the criminals deserve it, but by doing this, we're doing the same. especiall cause the viable alternative, the life sentence, is a lot better and a lot more humane, yet still causes punishment.\n\nsecond, you could say that the death penalty serves as a deterrent, or it serves to make sure that other criminals WONT kill. HOWEVER, studies show that the death penalty actually RAISES the rate of violent crime in states. that's true-- the death penalty DOES increase the rate of murder-- it's a proven fact. \n\nthird, people say that the death penalty is good for the victim's family. however, why make the family suffer time and time again through endless trials? we are only fueling anger by killing people, because they have to be reminded of the murder trial again and again, throughout 20 years of trials.\n\nfourth, the death penalty from a religious standpoint. if you're religious. jesus said not to kill. the "eye for an eye" thing in the old testament was overrules by jesus's teachings. and he said to turn the other cheek, not to kill again. sure, we should say "hey murderer, kill another!" but we should certainly not kill them back.\n\nthanks, and i hope i was helpful.
84355
The premise that capital punishment offers is all good, however the realities are far removed.  As part of my BA in Law and Criminology we covered a module on the death penalty in the U.S. Several facts about the death penalty and it's application are worrying.\n\nFirstly state representation in death penalty cases are usually substandard (Bright 1994).  As a result the mainly poor, black defendents are required to fight a case put together with the full resources of the state with as little as $3000 to fund their case (Paduano and Smith 1991).  The amount of funding required to fund a full defence is, at the most conservative $100,000, rising to £1,700,000 if you take less conservative estimations (Paduano and Smith 1991).\n\nThere is discrimination in the way that the death penalty is applied to ethnic minorities, with the most likely person to be facing the death penalty a indigent black person who has killed a white victim.\n\nThe cost of inflicting death on a person, when considering the costs of appeals, habeous corpus review and other elements of the case means that it is often cheaper to sentence an offender to life without the possibility of parole.\n\nThere is even research to suggest that rather than deter possible offenders the influence of an execution is the opposite, this is termed 'brutalization'.  Basically when the state executes somebody, the state devalues human life which can lead to other people following the example of the state in so much that for wrongs done against them they see the use of deadly violence as legitimate.\n\nOther objections are to do with the use of a paraletic agent in lethal injection so that the condemned is not able to show any pain and therefore any violation of his constitutional right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment cannot be seen.\n\nI also take issue with the irreversability of the death penalty, there have been many incidents of innocent people being put to death, so many infact the Illinois Governor George Ryan has put a moratorium on any exectutions in his state.\n\nPublic opinion is a tricky one.  Some poles show that people are in favour of the death penalty and some not.  This depends on the framing of the question, support for the death penalty greatly reduces when the option of life without parole is included.  In order to abolish the death penalty the federal state needs to lead from the front, once the abolition is in place then public opinion will fall into place as has happened in the UK and western europe.\n\nAs you can probably tell I am against the death penalty, mainly for the above reasons but also because no civilized society should have the need to put people to death, especially people under 18 (although the supreme court did ban this a couple of years ago, at last) and mentally under developed people who cannot understand what they are about to recieve (this is also unconstitutional, but still occcurs).\n\nThe sources below are only a brief list, however the Sarat book just below this is quite excellent and will open your eyes, a must read!\n\nFor more information see the excellent book by Austin Sarat,\n(2001) "When The State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition" Princeton: Princeton University Press, and to find out the experiences of a lawyer working in capital cases see Scott Turow (2003) Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyers Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux\n\nIm just going to leave you with this to think about, as Ghandi said An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind, enough said really
174234
I think the death penalty is for cowards and sadists:  It's easy to support murder when someone else does it for you.\n\nOver 150 WRONGLY CONVICTED people have been released from death row in just the last 30+ years - and those are only the ones we *know* about.  \n\nThe death penalty doesn't make you safer - it makes you a killer.  Don't buy the con from politicians who scare you into believing this policy works.  It doesn't. \n\nIt's racist.\nIt's classist.\nIt's 2-6 times MORE expensive than life without parole.\nIt makes us cruel as a society.\nIt doesn't prevent new criminals from developing.\nIt takes the lives of innocent people.\n\nSomething tells me from the knee-jerk verbiage of the questioner that he/she doesn't care about these types of facts.  Regardless, check out the sites below before *you* make up your mind.\n\nThe way we treat the least of us is a clear reflection of who WE are... at least that's the way God sees it.
147004
Capital punishment is called for in many cases...this should be one.
98634
Yes, there is so much lobbying for human rights in this country that people who need to be locked up are set free, or given very light sentences.  Longer/more severe sentences would not only keep them off the streets longer, but they would make people more afraid of commiting the crime.  This is why the death penalty works, it scares people.
