Opponents of the death penalty: please explain your view

Even if the person in question has done the most horrendous deeds known to man. What gives us the right to take his or her life? Using biblical ideas as a basis of your laws is not a good thing and should be avoided at all costs. An "eye for an eye" is not how we should be looking at the way to punish criminals in todays modern world and it goes against every ethical aspect of it. Which is the reason we do not allow relatives to punish the offender as they see fit because it is completely immoral and would not be productive as to how society is run.

No matter how monsterous this person may have been they're still a human being. Why is it illegal for those on the streets to murder someone, but the state is allowed to do so? Aren't all those involved in carrying out this deed plus those involved in voting for it to be put into place and continue to do so implicit in the murder of that person? In my opinion they are. Killing another human being is the worst thing anyone can do so why use it as a punishment for doing so it's a completely hypocritical practice.

Wouldnt't it be more of a punishment to lock this person up for the rest of their lives in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day? To me, that sounds like much more of a punishment. I'm not one who believes in an afterlife so to me killing someone for their crime just puts them out of their misery more than it does the family because what do they care after they've been injected or electricuted, they're dead. There is no hell in which they will be punished for these crimes. No, all that'll happen is that they will lose the ability to think about what they've done. Nothing more. Life imprisonment with no chance of parole is so much more of a punishment in my opinion.

There are far too many reasons to list, but I think you get the general overview of my opinion on the subject.

So killing another person is the worst thing one can do, but locking someone up for 23 hours a day is even worse?

But in general I'm with you. I am against the death penalty. I'm not sure about the death penalty being linked with the bible specifically. To me it just seems human - you kill one I care about, I kill you.

In most cases I think it's extremely difficult to be objective. I remember seeing a documentary once. When it focused on the family of the victims I couldn't help thinking, "f*ck him, fry the bastard". But then the documentary changed it's focus to the murderer and all of a sudden I felt sympathy for the guy.

Then I could go on talking about the media, how they always focus on the crime and the victims family and never on the criminal, and I think this increases the hatred from the general public, which makes it difficult to form an objective opinion.

Should the punishment fit the crime? Most definitely. Should the punishment be the same as the crime? In my opinion, not.

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The Freedom Roads

I was making the distinction between the two punishment options. You still need to punish a person for commiting the crime and if they're crime is of such a magnitude that would - in some peoples minds - warrent the death penalty then obviously it would need to be dealt with. Of course not by killing them for it.

Getting back to your point, yes I would conclude that locking a person away for the rest of their lives where they spend an hour a day sometimes not even that outside is far more of a punishment than killing them. Why, because as I said in my original post, once you're dead you're not going to care about your crimes because . . . . you're dead.

I was slightly rushing my post and the whole biblical aspect of it probably should have been edited out, I just saw it in a post on the previous page and decided to comment on it. But no matter there is some truth to it anyway.

But yes I do agree with you, but that's why people charged with crimes such as these shouldn't be held accountable to those they have hurt. They should be held accountable to the law and nothing more otherwise it would be complete anarchy. The law states that killing another person is wrong. Except there's that loophole that say that the state can kill you if they deem your crime harsh enough. Which I think is totally wrong and as stated in my previous post completely hypocritical.

It's also pretty obvious that the death penalty has not nor will it ever act as a deterrent for such crimes. So that theory should be completely thrown out.

Agreed.

this view "eye for an eye", really not good.

Throw him in prison, so he gets raped by a bunch o' black fellas in the showers 4 times a week...

no racism here

Greetz
Prezident Spikez

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I was for the death penalty before this topic, still am but i can see were everyone else is coming from. I just want to know people's thoughts on the idea that maybe we are trying to be too civilised and that not everything can be worked out the "nice" way (compared to other methods). I like to believe in karma, you could also say that is an eye for an eye? Also in my opinion i think a few of the views on here would change if something horrible happened to you or a close family member.

Lastly, have a look at this man he served his pedophile sentence and is now free. Would you like him next door to you?

I believe in cause and affect, if you are a naturally violent person it is likely you will meet a violent end. Personally I am not really for or against Capital punishment, but the way I see it, it seems that we judge an act to be just or unjust based largely on title of the one dispensing it. If an average civilian killed a death row inmate, you would then be subject to the same punishment. Governments kill people everyday though, so it's really just a drop in the bucket. Just don't try to sell me the "life is sacred" crap, which so many insist. To quote George Carlin; "we think life is sacred because we're alive."

Also, I think if you had a loved one on death row that would change your perspective as well. This touches on another point I have, you always hear those victimized by individuals, but rarely do you hear about someone victimized by the "justice" system. Here's a question; if the state wrongfully puts someone to death, should then by the same standard, the prosecutor be sent to death row? Their actions resulted in the death of an individual, am I right? Essentially lawyers are mercenaries in three-piece suits, and their job is to convict or defend regardless of the actual truth.

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...uh the post is up there...

Was that sentence in bold directed at me?
If i had a loved one on death row because of a rape or murder crime i would be sad for what they did but i dont think it would change my outlook, because if they were in prison they would be dead to me anyway.
For your last question i don't believe they should as there are also other people to blame, it is a hard one.

I don't think it was directed at anyone. If you read it he was talking to himself and stating his opinion and then he quoted Carlin.

Anyway, I'm not going to "weigh in" here. I read the thread but the topic is kind of pointless to me because I believe in very little that the government and society as a whole do to each other.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

My bad then, i just thought that was his answer to my post because he quoted it above.

