Do you feel that the death penalty is justice, or justified vengeance?

Susan S

Looking at the way the death penalty has actually functioned, I have come to oppose it. Not on religious grounds but on pragmatic grounds. When you look at the way the death penalty system actually functions, you have to conclude that the only purpose it serves is retribution or revenge.

128 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, canâ€™t guarantee we wonâ€™t execute innocent people.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reliable study shows the death penalty deters others. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in those that donâ€™t.

Life without parole, on the books in 48 states, also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is not a picnic. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.

The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. (upfront=before and during the initial trial)

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute innocent people.

Sources:

Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.

FBI http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_04.html

The Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/COcosttestimony.pdf page 3 and 4 on why the death penalty is so expensive

http://www.njadp.org/forms/signon-survivor.html for statements of victimsâ€™ families

butthead smurfer

It cost more to execute than it does to jail. Strange but true. I'd rather see them make big rocks into little rocks every day until they die, just in case there is no Hell.

Cindy C

it is kind of justified vengence. but i don't know if that's a bad thing or not. i know there's some people out there that get it, and then it ends up they are innocent. i would say that the cops, investigators and the courts need to make sure they have every single fact they need before even sentencing a person to the death penalty. before even having the jury leave to deliberate about if the person is guilty or not. if not sooner! those instances come about from some one not doing their job. if nothing else for those who were suggested the death penalty need to undergo heavy psychological tests to be determined if they can't be rehabilitated and sent to at least a minimum security prison if this happens.

ok, ok, i am done with my rant, lol.

â˜¼â™«Hmm..Interestingâ™ªâ˜¼

I think justice for a horrific offense would be to put them in some third world type hell-hole of a prison and let them rot there for the rest of their lives...but that won't happen because too many people are so worried about if our prisoners are being taken care of or not. Let's give them cable tv, libraries, weight rooms, gyms, computers, etc etc...instead of doing that for the neighborhoods/schools on the outside that desperately need it. It probably is justified vengeance and if it were a family member of mine that was murdered I would rather the murderer just suffer for the rest of his life in horrible conditions.

Declan's mummy!!

I dont think there should be a death penalty, i believe that if you kill then you should suffer, example josef fritzl should be skinned alive and put in a bath of salt and have razors put in his food, not killed, death penalty is the easy way out and murderers should suffer, i bet if the law was being skinned alive and put in a salt bath then the crime rate would drop dramaticly!

Sorah

Justice.
someone deserves to die

wizjp

Justice. I can forgive the sinner who atones for raping and murdering your 10 year old daughter. BUt I still hate the sin and my code of justice says the just punishment is forfit of the life of that killer.

Big Sky 23

Not everyone who murders should be executed.

But I have a difficult time respecting the life of someone who did not respect the life of someone else. It is justice.

Child molesters and rapists should be executed, without exception. They forfeit the right to live, and I challenge you to demonstrate otherwise.

huckleberryjarod

I don't know if either really matters, both of them would work for me, that's just my opinion.

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