Good times
All right, I know that many people have already wrote their opinions on this point in the last post, but I want more debate on this topic specifically. I have basically given up on ever updating with life stories because to be honest, I don't think people really read it anyways. They just glance over it, or at least I do. So forget my life, lets focus on your opinions.
The death penalty. As of this moment in the United States, there are no federal laws prohibiting or allowing the death penalty. The Supreme Court has ruled that so far the death penalty is something that can be determined in each individual state. Thats pretty nice of the Federal Government if you ask me.
I personally am for the death penalty. I know that some people may be wrongfully accused and I don't like, especially if it was me. Then again, people can be wrongfully accused and then still spend 20 years in prison. Like that is a huge improvement...that is for you to personally judge. I have two reaons for supporting the death penalty though; for one, it's infinitely more cost effective then holding people in high security prisons (which can still somehow be broken out of) for decades. Did you know, that the Federal Government paid more then $41 billion as in 41,000,000,000 dollars in order to upkeep the nations prisons in the year 2000 (http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/punishing/punishing.html). Each successive year, the number of prisoners has risen, so therefore have the costs. It's a lot easier to take out a bit of lead sinide and inject someone, or a 25 cent bullet can do the job to. I personally think that 41 billion dollars can be better spent on things such as education, construction, research, and crime prevention.
My other reason for supporting the death penalty is because of the obvious nature that few people want to die. If you are a criminal, or at least someone who would be at risk for the death penalty, I know that I would personally think twice about committing a capital offense that could possibly lead to the death penalty. It acts as a deterrent to prevent people from committing crimes. Or at least murder. Shy of rape though, I don't know a more heinous crime then murder.
I don't like the idea of killing people, however if these costs continue to rise at astronomical rates, along with the number of inmates increasing annually, something needs to be done.
The death penalty. As of this moment in the United States, there are no federal laws prohibiting or allowing the death penalty. The Supreme Court has ruled that so far the death penalty is something that can be determined in each individual state. Thats pretty nice of the Federal Government if you ask me.
I personally am for the death penalty. I know that some people may be wrongfully accused and I don't like, especially if it was me. Then again, people can be wrongfully accused and then still spend 20 years in prison. Like that is a huge improvement...that is for you to personally judge. I have two reaons for supporting the death penalty though; for one, it's infinitely more cost effective then holding people in high security prisons (which can still somehow be broken out of) for decades. Did you know, that the Federal Government paid more then $41 billion as in 41,000,000,000 dollars in order to upkeep the nations prisons in the year 2000 (http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/punishing/punishing.html). Each successive year, the number of prisoners has risen, so therefore have the costs. It's a lot easier to take out a bit of lead sinide and inject someone, or a 25 cent bullet can do the job to. I personally think that 41 billion dollars can be better spent on things such as education, construction, research, and crime prevention.
My other reason for supporting the death penalty is because of the obvious nature that few people want to die. If you are a criminal, or at least someone who would be at risk for the death penalty, I know that I would personally think twice about committing a capital offense that could possibly lead to the death penalty. It acts as a deterrent to prevent people from committing crimes. Or at least murder. Shy of rape though, I don't know a more heinous crime then murder.
I don't like the idea of killing people, however if these costs continue to rise at astronomical rates, along with the number of inmates increasing annually, something needs to be done.
posted by UncleFluffy at 6/18/2006 08:53:00 AM
34 Comments:
Still, they need to rework the prison system completely, as in not arresting non violent drug users (who most populate prisons). The death penalty is like a bandaid on a bullet hole.
Also in the case of the one terrorist that we captured it is a good thing that we locked him up in the supermax prison where he will die a long slow death with little to no social contact for the rest of his life rather than giving him a quick death so he becomes a martyr.
I am against the death penalty. although i do agree that a mass murderer deserves to die i don't agree with the excessive cost and taxes that are required every time sum1 is put to death. also i don't agree with it because people are wrongly accused and maybe if they are kept alive they can be proven innocent in the future. ik that many ppl will look at this and be like wow that's not sumthing I'd expect him to say. but yeah this is how i feel
I see what you're saying about the costs of keeping a prisoner alive for so long. It's definitely a huge drain that could be used for more important things. But I think it's wrong to terminate a human life - however unworthy that life is deemed - because it's too "expensive".
