Why does America have the death penalty when most countries don't allow it?

Grumbles

I can think of a lot of countries that have the death penalty. Go to Thailand with drugs and see what happens - or pick a middle eastern country and take a swig of alcohol in public, places through africa etc. Maybe you should ask - why is America the only First World country that maintains the death penalty.

Susan S

Good question. It could have something to do with the remains of a frontier mentality. But more and more Americans are rethinking this issue. You don't have to sympathize with criminals or want them to avoid a terrible punishment to ask if the death penalty prevents or even reduces crime and to think about the risks of executing innocent people.

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

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that donâ€™t.

We have a good alternative. Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people.

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 across the country argue 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. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Dani

Alot of countries will murder people they assume guilty of a crime, without a trial. Alot of countries will stone a woman to death if they think she cheated on her husband, or disrespected a man. Alot of countries will cut off the hand of someone who steals. I'm not a fan of the death penalty, at all actually, but I'd rather have a CONVICTED guilty murderer killed humanely, than someone stoned to death, or hanged, just because he's assumed guilty.

kellan m

Because it has been relegated to a states right issue. So it is up to the states to enforce the law. If a state uses it, then they have the right. If a state doesn't use, they also have that right.

It goes back to the notion of "eye for an eye" If a person commits a crime so evil, then by the power granted to the state they have the right to enforce justice.

iammindfreak

Most countries just kill the criminal before they ever go to jail so its no different we just keep them alive longer

Ancient Warrior DogueDe Bordeaux

because we are still fighting the libs in this country, the other nations have been hijacked

only p

Only a few states have a death penalty. Secondly, most countries do have a death penalty. They hang, stone, and torture criminals. Reference China, North Korea, Middle East, Russia, Philippines, Cuba...the list goes on.

kevin f

America believes that they can put fear into the country, , and it will send a message to the whole country.
However, the countries that do have the death penalty, hold the ceremony publicly for their whole public to see.
When America has the death penalty, only certain people can be there (Reporters, 1 religious leader, an officer and family). And as soon as they go through with the killing, they pull the shades back so no one can witness the murder. So technically no one ever sees the actual person killed except for 1 office and maybe the religious leader. They only see the moment before he was injected and the moments after his heart gives out.

jMd...

I love how Americans will talk about how advanced we are, then in the next breath will compare our policies with the worst of the worst, like the one answer about how they stone, hang, and shoot them in places like the Middle East, and China...Is that the standard you are holding America to? Wow, thats sad.
No, the fact is we have become a country who has stopping trying to become better & instead are stooping lower & lower in regards to respect for human life, but we can't seem to understand why jailing people that havent even been charged (Gitmo), sanctioning torture, starting pre-emptive wars based on lies, and killing people because they broke the law & killed someone isn't making us any safer? We somehow like to think that having a death penalty will somehow deter crime, but the facts are there & they show that we are the most violent "developed" (better get that in there before someone compares us to Nigeria) nation on earth. We have laws against killing, but delight when the state does it, through DNA we now know that a full 23% of those we have executed were innocent....but like every other aspect of our rapidly corroding society, as long as it didnt happen to one of "our" family or friends, who cares!
We have stopped caring past our front yard, and just like Rome we won't start till it's all gone.
Merry Christmas!

jasonsluck13

well, the individual states have that decision.. and rightfully so... the death penalty is a major deterrent for violent crime.. and it is the ultimate penalty for someone who committs a violent crime.. those who are sentenced to death have no reason being on earth among us. it's a fast-track to hell where they belong as far as i'm concerned. but, to answer your question.. many countries that do not have the death penalty, have much more liberal ideals.. and the death penalty is something that most liberals detest.

michelob86

Fear.

Princess Leia

Because the US is not most other countries.

ehrlich

All countries have their faults, a lot of states have out-lawed the death penalty, just be glad we don't put a person in jail for life for naming a teddy bear God, and beating them 40 lashes for that either. I think it is out of fear, but you know that really doesn't work because you still see people getting murdered everyday. I think the death penalty is ridiculous for the fact you are killing a person for killing a person.

Frankie

It's not because they're more advanced since it's been around since the beginning of America and being advanced would mean changing something or improving it, such as advancing forth.
The reality is, the majority of Americans approve of it. It also cuts the costs of imprisoning criminals when if they're executed, you no longer have to pay to feed and shelter them.
The main reason other countries don't have it or have abolished it is because it philosophically puts the court on the same level as a murderer when somebody innocent is executed, which can and has occurred many times by the courts themselves eager for a conviction suppressing evidence or the police or lawyers. It's also considered inhumane based on religious and moral grounds.
For a more complete description click the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States

d g

Because USA doesn't have as many commies as other countries.

Mike F

Because we are a christian nation, one nation under God you know, aborting a mass of cells is murder, but murdering a murderer is justified, so we kill some innocent people, so what? It is so crazy I know, it's sick!!!! What hypocrits!

foxxy lady

because we have to kill the as*holes in prison to make room for the many more that as*holes that will be going in. if we didn't kill the really bad people, then we would have no where to put the other stupid people commiting the same crimes.

enviroman

We're more advanced then they are!

lucky

so much for the land of the free

YasoNatsu

I am very much agreeing with you, Dani. Also, if we didn't have the death penalty, should murderers go on the streets and just kill a few people, then being in the court and have nothing more than just prison, while here in Norway we do not have the death penalty. The biggest punishment here, is 21 years. So imagine killers being all around in our streets just killing people, having 21 years. when they get out again they will just keep doing what they was doing. so then, I am for the death penalty to still maintain.

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