Why do we use the death penalty on murderers? Hypocritical?

El Guapo

I was pro-death penalty for a long time, but I have changed my stance over the years, for several reasons:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. Look at all the criminals who are being released after years of imprisonment because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most people. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of the extra expense of prosecuting a DP case and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty states. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida â€“ the most active execution state at the time â€“ to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murderâ€¦by killing people. The government becomes the bad parent who says, â€˜do as I say, not as I do.â€™

4. Thereâ€™s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst of our criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DONâ€™T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, â€œI wish you had killed me.â€

5. The U.S. government is supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. For example, Matthew 5:38-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. James 4:12 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

RP McMurphy

The problem with the death penalty and executions is not that it isn't a deterrent (it isn't). It's that the methods are too easy. Bring back beheading, hanging, stoning, burning at the stake, dropping in boiling oil, firing squad, you name it. The more medieval the better.

lady9780

I think it is that whole "eye for an eye" thing. The death penalty does not make logical sense. But then, humans are not logical creatures.

bobanalyst

To prevent her from killing more people in the future.

schazjmd

By that logic, you'd say it's wrong to put someone in prison for kidnapping. - after all, it's hypocritical to punish someone for holding someone prisoner by holding them prisoner, right? And you couldn't fine an embezzler - it's hypocritical to take someone's money because they took someone's money.

The difference in all of those cases, including the murderer, is that the rule of law provides authority for acts that cannot be performed by an individual without the sanction of law.

â€ Absintheâ€

Well, all you'll get is the obvious... It crowds our already overcrowded jails...

Vette77_Racer

Jails cost taxpayers money and some people can never be reformed. It also sends a loud message to other potential killers what will happen if they commit similar crimes.

What I don't understand is why killing a cop is more likely to result in the death penalty than killing a regular citizen. When an innocent person is killed, the punishment should be the same. That cops risk their lives in duty is not a good enough excuse - so do firefighters, soldiers, coast guard, etc.

happybidz2003

The Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But if all criminals were left to rot in jail, we have to support them. Our tax dollars are what supports the jails. While criminals are incarcerated they can lounge around, do no work and get college educations that a lot of us can't afford for our own children. This doesn't seem fair to me.

ak_gamer0615

First of all, there is always a chance the criminal can get out and kill others; second, why should he get the honor of life when he thinks the lives of others to be worthless?

devinthedragon

isnt putting someone in jail who kept another person locked up hypocritical?

Understand, deary, that the government is made up of something bigger than people, and that its actions cannot always be viewed as if someone else where to commit them.

Why is it that when a person is about to be executed, they do EVERYTHING to not be put to death? Why do they try so hard to stay alive?

SunnyDiego

I am against the death penalty but I don't think it's hypocritical per se. I think it's wrong for the state to kill someone but I do see a difference. The problem with the death penalty is that sometimes innocent people get convicted. People have been exonerated who were on death row. If they had been executed immediately without an appeal, that may not have happened. People get frustrated with the appellate process because they think about the guilty people that are fighting and not the innocent people that might get a second chance.

Millie

The most fair way should be the one used in China, to put a bullet to the head of the criminial and then bill his family for the bullet, but thanks to the ACLU, we are not allow to do it.

lifesaclassroom

i find it hypocritical to say we are going to punish them for their brutal crimes and then because of budgetary issues and overcrowded prisons we set them free.

Ryan

I do not think the death penalty is effective, but I see the rational for taking the life of someone who has taken the life of another.

The best argument I have read for the death penalty is in John Locke's Second Treatise on Government.

alana5705

because in his taking someones life he should not be allowed to live a full life regardless of if it has to be spent in a jail cell.

The killer chose to kill and the person who was killed had no choice on their life ending.

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