I think that the death penalty is, in its simplest form, barbarism, and people should not be so arrogant as to decide life and death for someone else. Isn't killing another person illegal? And isn't capital punishment killing a person? I mean, take any life, and that's murder, no matter who the life belonged to.
I am strongly against the death penalty. First of all, when you commit someone to death, they don't just take them to the next room right after the trial or appeal, they wait in prison for 15, 20, or 25 years beofre they are killed. The price per day to keep an imate on death row is over $68.00! (http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm) It is in no way cheaper, or quicker to get them out of our way. Your other point, the point of detering people, although I do not have first hand experience with this, I'm sure most murders, kill in the moment and are either to arogant or ignorant to realize their consequences later. Since the death penalty is out there, they already do think about that if they're smart enough, and, honestly, I don't think a nation wide death penalty is going to curb crime anymore. I don't believe in ruining two families. It isn't worth it. Its immoral for me. The only death penalty that I would ever in my slightest, wildest dreams, ever consider, is only on a conviction of DNA proof. It sounds like your basis of killing people is just to clean out our prisons, and although that thought alone is worng for me, the number of people put to death in the US, in the past 20 years, is less than 500. It's not going to do anything to just kill them all off.
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What she said.
I don't think the death penalty acutally deters anything.
Okay Lauren, so if you can't judge anyone, how do you put anyone in prison?? What happens when a criminal ruins someone elses life, and their families life?? You say its not our place to ruin someone elses life so what do you do then??
Kyle, it's cheaper to terminate an inmate then keep them alive for 20 years or until they die otherwise.
Mark, it does not take more then 10 years for the appeal process to work. Not in most cases.
and one other point Lauren, if you can't put a price on a humans life, what do you say about the innocent man, woman, or child who was murdered by a sick twisted man?? Do you say "Oh, I'm sorry but this murderers life is worth more then your poor innocent child, so I'm sorry they will get to live while your child rots in a box." Yes because that will go over well.
I think there are better ways to save money than by using the death penalty though, so saying that it is a good cost saving measure is probably bit of a stretch. As for the death penalty, I am an eye for an eye person, but I try to make a rational decision based on the particular case. A good example would be that terrorist that we captured not being put to death. Another question I have for you guys is: do you think by using the death penalty we are stooping to the level of the people who commited the murders in the first place?
do you think its better to lock someone up in a box for 23 hours a day and allow them no contact with the outside world. That way they slowly lose their mind and commit suicide. Isn't that the same thing as murdering them?? Only these method is a bit cheaper.
*this method
Isn't that the same thing as murdering them??
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No, life is still in their own hands technically. Murder is someone else taking their life away. I think that is a lot worse than the death penalty though, slowly going insane from no contact.
Yes murderers are deciding life and death, by doing the same thing that makes us ____________?
I think so too in some circumstances. It all depends on the scenario really.
what about a mercy killing then Kris?? You know, when someone is physically unable to continue surviving and they become for lack of a better term "a vegetable" and their family members make it clear that they would like that persons life terminated. Is that murder??
About being on death row for 20+ years: "Beardslee, who in 1981 brutally murdered two young San Francisco-area women after he was paroled from a Missouri prison on another murder conviction, waited 21 years for his day of reckoning. He was 61 and had been on death row longer than the entire life span of one of his victims."- From the LA Times.
I agree, Jeff, you should devote this entire blog to debates. That would be fun. But seriously, almost 30 comments in 10 hours- thats sick.
..."a vegetable" and their family members make it clear that they would like that persons life terminated. Is that murder??
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Not if that is what they would have wanted. If they never discussed it though then it's harder to say. But in most cases, no I don't think that is murder because if the person wants to end their own life with the help of someone else, I don't see why that should be illegal.
... THIS is the kind of stuff that i glance over lol
jeffy... killing them costs more and i still dont c how u can talk about this for so long
1.) The Feds do have laws on the death penalty--those who commit espionage, etc are subject to capital punishment.
