Death Penalty

[AFTT47]

"That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved."
~Benjamin Franklin

So, Chad, at least one of the people who helped create our judicial system seems to disagree with your attitude of "a few is ok."

We're talking about the potential death of people innocent of a crime, a punishment that is more expensive than incarceration and has no compelling argument that it deters the crimes it's used to punish (a point you've ignored once already).

I understand some people feel a need for revenge state sanctioned murder but I'll never understand that need.

He would rather live in a city with 100 psychos running around free than know one innocent person died there. Why?

I have never argued that it deters crime. I don't care if it does or not, especially if they only did it extremely rarely. The idea is that it keeps this person from torturing children to death because they flirted with the opposite sex again.

If you consider it mere revenge, or state sanctioned murder, ok. I don't know what to tell you to change your mind. Personally I've read too many stories about people who were so off the wall about the messed up stuff that they did, that I would deem them worthy of death. A quick one, which would be much more merciful than the guilty deserves.

Chad, there is no evidence that the death penalty deters anyone from anything. Few people who kill someone or commit any other horrible things give it a lot of thought.

You speak a lot of what a murderer "deserves." This is revenge-speak. It is a product of pure emotion and is something we must rise above. In no situation does hurting someone else enrich the rest of us. Taking satisfaction in the pain of another is depraved. It is natural but it's wrong. Trust intellect over emotion. We need to do this if we are to become better than what we are.