Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

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TxCat
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by TxCat »

Mod note: This is a serious discussion forum and as such, it requires a bit more thought bt put in to answers. Please do not give simple one line statements without further explanation or without expanding upon your views!
Crazyflight wrote:I believe in the death penalty only for murder. If you take someone's life, your life ought to be taken as well.
That said, I'm wondering exactly what you mean. As far as I have been able to determine, the death penalty is reserved for capital crimes. That includes murder as well as a selection of other offenses, most of which the rational human being would agree do merit that punishment. It varies from state to state but some examples include second rape or attempted rape of a child under age 14 and sexual intercourse with forcible entry and serious bodily injury.


For further information you may wish to read the following:

Summary of Death Penalty Statutes in the US According to State

Death Penalty for Offenses Other than Murder

Aggravating Factors for Consideration of Capital Punishment by State

Mitigating Factors in Deciding a Death Sentence

Federal Laws Warranting hte Death Penalty

Death Penalty Statistics (for the state of Alaska)
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by Corvidae »

I don't believe that the death penalty should as a form of punishment. Harm is self-perpetuating in the form of revenge, and 'revenge'--or punishment--is inherently nonproductive.

I do believe in the use of imprisonment as crime-prevention, because it removes potentially-dangerous criminals from society, but punishment has always struck me as somewhat pointless. (And if we must discuss )

Killing a criminal does nothing. It doesn't help those affected recover, it doesn't help repair the damage done. It prevents them from committing another crime, but so does imprisonment. In addition, the criminal loses a chance to repent and make personal amends. (If we must speak of punishment, a life in prison would be far worse--for this one, anyway--than death.)

The death penalty, as I see it, should be used on repeat offenders--those who have shown themselves to be unrepentant, and can only be prevented from committing further crimes by execution. The point of incarceration is to bring repentance, isn't it? Imprisonment is essentially an adult version of 'time-out'. The criminal is forced to think about her or his actions, and hopefully realize that what they did was wrong. If they cannot understand that, then there is no point--economical or moral--to keeping them alive. In fact, it could almost be said that we have a moral obligation to execute unrepentant criminals.
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by Mnunez2000 »

Mod note: You cannot post things like this in this forum. That is what the Popsicle Stand is for. Please re-read the rules so that you understand what this forum is for and can post correctly in it. Your response needs to be well thought out, not just an opinion, and cannot have casual remarks such as the one you ended the post with.

hi im mnunez2000 my sister in mzenun i dont like the death penalty because no matter what they did no one should have thier life taken away. Your life is a gift thats why we call it the presents. :D

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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by Batty »

wolfeyedangel wrote:That is actually a point you can research, I recommend you do so rather than making blanket statements. I would recommend starting with Texas's Judiciary site. They should have a record of the on going death row review.

~Wolfeyedangel
They were rhetorical questions; I'm not looking for numbers and figures. The death penalty is a punishment that you can't come back from. If the state gets it wrong then an innocent person is punished forever with no chance of release. The mere fact that the wrong person can be killed by the state tells me capital punishment is wrong.

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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by lifanonline »

Yay, but only for a really gruesome crime such as murder or something. Its only fair, because if they take a person's life, their life should be taken too. I know some people say that this is the easy way out, but even so, it would make the world safer, and they'll die either way.
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by wolfeyedangel »

Batty wrote:
wolfeyedangel wrote:That is actually a point you can research, I recommend you do so rather than making blanket statements. I would recommend starting with Texas's Judiciary site. They should have a record of the on going death row review.

~Wolfeyedangel
They were rhetorical questions; I'm not looking for numbers and figures. The death penalty is a punishment that you can't come back from. If the state gets it wrong then an innocent person is punished forever with no chance of release. The mere fact that the wrong person can be killed by the state tells me capital punishment is wrong.

It's not justice being done, it's just revenge.
@batty: You should still do the research rather than continuing your blanket statements. Find out if the wrong person has ever been executed hard facts will give your argument more weight. Again I point you to the Texas judiciary review currently on going. I can think of a handful of cases where anything LESS than the death penalty would have been inappropriate and not for revenge. Do you let a man who attempted genocide(and openly stated he would again if it were convenient) live locked up forever with the chance that he could escape or receive a reprieve because he was 'old'? These are questions you need to consider and be prepared to answer when you state such a very strong all inclusive take on such a subject. Thought experiments only take you so far. Looking at what actually happens in the world will give you more appropriate ways to explain your stance in ways others are more likely to be receptive to, at least enough to fully hear you out. Without something to back it up you're basing it on a maybe which there are already laws in place to preclude (One of TxCat's earlier posts went into details on the strenuous requirements for meting out the death penalty.) Without answering the extreme cases that still do occur in the world today you're leaving yourself open to having them used against your base argument.

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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by randomname »

Here is a list of 10 executed people who were later proved innocent--I'm sure many more could be found with a little research.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread. ... -Execution

Another list--

http://nakedlaw.avvo.com/2010/05/8-peop ... -innocent/

Personally, though--if only one innocent person has been executed, that's one too many. The fact that I don't think any person should take the life of another in any situation other than defending their own really doesn't factor into it. The fact that we can't ever guarantee that mistakes won't be made and innocent people will be executed means that we shouldn't be executing anyone.
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by wolfeyedangel »

Those look like very good places to start looking into actual cases, and available case files. I'm not sure how greatly I'd trust those specific sites, personally, but they look like they would be a very good platform for researching more deeply into the cases specified. Another good point (for someone who'd care to argue the other side) for someone to research would be the number of people who kill, get released, and then kill again.

Side note: I'm not arguing for or against the death penalty. I'm arguing for how these cases need to be presented to be credible in a serious discussion, and hoping to point people in directions that could lead to deeper discussions of the issues.

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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by randomname »

I see what you're saying Wolf, but what I'm saying is that if just one of those cases is correct, that's too much for me. The thought that an innocent person could be executed sickens me. Sure crime sickens me, but I'm not replacing one sickness for another. It doesn't matter if released persons kill again--that's comparing apples and oranges.
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Re: Death Penalty- Yay or Nay?

Post by wolfeyedangel »

On a personal level, I'd probably agree with you, randomname.

The Devil's advocate in me (which is all you folk are likely to get out of me in this forum section), must argue in the cases where there IS no doubt, and no doubt that they will repeat the crime again if permitted to do so, is it not more irresponsible to risk them getting out once more? Remember that complete abandonment of the death penalty would preclude it even in such extreme cases.

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