The Death Penalty

GreenbullGreenbull Regular
edited July 2010 in Spurious Generalities
What do you think?
Does the prospect of killing innocents outweight the punishment for societies worst criminals?

Why does it cost so much?

Comments

  • CaesarCaesar Regular
    edited July 2010
    I think the death penalty is kind of pointless and barbaric. In itself it's not necessarily immoral, but the fact that the society who get to decide who lives and who dies is the same bunch of idiotic fuckups who often produce the conditions for the crime to exist in the first place seems like a giant hypocrisy. I am not saying that it is all societies fault that these criminals exist, but they are just a symptom of bigger problems and if the problem can't be fixed by executing the criminals, then why continue playing god?

    If it was a more perfect world, maybe under some circumstances the death penalty could be justified, but I really can't think of any civilised reason to do so. Put them in mental hospitals instead and go Clockwork Orange on their ass if you gotta punish them. At least we could learn something .
  • VickyVicky Regular
    edited July 2010
    Governments and judicaries are too corrupt to be given the power to end someones life. It is also very costly to do so. The ammount of time they spend in prison before they actually die is what costs so much, and all the appeal courts. Emphasis should be a rehabilitation. In Scotland they had a really good scheme for a while before funding went that they put young offenders on vocational courses so when they got out they could find work and do something rather as having to turn to crime because they couldn't get a job.

    Also there is no inhumane way really, that mexican guy angels something who survived the lethal injections? Said is was extremely painful. We have no proof that it isn't, it could be fucking horrible. Although there are some people that really do need to die. Like people who show no remorse at all for doing violent depraved crimes. There is no rehabilitating people like that.
  • ProtopangraphyProtopangraphy New Arrival
    edited July 2010
    A nitrogen gas chamber would be a totally painless way to execute someone. They would merely fall asleep and within minutes they would die of hypoxia. It would also be very inexpensive. Capital punishment is much more humane than long imprisonment.

    The more time you spend in a maximum security prison, the greater your chances are of being beaten, robbed, or occasionally raped and murdered. It is also inhumane to lock humans up for hours at a time and restrict their access to stimulatory material such as women, pornography, books, etc. I propose that we merely execute anyone convicted of a felony regardless of age, and that their execution be carried out within days of their conviction.

    In my opinion the idea of long imprisonment is archaic and it will be viewed as obsolete in the future, in favor of capital punishment for felons and deferred adjudication for non-violent criminals. Politicians are already beginning to open up to the idea of reducing the number of people in prisons due to budget constraints.
  • DirtySanchezDirtySanchez Regular
    edited July 2010
    My biggest issue with the death penalty is that there's always the chance that innocent people will be put to death. Even with DNA its still possible and even one innocent being killed by the state is unacceptable. Also even though im a big advocate for states rights it kinda bothers me that a guy could rape and kill 20 baby's in a non death penalty state and live but a guy involved in a robbery gone bad could be killed in Texas or Florida. I also think about the passage he who is without sin cast the first stone. I think the death penalty should only be carried out in the most extreme cases and when there's absolutely no doubt that the person being killed is guilty.
  • HippieTrippieHippieTrippie Regular
    edited July 2010
    I believe in Capital Punishment for a few reasons.

    1. To keep the sheer number of convicted criminals in prisons, especially maximum security ones, costs a lot of fucking money and the bill goes right to the taxpayers. So does allowing a criminal to appeal his sentence. Eliminate appeals. Only issue the death penalty to violent and mentally unstable convicts.

    2. Rehabilitation en mass does not work. It will occasionally work for non-violent offenders (Drugs) but the majority of violent or sexual criminals who go through a rehabilitation program become repeat offenders, at the cost of the taxpayers again.

    3. There is no productive place in society for someone who kills or rapes civilians. These people are broken, and therefore deserve to be broken by the state.
  • PeoplePeople Acolyte
    edited July 2010
    With neuroscience becoming so advance in the past years, scientists are capable of scanning a brain and determining someone's potential for extensive criminal activity. Once this is more developed with genetics, I think we can foresee people becoming criminals if they are tested.

    If someone commits a crime they should be brain scanned (of course when the technology is advanced enough and the process is cost effective) and the results should determine their punishment. If they are untreatable, death penalty. If they are treatable, prison/rehabilitation.

    Maybe this is a bit outlandish, but I could see it being used in the future. This would definitely weed out the truly disturbed in society. The means of capital punishment? Nitrogen like Protopangraphy said would be applicable.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128339306
  • ashenbloodashenblood Acolyte
    edited July 2010
    Caesar wrote: »
    I think the death penalty is kind of pointless and barbaric. In itself it's not necessarily immoral, but the fact that the society who get to decide who lives and who dies is the same bunch of idiotic fuckups who often produce the conditions for the crime to exist in the first place seems like a giant hypocrisy. I am not saying that it is all societies fault that these criminals exist, but they are just a symptom of bigger problems and if the problem can't be fixed by executing the criminals, then why continue playing god?

    If it was a more perfect world, maybe under some circumstances the death penalty could be justified, but I really can't think of any civilised reason to do so. Put them in mental hospitals instead and go Clockwork Orange on their ass if you gotta punish them. At least we could learn something .

    This
  • GreenbullGreenbull Regular
    edited July 2010
    I think there is a place for capital punishment in our society for those who have no hope.

    Reguardless of whos fault it is for them being fucked up (ie serial murderer etc), they're not going to be rehabilitated within their lifetime.

    Someone needs to figure out how to cut the cost of the death penalty to that which is lower then a full lifetime in prison.
  • VermicideVermicide Regular
    edited July 2010
    It's one thing for a private citizen to take someone's life, quite another for the state to. Maybe if it could be proved 100% they were guilty but still, it's a slippery slope.
  • Gary OakGary Oak Regular
    edited July 2010
    I really think lifetime prison sentences are useless. They are the worst kind of punishment, but besides that they don't help society at all. Long prison sentences are shitty in general. If you go to jail for more than 3 years I think it becomes to difficult to re-adjust to society. It's an endless cycle that's really fucked up. But, then again they aren't always guilty. The system just needs to be more flexible, they're shouldn't be a set rule for every case because not every case is the same.
  • GreenbullGreenbull Regular
    edited July 2010
    Gary Oak wrote: »
    I really think lifetime prison sentences are useless. They are the worst kind of punishment, but besides that they don't help society at all. Long prison sentences are shitty in general. If you go to jail for more than 3 years I think it becomes to difficult to re-adjust to society. It's an endless cycle that's really fucked up. But, then again they aren't always guilty. The system just needs to be more flexible, they're shouldn't be a set rule for every case because not every case is the same.

    I agree that long prison sentences for violent criminals is pretty pointless (long as in they're going to die in prison).
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