For or against?

jdmaher@sbcglobal.net

ABSOLUTELY

tongue in cheek

no

it doesnt deter murderers

its expensive to administer

it leads to innocent people being killed

dont believe me?

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

SDS

No. Death comes to all. No one should decide the time and place.

paul m

how is killing a person just? in cold blood? is that not as bad as the crimes being punished? it's still murder

renemeis

No, I'm against it. Any person, even a serious criminal should be given a chance to make amends or learn from his/her mistakes. Killing someone never solves anything.

Old Man of Coniston!.

The late Albert Pierrpoint would disagree with the death penalty. After hanging 435 men and women, he was eventually moved by the time he hung Ruth Ellis. She suffered years of abuse, and almost death herself, at the hands of her then brutal lover. His decision was based on a jury, without his knowledge or understanding of the facts. He just did his job. He finally agreed that he could not bring her back, and retired as chief executioner. This it not to say he didn't agree with half the other hangings he carried out, like Christie, 10 Rilington Place. Though on reflection, after mistakenly hanging Timothy Evans, he almost decided to enforce government legislation to ban hanging, or the death penalty because of this mistake. I think he has the most expert view ever to decide whether it should be banned altogether. I agree with him. Birmingham 6 for example?.

eayrin

against!! i think it's appauling , its as bad as murder , why do people think that they have the right to kill someone else just because they are in a position of power?

alwyzsunny

No, I don't!
I believe that the people involved in executing the death penalty are doing nothing more than MURDER.
If the death penalty is allowed, why can't doctors get away with assisted suicide. Same thing in my eyes.
Murder is Murder is Murder.

VPOC

No, horrible acts can be punished differently. Who has the right to make a life or death decision. Especially when we know that a number of convicts were released after the intruduction of the DNA, which means that far too many innocent people sit in jails. We have no way of knowing the truth and make mistakes.

No I'm against it. I think they deserve life in prison and tougher sentences. I don't agree with killing anyone. I agree with PurpleHaze27 on how can you justify murder with murder. I think it is not a civilised way to deal with a crime and morally wrong.

ugotthat

1. No too error prone.
2. Prosecutors are way overzealous
3. From what I can see the U. S. has executed more than 1 innocent.
4. Look at all the exonerations taking place around country
some are capital cases others are just lenghty sentences

On one of the justice shows a husband was in jail for 18 years for killing his wife when detectives caught a guy on unrelated murder charges who actually remembered that murder and killing the woamn with a 2x4. The husband and wife had an argument and the husband drove off to the store to cool off. While he was gone a stalker was in the bushes outside. The husband came home found her dead, throw in an overzealous prosecutor, cops looking for an easy case and Voila!! LIFE SENTENCE!
The real killer felt bad only because he and the husband were ex-marines.

ajnme

No. Against it!

Cinny [1334â™€]

I don't see how it's a punishment for the people being executed, they don't have to endure life imprisonment.
It's going to be a great deal of heartache for their families and friends however. It must be bad enough having a relative or friend in prison, but for the person to be killed..

jessiicataniia_x

No i dont because we are just becoming a murderer aren't we? Also a few people have been sentenced to death and then we find out that they are not really the murderer.
Yes, if they are the Murderer they dont deserve to be on the Streets and should be in prison for the rest of their life without Parole but the death sentence will not Solve anything.
Also Many Murderers have mental disabilites so they shouldnt be killed for that, but saying that it doesnt give them an Excuse to take somebodielses life away?
Im only a 14 year old but i have strong beliefs about The death sentence!
x

Jane Doe

I'm actually against death penalty and if you watch "the life of david Gale" you'll understand why. and for those that really do deserve to die, isn't being inprisoned worse???

Quizard

No, how can you logically justify it being right to kill someone who kills someone, as an example to others that it is wrong to kill someone. If it worked there would be no more murders Capital punishment isn't justice, it's revenge.

carley_united

killing some is as bad as the criminals and if someone is wrongly convicted of killing someone and they get the executed how bad would the judge feel and wrongly killing some one

Cosmic

No,for we have all heard of people that have served jail terms that they were not guilty for.What if that had been a hanging offense? Those people would have been dead and not able to appeal to judges,etc.,with fresh evidence,and have died for nothing.

I don't think its fair, there were many people in texas bush put to the death penatly and there not sure now if they were guilty.

PurpleHaze27

No way stick them in the hole for the rest of there lifes, but how can you justify murder with murder cause thats what it really is when you think about it, no one should take life no matter what has happened...life in a small dark cell for 24hr every day would be worse i think.......

Brian K

they dont care if they live or die so let em rought thaey didnt care what they did in the first place and dont care of the end results of there crime so dont crank up my electric bill bring bak the fireing squad

Andrew D

The problem with execution is the people executed who are later discovered to be innocent, it is a long list, and of course to try and differentiate between those the system is sure about is not possible as by definition the courts must have been sure about the innocents that have been executed.

I have sympathy with the victims and their loved ones , and if I was wearing their shoes would probably take a different view.

Arguments for execution are I think expense of long term sentences, and revenge, and deterrence but imagine if you were one of the wrongly convicted ! I think one of those situations is one too many

Julian X

No.. I do not....

Our justice system is all out of whack....
and killing people is just a way to satisfy the victim's family's vengence....

Just me

Research your essay question on your own!! - this has been asked 1,000,001 times on Yahoo Answers.

Useless

For, I believe it is both just and fair

Leah

For heinous crimes where guilt is beyond a shadow of a doubt, yes.

sophieb

now see, I'm torn between that. And the real question is: is it just for the bad person or rather just for the good people and their kids that the death penalty is set up.
My religion says the death penalty is wrong and that God will take care of everything. My personal belief system says (not an eye for an eye) that God gave us a free will to make the determination, and so that others can live, that we teach the bad people. However, many bad people never learn. And in a world where money is always a concern (having enough to support onesself) and supporting a criminal at $35,000 a year, more than some people or poor people earn a year, then there are comparisons to be made, and steps to take. If it's a "heinus" crime against humanity and there if proof the person has done the bad deed, and that person can't be rehabilitated (after tests taken) but that there was strong intent against those who died and there is total rebellion (not because of drugs) then I feel the death penalty is just according to the laws of the land but I feel comfortable knowing that the decision was made by many and not by one individual. In that case alone I feel the death penalty is just and I'm for it. Granted some people can forgive because they are God fearing people, but the problem lies in that if that person is not done away with then eventually they will be let out of jail to commit the horific crime again. And, in most cases if not all cases, hard time never rehabilitates a criminal like that, so they are destined to do it again. So I'd say we would merely be saving humanity from that individual and be doing it rightfully. The bible says that "vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord", but the Lord also wanted humanity to live and even he banished the devil to live in forever damnation. So when that criminal reaches the Lord then the Lord will take care of them as He sees fit.

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 people who have been 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."

No, nor do I believe in abortion

How can anyone say killing is wrong, but if You kill someone then we will kill You?

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