Views on the Death Penalty? (a poll)

[Thumpalumpacus]

I think those who are voting against and then saying "except for in such and such cases", should vote for.

I voted against because for the vast majority of case I would be against it.

I would only support it in cases of child murder arising from molestation, and murder for hire. But that leaves how many thousands of convicts?

There's nothing wrong with nuance.

[AFTT47]

Absolutely against it, under any circumstances.

The main crux of this admittedly hardline view is essentially this; Once a life is taken by the state, it has been brought down to the same level as those it has executed. One of the main responsibilities of a truly civilised society is to set an example for others to follow, and by endorsing death as a punishment for a crime, that society becomes implicit in murder.

That's my #1 reason for opposing it. The death penalty is a stain on us. It is nothing more than base revenge. It prevents us from growing, morally.

Additionally:

Mistakes have been made. One innocent executed is one too many,

It is not applied fairly or consistently,

It costs more than imprisoning one for life because of legal costs. Even with the endless appeals, mistakes are made.

It is no more of a deterrent than life imprisonment.

[Longhorn]

Against

Cos, you know.....it's like, killing people.

[Whateverist]

Against. I think the best protection for society from the worst of the worst is separation (Life without parole). If someone is safely contained then surely there is no reason to kill them? I don't think killing dangerous people is always wrong but only when they pose an immediate danger.
My personal belief is that killing someone - anyone - in cold blood is always immoral.

Also, I don't comprehend why the US is so pro-capital punishment (by western standards). I would have thought that people who think they need a personal armory to defend themselves from their own government would be against that government having the power to separate them from their arms, confine them and then strap them to a chair and kill them. I will never understand Americans.

Me neither .. and I am one. (Anti-gun-nutter though.)

There is no reason to kill the dangerous person so long as there is nothing more deserving the money required could go to. If everyone got enough to eat, a good education, health care and shelter then I'd be right there with you. But here in the U.S., that isn't the way it goes. A huge fraction of children are in poverty and a good chunk of the adult population is incarcerated already. (We are so fucked.)

[abaris]

Against it in all cases.

Death can't be undone when someone turns out to be innocent. Also giving the state the right to take anyone's life opens a whole can of wirms. It's stooping to the same level as the ones they convict. We tell society it's wrong to kill by killing someone.

Ultimately the state's obligation is to keep violent offenders off the street. And that can be as easily done by locking them up as by killing them.

[SteelCurtain]

There is no reason to kill the dangerous person so long as there is nothing more deserving the money required could go to. If everyone got enough to eat, a good education, health care and shelter then I'd be right there with you. But here in the U.S., that isn't the way it goes. A huge fraction of children are in poverty and a good chunk of the adult population is incarcerated already. (We are so fucked.)

1) One need only to open the Bible to understand why we 'Murricans love us some capital punishment.
2) Never underestimate a 'Murrican's ability to withstand outrageous levels of cognitive dissonance.

[The Grand Nudger]

I also think we should put them on an island with some building materials and some seed.  Let them support themselves in a place they cannot inflict their evils onto society at large.

It's an interesting solution, iirc there are a few prisons like that here in the us...apparently you don't even need an island if you have enough alligators.  Some notable examples overseas as well, but just as many examples of prison colonies turning into a very literal hell on earth.  I don't know what it is about the ones that make it work, that makes it work...but if we could reproduce that - it does seem like a better way to handle incarceration than locking people in tiny boxes with nothing to do other than melt shivs out of cigarette seran, and make soap dildos.

[ignoramus]

pro ...conditionally.
(for what it's worth, I don't feel life is precious in any objective sense) Nature likes to recycle. (that's why we have the cycle of life)

[Salacious B. Crumb]

Against.

Pro assisted suicide (quick, cheap, painless methods) for prisons, jails, the medical field (voluntary euthanasia or family volunteers in situations where patient can't communicate), etc.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Against.  The death penalty is a sentence that, once done, cannot be undone, and one that cannot be survived.  We have a dismal record of convicting innocent people -and that's only counting  the ones we know about.....we don't even have a reasonable explanation as to -why- we would kill a person rather than incarcerate them in the first place.  It's just one of those things we do.......

*wild, sustained applause*


Boru