What is your opinion about capital punishment (death penalty) and why?
372040
it is so easy to find someone guilty and give them the death penalty, but how can anyone know for certain if that someone is guilty or innocent?\ngiving a guilty person the death penalty is an echo of the saying in the Bible..'an eye for an eye'. he who kills must be killed - right?\nbut then if that happens, they get executed straight away and they get away with the traumas of life afterwards, they don't have to think about what they have done anymore,do they?  the famillies of those killed will always have to live with the trauma that has been put on them, they will never forget what happened...\nyou will always find that a lot of people don't feel any remorse at all, but are given the chance to think about what they have done for a time,before they are put to death. the worst thing about the death penalty...are they absolutely positive they have enough evidence to prove that the person is guilty? we have all known of the stories about innocent people dying for something they didn't do. \nthe good thing about the death penalty is...it clears a space in our prisons, and the tax-payers money isn't being wasted on trying to re-habilitate those people who will, quite possibly,get released early and do it again.
586470
The only thing wrong about unnatural death is when it is premeditated murder/suicide... I believe that abortion (unless it is for the mother's life) is murder.  Capital punishment is one thing I haven't gotten my head around yet.  I can't decide.  I lean toward the fact that only God can judge, but I also understand the plea of the victims.
915379
He has done horrible things - beyond belief - in his lifetime.  He used his power to kill and rape and murder.  But I do not believe in capital punishment.  It sickens me that people are happy that somebody - anybody will hang.  Should he be punished for his crimes?  ABSOLUTELY!  Should society decide if somebody will live or die?  No.  \n\nAnd if you want to get into the whole "prisons are crowded" discussion - I think our prisons in the U.S. (don't know about what goes on in other countries) are ridiculously plush.  Schools to learn new trades, weight rooms, bastketball courts, large screen TV's, ping pong tables.  Put prisoners in a cell - allow them to walk or run laps in a court once a day - allow the illiterate ones learn to read and write - and give them bland food.  If our prisons were horrid places to go - the prisons would stop filling up.  It's wrong to kill people - but it's not wrong for them to have consequences in a harsh manner - as long as it's not cruel.
1152773
No, I do not.\n\nIf we had capitol punishment here in Britain we might already have executed a few people who were acquitted several years later.\nAlso, why is it assumed that capitol punishment is worse than life imprisonment (and I mean life). Some prisoners commit suicide in prison.\n\nAnother problem with capitol punishment is that the condemmed person's family probably suffer as much as they do.\n\nLeaving aside the religious arguament that "though shalt not kill)\nI do this, not because I do not believe in it, but because you could go on writing for ever about the morality of it.\n\nYou have to remember also, that the state is carrying out executions in cold blood. The murderer may have had some reason for doing what he did, no matter how twisted. Also, on a personal level, what does it say about the person/persons who are prepared to kill other people as part of their job, and no, it is not the same as the military doing it.\nPlease don't give me the response, "It's my duty" or, "somebody has to do it. You are operating on a personal level when you are doing a job.\n\nI find it particularly distasteful, when executions are turned into circuses, as in th US. If you have to execute people, I am sure that the state can be trusted to do the job without about two hundred and fifty Madam la Farges' looking on. At least the person should be allowed to die with some sort of dignity. Whist I am on this subject, let me also say that I am disgusted and appalled that some women seem have been directly involved in carrying out executions. Particularly because women tend to personalise things more than men. I have to wonder what their real motivation is, because it is nearly always men that are executed. Please don't give me "it's only a job" or equal opportunities stuff.\n\nFinally, I would like to set a little test for those who, from afar, think that they believe in capitol punishment.\nWould you be personally prepared to carry it out? Would you still believe in it if it was a member of your own family. Would you be prepared to carry it out yourself in those circumstances.It's easy letting someone else carry it out, particularly when you don't know the condemmed.\n\nThere aren't any good reasons for capitol punishment, except that it saves the cost of keeping the prisoner in jail.\n\nFinally, I am not a soppy liberal, I think that life should mean life.
605331
state some facts like the amount of innocent people put to death. the biases that the courts have in handing out death sentences(race, etc...)Playing god. morality of it\nI feel its done to save money. ...easier to kill someone than to pay to keep them in jail the rest of their lives.
687780
I must say that it has bad press, particularly in association with the French Revolution. But in the cold light of day, if you are going to have capital punishment (which I disagree with), then it really is the best means of doing it.\n\n1. It is instantaneous, unlike other forms of killing, hanging being the worst\n\n2. It is cost-effective, requiring little infra-structure and personnel to make it happen\n\n3. It has an almost 0 failure rate\n\nYes, if capital punishment it must be then let the guillotine come back
268411
I fully support capital punishment. The only real problem with capital punishment is how long it takes from conviction and sentencing to execution. Upon conviction and imposition of the death sentence, there should be an immediate and thourough appeal review. If that review also concurrs with the conviction and sentence then sentence should be carried out expeditiously. In my opinion the time between sentence and exectution should be less than 30 days.\n\nAll punishments should be swift and sure. Then they really WILL act as deterrents. Even without the deterrent factor, removing a murderer from society will always be a wortwhile act.\n\nWhile we are at it we should return capital punishment to desertion and treason.
898744
Yes, I think it should be abolished. Although our legal system is a relatively good one, I'm sure we have put innocent people to death. Many proponents of the death penalty often say that citizens should not have to shoulder the financial burden of feeding  and housing a criminal for the rest of his life, but the truth is that putting someone to death is even more expensive than keeping him alive.
916102
I'm against because innocent people get judged guilty and are killed. And anyway some crimes are so horrific that death is too soft a punishment.
579630
I believe in life in prison without parole for those criminals that have proven to be an ongoing threat to society.  I think it costs us far more to execute them than it would for us to keep them locked up forever.  However, the death sentence does not bother me.  I believe there are people who cannot be changed and that they are evil.  The sex of the person does not enter into it for me.  Would I carry out the execution?  I would not take the job.  If I were forced to do it, or the person would go free?  I would execute them.  My fear in letting them go would be that they would kill again or harm a child.  I couldn't live with that on my conscience.  Anyway I didn't sentence them to die.  I just carried out the sentence of the court.  Of course this answer is based on what I know of the courts of the U.S.A.  I would not carry out a death sentence in another country.  In some cases the sentence may have been handed out simply for being a Christian.
41734
I have gone both ways on different occasions, but I think I am ultimately against it.  I don't think it is a deterrent, like if a person has the mindset necessary for committing murder, they aren't thinking of the consequences and will commit murder anyway.  Also, many people get wrongly convicted and I shudder to think how many of them were sentenced to death.
921603
The purpose of the capital punishment is to eliminate the worst criminals from society. It is meant to be the ultimate penalty and is reserved only for those committing the most heinous crimes of violence and murder.\n\nEach person is given certain rights and responsibilities at birth. It is the individual’s responsibility regardless of circumstance to make the best of life they can. Society in general doesn’t have the resources to rehabilitate even less violent criminals let alone the hardened felons that commit murders monstrous enough to be assigned a death sentence.\n\nThe evolution of the soul is a theory not shared by the general population of the United States. Many believe that evil exist and is beyond rehabilitation. It may be that God can redeem these lost souls, but it is obvious that it is beyond modern man’s skill and technology. Society is better served by simply eliminating these convicted murders from all chance of ever repeating their offenses.
1151083
i think to make murder punishable by murder is a joke, what is the difference between the criminal and the law if both are commiting murder. also if i were facing life in prison i would much prefer the death penalty and im sure many people on death row see it that way, fortunatly in my country we abolished the death penalty long ago and now killers have to live with their nightmares for the rest of their lives rather than getting an easy way out. we are supposed to be promoting modern liberal western values to the rest of the world but it is not very good when the wests leading nation itself cannot follow these ideals
319878
The death penalty should be abolished for several reasons.\nFor me the most important one is: judicial errors happen. Killing one innocent by mistake is unforgiveable.
282263
Go to yahoo.com and try searching using key terms such as: pro death penalty, pro capital punishment.  Below are a couple of sites I came up with.
800723
I don't personally agree with the death penalty in most cases. In\nSaddam's case, I think for all the deaths that he is personally\nresponsible, it might be justified.  The trial was held in an Iraqi\ncourt, and we have to respect the judgment handed down by\nthe judge, who was doing was based on Iraqi law. You may or may not like the sentencing, but we have to live with it. The free world, outside of the USA, doesn't have the death penalty. Please\nremember that Saddam gassed people to death, and used biological warfare against his own people. I don't like the guy, or\nwhat he did, but I thought the US-led invasion of Iraq was wrong,\nfor one simple premise. You don't meddle in the internal affairs\nof a country, unless you are invited to do so by the majority of\nIraqi citizens. Even though the Shi'ites and Kurds are happy \nSaddam is no longer in power, I doubt most of them are happy to\nsee the presence of US and other foreign troops there, since they\nprobably wanted help to oust Saddam themselves in terms of\nmilitary aid and support.
413161
Capital Punishment: (N) Legal Killing, or Execution. There's no better definition than this.