549160
Death penalty laws are social engineering. I cannot subscribe to the ethics of social engineering. As a nurse who has worked in the system with pedophiles, I know also that episodic imprisonment is ineffective. They are relentless. I support the only known ethical solution which is chemical castration.  But, then again, I believe in that for Conservatives, too.
518821
The death penalty is for the worst of the worst. We don't want those people out mixing with other members of society. So I guess someone would say imprision them for LIFE. Nothing is for life, you have criminals that get life sentences and then due to overcrowding they are released on parole and go out and commit another crime. Not to mention, I don't believe that the money that we work for and the government takes from us (taxes) should be used to house people who have absolutely nothing to contribute to society. Not to mention they don't have the daily struggle of working in order to support their own needs. They get 3 hots and a cot and don't do anything for it. Meanwhile you have over 800000 homeless people who don't even get that! Why should someone who has committed a crime have a better standard of living than someone who is having a hard time in their life.
257313
I would mention how permanent a penalty it is.  When a mistake is made, there's no way to correct it.  With DNA evidence now freeing falsely convicted people almost weekly, it's clear that the system is flawed.  Even DNA evidence that clears an executed person can't bring him back from the dead.  Research the "Innocence Project," and you should get some powerful arguments for abolishing (or at least modifying) the death penalty.
3112
I say 4 years should be the ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM!!!  Just had this conversation over, if you can believe it, Christmas Dinner.  I had a Federal Prosecutor telling me how the system of appeals works.  What a load of crap.  There is no way a prisoner, especially today with DNA, should be on death row for 24 years.  By giving them a 3 years, that is long enough for their appeal ( which, as I was told, can take 3 to 4 years before it is brought before the appeals court ).  When a person is sentenced to death, they have ( if they want ) an automatic appeal.  Although I do not agree with the Prosecutor, he says PEOPLE DON'T CHANGE.  If not, why do we even keep them in jail or prison ... just kill all of them ( yes, I am being sarcastic ).
653531
I don't believe in capital punishment.  I think it's a much greater punishment to let a criminal rot in hellish prisons for endless years.  It's in no way a deterent for capital crimes.
491421
I am kinda on the fence as far as the death penalty is concerned.  My hesitation is that there are alot of people that are convicted of crimes that they did not commit.  I think that alot of the problems with crime begin in the home.  We have far too many homes without a Father figure in them.  Our judical system is a joke.  When someone is sentanced to 10 years then it should be 10 years not 10 years and eligible for parole in 5 and with time off for good behavior etc..
383002
Currently it is more expensive to keep someone on deathrow until execution than it is to keep them in prison for life.  Some estimates say that it can be up to three times as much to execute someone.  You cannot shorten the appeals process because of our constitutional right to appeal.
53557
Death Penalty Information Center\n\nArticles, reports and statistics about death penalty worldwide.\nhttp://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org\n\n\n\nClark County Prosecuting Attorney\n\nLinks to over 1,000 death penalty related web sites\nhttp://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm#cruel
330694
Capital Punishment is state murder. There were many innocents executed here as there are still being executed in the USA. Capital Punishment is more expensive in real terms then full term Life imprisonment. It is not a deterrent, the murder rate dropped in England after it was abolished and rose in America after it was reintroduced anyway there are lots of supposed Christians here and...Thou shalt not Kill
209439
I too believe that life without parole should be the maximum sentence for any crime.  In a world where the law and conviction system is full of inaccuracies it is too much of a risk to sentence someone to death-EVEN with a confession there is always the chance that they are innocent or did not play as big a part in a murder as they claim to have done.  Its AMAZING the amount of false confessions people will make under pressure-particularly those with a learning difficulty.  Also, the people who are actively involved in the execution of prisoners are surely then also commiting murder and they will have been involved in the deaths of many more people than the inmates they are executing-does that then mean that they deserve to die for choosing a career that involves the killing of others? \nThe death penalty is in no way a deterrent (this is a statistical fact) to murder either and is purely a 'revenge' punishment.  \nIt is not up to anyone to take the life of another and after all who decides who lives and who dies for murder?  Some murder/rapists get life, and another one time murderer could get death. It is a decision that NO-ONE should be allowed to make and it is ALL about Governments having the ultimate control-Death Row Inmates can be put on SUICIDE WATCH if they are deemed 'at risk'.  By all means give them life in prison with a little less of the luxuries they currently receive, but we cannot choose and ponder over who lives and who dies.
617584
I don't believe in the death penalty. They are just commiting murder, and two worngs never make a right. God decides who should die at what time, so I think you are right, they should put him in jail for life and make him suffer for the pain he has caused people.