Do you believe in capital punishment for criminals?
828297
Absolutely.  \n\nThe criminal justice system has become a rehabilitation focused body instead of of a punishment body
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.
631231
I don't believe in the death penalty - sometimes an incident may anger me beyond reason and I often wish that person is sentenced to death (for example, 9/11 or any pedophiles) but all said and done, death is not the answer. But 'an eye for an eye' is not the answer - it does not bring real closure to the grieving person. It is no better than what the criminal did!\n\nIt will not repair the damage done or bring back a loved one from dead. I am more for the maximum sentence (should be like the one Zacarias Moussaoui got) - spend the rest of your life in isolation with no one for company in a small cell forever.
1014529
Absolutely.  There are only certain crimes that carry the death penalty and there are a number of reviews that take place before an execution takes place.  Once the person has been found guilty and the reviews have taken place, the punishment fits the crime.
80318
I have met executioners and they tend to be people who strongly believe they are carrying out one of their many job responsibilities.  They take no joy from it, but neither do they shy away from being part of the system's mechanism for the ultimate punishment.  I did not get the impression that the people with whom I met were psychopathic or sociopathic (as most other thrill-killers would be).\n\nTo put this answer in context, by the way, I am not generally in favor of the death penalty because I think our system of justice is far too imperfect for it to ever be fairly and equally meted out.
699052
I dont believe in the death penalty because I dont believe a government should decide when to end a life especially when more often than not, the accused doesnt have enough money to afford any decent defense.  Besides even people who are obviously guilty have the right to life only God may take it when he feels the time is right.  Life in jail is the only solution.  Remember just like in the Animal Kingdom, the strong prey on the weak so someone who leads a criminal life will ultimately offend a bigger fish.
11518
I don't believe in the death penalty; I mean who are we to play God like someone said. But the thing is; he was convicted and there was no doubt that he was guilty. He was also sentenced to death and I think that if we change the laws because one person said sorry; then others would do heinous crimes and be like "I'm sorry" and expect to be let off. \n\nI don't even know much about what's going on in his case but that's what I think.
600447
Yes, for 2 reasons - they made their choice when they took a life & why should we as taxpayers pay to fed, clothe, educate & guard life sentence criminals.\nIn our state it is rarely given - must be cruel - like all murder is not cruel. Murderers forfeit their right to live.\nMy brother was murdered while buying a gallon of milk during robbery. They got the death penalty but it was overturned & they get out this year his 3 children are not even out of college yet. They grew up without him.
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
1056715
NO!\n\nA mentally ill, mentally disturbed, or mentally handicapped person should be treated no differently than the rest of us, if they are a criminal.\n\nHere's why:\nA murderer kills a bunch of people, including little children. His lawyer says he is mentally unstable. He does not get the maximum sentence, in fact the judge orders him into a psychiatric ward instead of prison. Then, another person kills a bunch of people, and his lawyer isn't smart enough to use the "insanity" loophole. He gets the death penalty.\nHow is this a fair, consistent, just system?\nHere's another little tidbit for your brain to chew on:\n\nIsn't EVERY serial murderer, by definition, insane?\nIsn't EVERY rapist, by definition, insane?\nIsn't EVERY armed robber, terrorist, or assassin, by definition, unstable?\n\nEvery immoral criminal act is a sign of psychotic or sociopathic tendencies. So, why have prisons? Why not release everyone with a doctor's note? Execute all the murderers, retarded, insane, underage, you name it. Make the system fair. There's no reason why one murderer should be executed while another one goes free on a bullsh*t technicality.\n\n"But, I don't know the difference between right and wrong!"\nSo? How does that excuse you from consequences?\nDOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU EVEN MORE A DANGER TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS??? HOW IS THAT A GOOD THING?\nBeing ignorant does not make you innocent. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. That's what the law says. It should apply equally to everyone.\n\nWhat do you do with a dog that doesn't know better than to viciously attack humans? You put them down. That's all there is to it. Save the innocent, punish the guilty.
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.
695904
I don't know if it is solely my Christianity that has my husband and I oppose capital punishment, but we both do. \nWhen do two wrongs make a right? Why does one person have the right to end another life?\n\nmy husband lost his wife and 8 year old son to  a drunk driver, and his mother was murdered 6 months later by her second husband. Neither man did one day in jail. Was that right? No. \n\nDo we have the rights to say they should have been executed? No. punished? Yes. \n\nForgiveness is a mighty hard thing sometimes. Only by the grace of God can we forgive in such cases. That is where we are, thanks for the opportunity to share...
965322
yes, we do, and no, they cannot.\n\njudaism in general is not very pro-death penalty.\n\n"Although the Hebrew Bible has many references to capital punishment, the Jewish sages used their authority, and the demands for justice emphasized in the Bible, to make it all but impossible for a Jewish court to impose a death sentence. Even when such a sentence might have been imposed, the "cities of refuge" and other sanctuaries, were at hand for those unintentionally guilty of capital offences. It was said in the Talmud about the death penalty in Judaism, that if a court killed one person in seventy years, it was a barbarous (or "bloody") court and should be condemned as such.\n\nHistorically Rabbinic law developed a detailed system of checks and balances to prevent the execution of an innocent person, and these were so restrictive as to effectively legislate the penalty out of existence. The law requires that:\n\nThere must have been two witnesses to the crime, and these must conform to a prescribed list of criteria. \nThe witnesses must have verbally warned the person that they were liable for the death penalty \nThe person must then have acknowledged that he or she was warned, and yet then have gone ahead and committed the sin regardless. \nNo individual was allowed to testify against him or herself."\n\nif a person didn't meet all of the above critera, they were not allowed to be given a sentence of the death penalty. as well, according to the talmud, even if a person DOES meet all of these critera, if every member of the juror finds that person guilty, the criminal is automatically acquitted of his crime and set free.
930856
Question goes even deeper:  Is it right to kill anyone in the name of the law?  Sadam certainly qualifies for the sentence under current guidelines.  But, in his case, like any case, is anyone really sending a powerful message telling others to avoid this type behavior or you will be killed?  Would Sadam evenly remotely had considered doing things differently.  \n\nSo is the death penalty a crime deterent.  Or, is it more a tool for emotional revenge?  When I was younger I used to strongly believe in the death penalty.  But now, I wonder if the whole ball of wax ever even slightly affects capital crime.  "Have to get caught, trials and appeals last several years, greater than even chance of getting life, some even accept their fate. \n\nBut to answer your question - he got what the law said the punishment must be... right or wrong!
735805
I am pro-death penalty and believe in life for life
838802
Yes for the death penalty.!!!\nMurder,Rape,Kidnapping.!!!\nHang them all, that way criminals can learn to respect the rights of others.!!!