He may very well have been answering you. But mostly I read it as his opinion. No need to apologize or anything. It's all good.

yeah, but with karma there is no human's involved to punish the guy, just 'do bad things and eventually, bad things will happen to you'.

It was just a general statement directed at society.

Even if they were wrongfully accused? Also, my point was that the standard for the application of the death penalty, i.e. causing the death of an innocent person, doesn't seem to apply to the ones responsible for handing it down.

If a person takes away a life, does he or she deserve their own life? Would you rather have your money spent on keeping them in a cell for the rest of their life? These pedophiles and rapists are not with the general population, or else they would be killed. Instead they are kept in secure areas. Again, as stated before, the system is so corrupt that it is likely they will get out after they serve their time, or get an early parole.

I'm not really for or against the Death Penalty, I'm just trying to stay level headed here. Had person raped my 3 year old daughter, I for sure as sh*t would not want that person alive.

Look up the name Karen Patterson, 13 years old, shot to death in her bed. The killer was her neighbour who had served ten years of a life sentence for killing his brother. Those two are not the only deaths by his hands.

What is a greater chance:

The killer not killing again because he is dead.
Or the killer possibly killing again because he is alive.

Although, it won't bring back the victims, some people belief it will ease their pain. Knowing that whoever did this to their family is no longer on this earth. It's easy to have an opinion on the matter until it hits home.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Why I oppose the death penalty: My take on it:

A) Having the death penalty implemented creates a whole new set of victims; even people who've committed the kind of heinous crimes for which they've been executed have friends and loved ones who grieve for them when they're gone.

B) A society that wishes to become civilized doesn't solve the crime problem by putting its perpetrators to death.

C) As has been pointed out in many instances "No true justice is served when the law itself becomes a killer" Although the name of the person whose quote this is escapes me at the moment, what he's saying brings up a question: How can one say that it's against the law to go out and kill people when the state is given the power to do just that? It's hypocrisy at its height.

D) This is an instance where the old adage "two wrongs don't make a right" could easily be applied.

E) No matter how hideous a crime may be that was committed by a person, there's always the possibility (remote as it may be) that a person can be rehabilitated. A person's life, however, cannot be given back once taken.

F) When the death penalty is implemented, the very quality of life in that particular society is coarsened and cheapened by quite a bit, and a society is brought down to the same level of brutality.

G) All too often, the death penalty is used as a discriminatory tool for dealing with criminals; it's mainly the poor, both non-white and white alike, that end up on death row.

H). Much too often, mistakes are made; innocent people are executed for a given crime, the person who actually committed that particular crime is later found and ends up getting off scott-free.

I) Many years ago, I read a very poignant article written by a minister down in Texas who spoke against the death penalty. He not only pointed out all of the above, but he also pointed out that prisoners tended to act out at their worst when an inmate on death row was executed, and it had an especially bad effect on the inmates who ended up presiding over the funeral/memorial of the executed inmate(s), dig the graves and/or help with the cremation. Moreover, as the article also pointed out, many priests and ministers who've presided over the memorial of executed inmates have become profoundly depressed and have had to quit the religious life altogether.

So, there are all of my reasons for my opposition to capital punishment.

Also, there'll always be people to take the place of executed criminals, plus the death penalty is no more a deterrent to crime than life imprisonment. Moreover, the chances are excellent that if a criminal is that hardened, s/he will not stop to weigh the consequences of his or her actions and behaviours.

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"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)

Have you ever read the book "Dead Man Walking"? This is a true story about a guy executed for a heinous murder. The parents of the murdered girl wanted the guy executed because they felt it would give them some closure and that they'd be relieved not to have him alive anymore. The parents of the dead girl, unfortunately, got no such closure, and the execution of their daughter's murderer did not really relieve them of their pain, let alone bring back their daughter.

Our government shouldn't be in the business of killing its own people.

'nuff said!

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The wages of sin is death.
The people who go around committing murder will have consequences soon enough and they live in their own hellish reality, I'm sure. Killing their body just puts murderers out of their misery and gives the victim's families a false sense of justice being done.
It's so sad.

I've never really addressed my views on the death penalty in an extended post, so here goes.

Justice is probably one of the more important things involved with being apart of civilized society. We all wish to be treated fairly and lament when wronged. So the primary question at hand when it comes to the death penalty is this; is the taking of one's life the opposite of justice? I think the answer is an obvious yes.

A criminal, of course, is not just. This is where the problem arises. If we use our understanding of justice to judge these men and find them to be devoid of it...we find ourselves in a tough situation. To do nothing would provide no justice to the victim and their family, but to take the life of the criminal would be unjust. It is in the interest of the law to be fair and balanced, and an unjust act would do no such thing. This, along with the inadequacies and instituted balances of our current judicial system (reasonable doubt, DNA testing, etc.), is one of the defining factors in my opposition of the death penalty.

However, I can't help but think that there are just some truly wicked people in this world. Beyond help, beyond rehabilitation, and beyond the beauty of our justice system. I also can't help but think these individuals are deserving of the death penalty, but I am presented with a problem. How am I able to determine who is deserving of such a label as incurable wicked? I know that I am no where near objective enough to met that challenge properly, and I would go as far to state that our justice system is unable to do so, too. As such, this is just another reason why I cannot support the death penalty. However, occasionally, I can be convinced that sometimes there are no other alternatives to the death penalty. But I must be honest...those times do not sit well with my stomach...so at the end of the day...I'll just oppose the death penalty.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza