Capital Punishment

My opinion? Capital punishment is premeditated murder. It's simply murdering 'legally'. The cause and effect are the same.

Do you think capital punishment is wrong?

It's like asking "Is murder wrong?"

It seems ironic to me, to say the least, that we demonstrate to the world that murder is wrong by then killing the murderer.

If I were the murderer…and the choices were “life in prison without the possibility of parole” and “execution”…my guess is that I’d opt for execution.

Life without the possibility of parole seems much closer to “cruel and unusual” than execution.

But that’s just me.

Frank, it's so nice to see you back. Your posts are always worth reading.

As for the OP, why should we allow our government the power of life and death? Is there no limit we're unwilling to grant the State?

personally i don't think capital punishment goes far enough

i advocate the death penalty for those douchebags who park their "precious" vehicles on an angle over two spots or straddle the line, so no one can hit their vehicle

three drunk driving convictions, dead

any drunk driving conviction involving a fatality, dead

Easy on the Robert DeNiro impressions, djjd. They make my ears ring!

"everybody plays the fool, sometimes"

ok all the time

Debatepedia: death penalty pro and con

Who knew there was something out there called "Debatepedia?"

oh yeah i saw that on "Everythingsgotit'sownwebpageipedia"

I can see where you are coming from but I think that life in prison is just too easy. They get three course meals, a gym, and a warm bed. The state pen in CA alows their inmates to have a t.v. and pets in their cell. That sounds like the life to me. And they don't have to work or pay taxes. Nope we pay for them to live the nice life. I think if they killed someone, have raped someone, or commited the same crime more than three times(three strikes youre out) it should be the death penalty. This is just how I see things. Eye for an Eye.

SC...there is no desirable such thing as a cozy prison"and it is anything but “the nice life.”

Anyway, the way I stated my comment was very precise:

“If I were the murderer…and the choices were “life in prison without the possibility of parole” and “execution”…my guess is that I’d opt for execution.

Life without the possibility of parole seems much closer to “cruel and unusual” than execution.

But that’s just me.”

I did not actually take a position on capital punishment.

Either way is fine with me. I do not consider execution to be barbaric or inhumane"but I also don’t consider it to be necessary or desirable. And if it were my ass in the sling…I’d rather be fried than confined for the rest of my life. As I said, that;s just me!

Hey Tycoon....good to be back and batting heads with all the great people at A2K.

I have read that it is more expensive to execute someone than to imprison them for life. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, but it makes sense when one considers the cost of repeated appeals and the special form of incarceration which is maintained for capital convicts.

I also object to capital punishment on what might be called "moral" grounds--that it makes little sense for a society to condemn murder while practicing murder itself. I also find the claim that the death penalty deters crime to be hilarious--or it would be, if it weren't for the losses of lives involved. Those who commit crimes of passion aren't thinking of consequences, which is why they are called crimes of passion. Those who murder "in cold blood" do not commit crimes in the belief that they will be caught--they do it because they think they can get away with it. I don't buy the deterrence argument at all.

We execute guilty murderers who have murdered innocent people.

For those who don't know the differrence between crime and punishment, guilty murderers and their innocent vicitms, this may be confusing.

For the rest of us, it is easy to understand.

The moral confusion exists when people blindly accept the amoral or immoral position that all killing is equal.

For those who believe all killing is morally equivalent, they would equate the slaughter of 6 million innocent Jews with the execution of those guilty murderers committing that slaughter. They would also equate the rape and murder of children with the execution of the rapist/murderer.

Fortunately, most folks really do know the difference.

What percentage of capital murderers seek a plea bargain to a death sentence? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
 
What percentage of convicted capital murderers argue for execution in the penalty phase of their capital trial? Zero or close to it. They prefer long term imprisonment.
 
What percentage of death row inmates waive their appeals and speed up the execution process? Nearly zero. They prefer long term imprisonment.
 
This is not, even remotely, in dispute.
 
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
 

You may no buy deterrence, but, it still sells.

16 recent studies, inclusive of their defenses, find for death penalty deterrence.
 
A surprise? No.
 
Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life.
 
Some believe that all studies with contrary findings negate those 16 studies. They don't. Studies which don't find for deterrence don't say no one is deterred, but that they couldn't measure those deterred.
 
What prospect of a negative outcome doesn't deter some? There isn't one . . . although committed anti death penalty folk may say the death penalty is the only one.

All of which turns out to be a pile of horseshit when evidence, such as DNA evidence, shows that someone has been wrongfully convicted.

You've got a straw man going there, though. For my part, there is no moral confusion. If it is wrong for individuals to kill, it is wrong for society to kill. That doesn't lead me to any confusion. The only confusion i see is in your mind.