Is capital punishment the same as murder?

Mary W

The idea of capital punishment has been used and is approved by the federal government and 38 of the 50 states in America. Yes, it is the premeditated taking of ones life. Studies prove that the death penalty doesn't reduce the crime rate nor does it offer the citizens protection from murderers, so why do it? WHY DO WE KILL PEOPLE WHO KILL PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT KILLING PEOPLE IS EVIL????
If capital punishment worked, our crime level would be much lower than it is. Granted, there are certain crimes out there that demand the death penalty, but the ONLY crime that it should actually be used for is treason - because it affects all the people in America rather than one or two. Justice is NOT served by killing an alleged killer - all we are doing is getting retribution for his/her evil deeds. Christians say the bible says "an eye for and eye" but the bible also says "Thou shalt not kill" and it doesn't say, "Thou shalt no kill Mrs. Jones" or someone else! Capital punishment IS the premeditated taking of another's life!

chuck_junior

It's called legally sanctioned judicial homicide. A far cry from walking up and popping a couple of caps in someones head.

BRYAN H

i am against capital punishment but it is the law of the land. you have to ask yourself would you want someone dead if your immediate family was the victim of a senseless murder? they are not the same just because the end result is the same superficially. 12 people decide a persons crimes were so bad that shoild be put to death not one or two decide to kill someone for 35 dollars and a pack of camels. not all murders are premeditated. apples and oranges are both fruits but they are not the same.

Pablo Diablo

It is certainly homicide, by the definition of homicide, but it's not murder, because murder is a legal term (see definitions below). In other words, the very defintion of murder is that it is an illegal homicide. Legal homicide is not murder.

That is all just semantics, though. I vehemently oppose capital punishment, and I think it should be considered murder.

non_apologetic_american

Merriam-Webster defines murder as:

the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

So, no, capital punishment is not murder, because it is a lawful form of punishment.

Both include killing, but that wasn't your question.

.

Kevin A

So you'd allow a murder to sit in prison plotting his next move while our taxes pay to keep him alive? Don't you realize that he could murder a prison guard or actually get loose and go on a murdering spree?

You don't have to feed a dead man. If it's proven he's guilty beyond a doubt, kill him and reduce the surface population of prisons.

iwannabuymoretoysofmyown

To misquote Immanuel Kant (I believe): If you live on a volcanic island, and you have a prisoner who has been convicted of premeditated murder, and the volcano is erupting, you should execute the prisoner before you vacate the island.

IMHO. There is no appropriate punishment for premeditated murder. It is society's duty to eliminate the murderer so that they cannot kill again. This should be done as quickly and painlessly as possible, and should not be done in such a way as to be mistaken for revenge or entertainment of any kind (i.e. public hanging).

'Premeditated murder' is a legal term for a particular kind of killing. Killing becomes murder when it is defined as murder by law. Capital punishment is not defined as murder by law, so it is not.

Capital punishment is a society, not a person, permanently eliminating a danger to that society in a manner defined by the law of that society.

lundstroms2004

Why did you ask a question if you already made up your mind?

Susan S

It is interesting to know that death certificates (at least in California) of people who have been executed list "homicide" as the cause of death. It sounds like you are against capital punishment. I think the argument you are using will not really convince someone else. You should start with some solid information about the death penalty or some religious (or moral) arguments and go on from there.

The best place to start is the Death Penalty Information Center, which has tons of easy to follow stuff about the cost of the death penalty, risks of executing innocent people, religious views of the death penalty, arbitrariness (racial, geographical, economic), deterrence, alternatives to the death penalty and other things.

summer girl

i can definatly see where you are coming from but, dont you think that if someone knows they could be put to death if they break that certain law then dont you think they would be less likely to do it? just like when a mom would spank her kid, she didnt want to but she is trying to prevent a certain behavior. dont get me wrong, i am on both sides of this topic. i can see both points of veiws.