2.) The money needs to be spent on education and not crime prevention. Education prevents crime.
3.) "25 cent bullet can do the job"--that's a sick and inhumane comment.
4.) Most murder is not pre-meditated, therefore meaning people don't have time to "think about the consequences." Just take all those murders in Milwaukee for example. Most of those are over stupid arguments. True, Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty, but don't you think those kinds of homocides occur in states that do, as well? And think about this: If the crime is pre-meditated, well, then obviously the person wanted to commit the murder and didn't give a damn if it meant his or her life.
i have to agree with sami, i can't leave and comeback without a new comment. It's pretty nifty, I am thinking about writing a new post already haha. This is really exciting to me. Adrenaline kick in all the way. I hope no one has any hard feelings if I say something you don't agree with, I only want to give everyone a chance to voice their opinions, no hard feelings and no extreme judgments I hope. :)
Jeff, your a sick person and I never want to see you again- haha, just kidding- I respect your ideas.
Okay, it took me so long to read through all the comments that I forgot what I was going to say! I'll just state what I said on the last post. I agree with the death penalty. You all believe in Heaven and hell right? At the gates of heaven St. Peter gives you the message of either "enter heaven" or "goodbye, good luck in hell". This all happens after you die and your soul leaves earth. Now, I know somewhere in the Bible it describes hell as an eternal firey pit of DOOM. Now you can make your judgement, would you rather have a cereal murderer sit in prison all his life "staring at a blank wall" or kill him in a humane way (not by bullet jeffrey, injection)??? Then when the prisoner finally dies, GOD can decide his punishment. All desicions should be between the criminal and God, and we should all trust that God will make the right desicion. So in actuallity, death really isn't the "easy way out".
On a side note, I also think that we may not have experienced enough of this life to make a firm desicion. Maybe even in a few years when we are all able to vote, we will have a better idea/course of action.
I disagree with your last side note there Keely, I hate when people say you haven't lived long enough to know things. How do you define living long enough to experience life. Thats just a bunch of crap, we know what we think now and we are all alive so this is a fine time to discuss it.
Keely when you say kill in a humane way, that is an oxymoron. Humans have killed each other in every possible way throughout history, there is no set defition of a humane way of killing someone.
2.) The money needs to be spent on education and not crime prevention. Education prevents crime.
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Thank you for posting this. Think about why most crimes happen in inner cities and then look at the answer above.
4.) Most murder is not pre-meditated, therefore meaning people don't have time to "think about the consequences." Just take all those murders in Milwaukee for example. Most of those are over stupid arguments. True, Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty, but don't you think those kinds of homocides occur in states that do, as well? And think about this: If the crime is pre-meditated, well, then obviously the person wanted to commit the murder and didn't give a damn if it meant his or her life.
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I agree with this too, how many people think of the consequences when doing crimes such as murder or selling drugs and whatnot?? Not many because the pay off (whether it be revenge or money) warrants the risk. This is why the death penalty doesn't deter anything.
I disagree with ciao since religion and state should be totally seperated. Therefore this whole idea of god deciding their fate is irrelavent to this issue.
AHH! Captin Crunch, watch out for the cereal killers! haha just kidding.
Kris you said "how many people think of the consequences when doing crimes such as murder or selling drugs and whatnot?? Not many because the pay off (whether it be revenge or money) warrants the risk. This is why the death penalty doesn't deter anything."
This actually helps my argument. The risk is certainly worth the reward when the risk isn't that severe; however if the risk becomes greater, maybe that will serve as a deterrent. Life in prison versus death. Does the risk ever warrant the reward in that case??
So if they don't find the death penalty as a deterrent, like you argreed with what Kris said, than what more can they do to deter?
They already have 25 to life sentences, people still are going to commit crimes when they are broke and uneducated.
Jeffrey, the point of that comment was that THE CONSEQUENCE DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL. People don't care, it doesn't help your argument. It's so easy for you to say that you would consider the consequence sitting comfortably in your home as a law abiding citizen. But you don't know what it's like to hate someone or be angry enough to kill another. Strong emotions blind good judgement and reason.
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