Death Penalty - for or against?

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Capital Punishment
20.00%
5 votes
Retain it!
44.00%
11 votes
Abolish it!
36.00%
9 votes
Use it sparingly..../ Other thoughts
25 votes. You may not vote on this poll




I have no problem with certain people put to death - paedophiles, people who view/pay for child porn images/video(and yes I mean this - people who haven't even touched children should be out of the world), child traffickers, rapists, terrorists.

As for tax payers money - I don't know how many thousands and millions of innocent people are lost in different countries over time thanks to war...



Tell that to the victim's family.
That's revenge/compensation, not punishment.

That is not true for certain. Evidence on this matter is inconclusive. Also, that is a very absolute statement you made there that can't be argued about without context.
Well, it's not 100%, but for most cases of murder, a sentence of death wouldn't have been an influence. Very few people commit any crime thinking that they'll be caught, so the punishment isn't on their mind, no matter what it is.

For crimes such as car theft or robbery, I'm sure that capital punishment would be a much greater deterrent.



If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission
I voted in the poll, I said my piece. That is all.
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You can't equate an innocent life with the life of a murderer. Just can't be done. By the same logic, if you put someone in jail for kidnapping, you're no better than the kidnapper...? There has to be an allowance for (and acknowledgment of) the fact that criminals forfeit rights when they violate others' rights. Perhaps death is a bridge too far, but there's simply no way to draw an equivalence here, whatever one thinks about the ultimate punishment.

In other words, I may be against the death penalty, but I'm just as against a lot of the arguments against it.
I guess what I mean is, if I were on a jury and I sent someone off to be executed, I don't know how I would live with myself. Personally, I think it's an injustice, and definitely fits the "cruel and unusual punishment" bill.
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Against it generally, for it only in a few specific cases, such as The Aryan Brotherhood prison gang/crime syndicate. Responsible for 21% of murders in Federal Prisons (as well as controlling criminal organizations outside of prison) and the bosses all considered themselves basically untouchable because they were already serving life sentences without parole.
So you are against it unless racists are being killed?



There are those who call me...Tim.
I'm against it, I don't believe evidence can ever be 100% conclusive. CCTV can be grainy, choppy and low resolution, and DNA evidence can be planted (a few hairs here and there for instance).
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I am against death penalty,mainly for 3 reasons:
It's inhumane
Every once in a while,maybe very rarely,but I believe that an innocent person gets the death sentence
People who perform the death sentence(I don't know how they are called,but I mean those who injects the injection,turns on the electricity in the chair etc.) can become seriously damaged,get a mental illness.
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I guess what I mean is, if I were on a jury and I sent someone off to be executed, I don't know how I would live with myself. Personally, I think it's an injustice, and definitely fits the "cruel and unusual punishment" bill.
Sorry, dunno why I never replied to this before. I have a couple of thoughts. The first is that I don't see how someone could say it "definitely" fits the "cruel and unusual punishment" description. It sure isn't unusual. And as for cruelty, it's usually done pretty painlessly these days. You can make a solid argument that life imprisonment is cruel, too, if you really want to. Clearly any significant punishment is going to have be in the neighborhood of what you could conceivably call "cruelty" if it's going to be much of a punishment at all.

As for whether or not you could send someone off: that's certainly another story. But I wouldn't want to make law based on that kind of thing. I dunno if I could pull the trigger and kill someone in self-defense, but I'm glad we have police officers prepared to if necessary. I sympathize tremendously with the idea that some of us can't stomach this sort of thing, but that's ultimately putting our own psyche ahead of the common good.

Now, you may not think the death penalty is part of the common good (and I'd happen to agree with you), but if that's the case then the matter of whether or not you can stomach it doesn't enter into the question. So that explanation, I think, is either not sufficient, or else not necessary.



Clearly any significant punishment is going to have be in the neighborhood of what you could conceivably call "cruelty" if it's going to be much of a punishment at all.

Absolutely bang on the money Yoda.

Softening the laws is not the answer.
The softening of laws and being all 'humane' about 'rights' etc, is exactly why last year Britain got hit with the London riots, which then consequently spread to almost every major city in the country.
Q: What did every law abiding citizen I know say about the rioters?
A: Use rubber-bullets.
Q: What did the Police actually do?
A: Nothing. Because the Prime Minister said we should embrace these 'troubled' people and give them some love and hugs and kisses.


I've got a criminal record. You know what for?
I woke one night to find a man in my house who was armed with a bat and he was standing outside my 12 month old daughter's bedroom door. So, quite simply, I beat him till he stopped wriggling, and subsequently got arrested for assault and recieved an 8 year suspended sentence.
You know what the burglar got? A nice hospital bed and was let free after a few weeks. He's still out there somewhere.


British prisons in particular are another joke.
An old aquaintence of mine recently got out of prison for drug dealing. I bumped into him a while back and asked him if he'd learned his lesson. His answer, and I quote:
"Nah mate. Dealing's good money and jail's an easy term. If I get caught again, it doesn't matter, I can just deal inside like I did last time."

Needless to say, I haven't spoken to him since.


As for the thread asking about the death sentence: Certain crimes, yes have it. In particular Child Molestation.
I think Britain should re-introduce it and should toughen and rewrite the existing laws.

Quick Analogy: Modern Society has lived and grown off the back of the freedom that our grandparents fought for in the World Wars. What have we done with it? We've created the London Riots.
Bring back tougher laws and cops and politicians that know how to kick @rse.

That's my rant over. Feel better now