justagrandma

Not exactly, one is done for reasons of insanity, rage, or greed, it is the taking of an innocent life which make murder so unacceptable as to call for the ancient retribution of an eye for an eye. Or a death for a death.
The other is done essentially to protect society from the person who has proven themselves capable of killing another human, someone who has proven that the restraints of law and possibility of punishment hold no fear for them.
Killers are dangerous and cannot be trusted even in a maximum security setting, so what can we do, but eliminate them, cull them from society in a way that truly keeps us safe?
Its not unusual for a killer to kill in prison thinking that hes in for life and what else can they do to him?
One is done against society the other is done to protect society, its a grave distinction that should be used carefully, but it is necessary.

martino

It is, yes. Revenge does not legitimize killing. Death penalty is state sponsored revenge murder.

sciencegeek+

no. one is remedy for the action of the other.

rukidding

I think, capital punishment DOES fit this definition. Whether or not you agree or disagree as to the need for capital punishment, it IS premeditated killing. It isn't illegal, though. Maybe that's where murder and capital punishment differ.

Team Chief

No. They're not the same because one is legal and one is not.

Capital Punishment is a legal form of execution.

Murder is the unlawful killing of another person.

Hardly the same thing.

harryd

Capital punishment for murderers is society's way of insuring that the murderer doesn't kill more innocent people. It's a good idea, as any one who has a relative who was killed after a recidivist murder was released early by a liberal judge will tell you.

Martin A Neville

No. Murder is killing an inocent man. Capital Punishment is justice.

bush deathgrip

yep.....by design, intentional and lethal

#1 Baby Girl Due this summer

No, murder is against the law. Capital punishment is PUNISHMENT for breaking the law that says you can't murder.

Capital punishment IS NOT murder. What a silly question.

Ask this question to a parent who has has a child murdered by a cold-blooded killer. Ask them if they think capital punishment is the same as murder?

Capital Punishmnet is JUSTICE. Murder is a CRIME, in most cases punishable by death.

Holy Pig

NO!

One killes the innocent & the other kills those that kill the innocent

ryorama

Yes, capital punishment is murder. It is the need for revenge, and it costs more than housing the inmate. Plus some states make us look like China and Iran when it comes to Penal systems.

For those that say it is a just punishment, well I know of plenty of people who deserve to die, that doesn't allow me to go and murder them.

Summer

I think that when you kill anyone against their will, it's murder. Do the people who get the capital punishment deserve it? When they are guilty, I say absolutely.

I'm not really into the bible and stuff, but our government likes to reference it when convenient. In the bible, it says, basically, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth." That is meaning that if someone murders your family, than that is punishable by the convicted being murdered themselves. If you steal something, you should lose something yourself.

There are cases when people who have been put to death have been acquited of charges... DNA evidence, etc. This is why I don't like capital punishment. Neither do I enjoy spending all of my tax money on housing criminals: rapists, pedophiles, murderers, thieves, etc. It's the lesser of two evils I suppose.

Hope this helps.

sjsosullivan

Paying a fine is capital punishment. As a system, Capital Punishment has a wide array of penalties, ultimately arriving at the final one, known as the death penalty. And, a legal punishment, in this case, an execution, is carried out by the many upon the one, for performing atrocities upon one or more other(s). How does that equal murder?

Do you know what corporal punishment is? Research it, and think of the alternative to what we have now. I would rather have the payment of (a) monetary fine(s) or incarceration(s), as opposed to having (a) dismemberment(s) and flailing(s).

Edit: I'm seeing folks saying that the Bible says "An eye for an eye..." No. That's Nebuchadnezzar's Law, also known as Hammurabi's Code. It was written 3700 years ago, in what is now Iraq, and was then the Babylonian Empire, and is often referred to as the first civilized legal code.

barefoot_yank

Any conscious effort of one person, or state, to end the life of another is murder.

Weatherman

No

One is murder, the other is legally allowed punishment

VirtueOfIntolerance

Absolutelly not!

Murder is when you do it to someone who doesn't deserve it.

Capital punishment is when you do it to someone who does deserve it.

People who think like you worry me.

mariner31

No.

Murder is a violation of the law... Capital Punishment is the enforcement of the law.

California needs to speed up the process...

Its more like state assisted suicide

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: