Capital Punishment?

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The death penalty is properly administered at the scene of the crime, by either the victim or an eye witness. Taking it beyond that is nothing more than seeking retribution. Putting them away for life is a practical solution to the problem. It it less costly, both from a moral and a monetary perspective, and it removes them from society to prevent further crimes. Justice is not a synonym for revenge. Killing someone 10-15 years after the fact can only be classified as revenge. I do not support the death penalty, although I am not so hell bent against it that I would make it a serious issue when considering the viability of a political candidate and I certainly do not think any less of those individuals who do support it.
 
Rehabilitation through reincarnation reduces recidivism. I like it. There will be no repeat offenders after capital punishment.

For capital punishment to have any real deterrance it should be public. Put it on prime time TV. It also has to be in a reasonable time frame, I consider that less than a year.

There is film of a nine year old being used sexually? That sounds like a reasonable proof to me. Yes, if the mother was operating the camera she is as guilty as the man is. Yes, I support the death penalty for this instance of child abuse.
 
I question whether there is any deterrant effect from capital punishment. In those times and places where punishment was/is draconian and public, there was/is still crime. When people were publicly hanged for what we would consider petit theft, there were still thieves.
 
Habitual criminal does not equal stupid. In my opinion they are making their living by stealing instead of working because they find it easier. When the punishment is harsh enough crime will diminish and stop. There will always be crazy people, like the recent sniper incidents. But I think we can stop career criminals from supporting themselves with criminal proceeds. Long prison terms and capital punishment both play a part here.

At present in the state of Kansas the punishment for a simple burglary is "presumptive probation". As it was explained to me when I saw a repeat felon on the street soon after his arrest, the judge could not lock him up, even though this was his sixth felony arrest, because the jail/prison does not have room. There is no reason for him not to break into another house, he knows he will not be punished.

I am totally in favor of reducing our prison population. I think if we execute the ten percent with the longest sentences it should remove the excess. That ten percent probably has multiple life sentences, and should not be released back into society anyway.
 
I am not a fan of capital punishment, but I also think the current system needs to be sustantially reformed, an awards-based system for behavior, etc... Certainly not advocating we send felons to "summer camp" but just throwing everybody in a cell, then letting them out to PT, play cards, etc... doesn't seem to be working too well.
 
Looks like Mr. Dentist might be a few steps closer to gettin' a free 165 grainer .308 to the back of the head...

His side a bit panicked, as the moron decided.. 'Wow, I got kiddie porn on video, maybe someone will want to buy it!" and burned a bunch of CD's and tried to sell them... :rolleyes: :banghead: :barf: Stupidity knows no bounds I tell ya...

Again, not gonna lose sleep over his demise...
 
Whats more humane, being locked up without any rights for the rest of your life or death?
 
I don't care

whether it deters or not, though it certainly deters the executed. I should be done simply because it is just. And of course justice administered by humans is imperfect, but that doesn't excuse us from striving for justice.

See old Khornet editorial on this subject:

http://www.americasvoices.org/avarc2002/archives2002/BowenM/BowenM_111902.htm

In the interest of saving space. There to read for those who wish.
 
Some crimes definitely deserve punishment by death--but the government shouldn't have the power of life and death over the citizens.

In principle I agree with capital punishment 100%, but since mathematically mistakes WILL be made and innocents will die at the hands of the state, I cannot support it.

And the argument about how much it costs to keep someone in prison vs. the cost of a bullet only points out a problem with our prison system, it doesn't sure up the case for the death penalty.
 
There are two points to consider here:

1. Is the justice system accurate when it comes to convictions of death penalty cases. Nothing is perfect. Is it 98%, 99.5%, what is close enough?

2. What is the recidivism rate for these criminals committing these heinous crimes? We certainly have the data for this somewhere. If someone is not redeemable then why waste oxygen?

I agree that the state should not be taking life. I had a debate with a prosecutor about this. I believe that persons from the local area should be picked via lottery to adminster the death penalty where the heinous crime occurred. That puts the judicial system in the determination seat and the people in the execution seat. No more sterile, feel good executions.

Utah just banned the firing squad :(
 
The death penalty is properly administered at the scene of the crime, by either the victim or an eye witness.
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Nonsense.

It is much better if you administer it when it has become clear that the crime is imminent, but before anyone innocent is hurt. :)
Putting them away for life is a practical solution to the problem. It it less costly, both from a moral and a monetary perspective, and it removes them from society to prevent further crimes.
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Removing the person in question from society is the key (and only) benefit of capital punishment in my opinion. Some criminals, I don't think we can risk letting back into society.
I'd prefer something besides killing them, though. I agree that it is far too much like retribution/revenge. Also, I don't think letting the State kill people is a good idea. Once they can kill people, you've got to keep a close eye on who they're allowed to kill, to make sure you don't slip into that category.

Maybe drop the criminals on a deserted island under a big plastic dome. You could use the proceeds from broadcasting it as a Survivor-esque show to pay off the big dome. :) (Sort of like Escape from LA, if I'm remembering it right.)
 
Two UK "murderers" have just been released after 20 years in jail. (Amid accusations against the police of corruption and purjury).

A few years ago, a mother was convicted of killing her children, with "overwhelming" medical evidence "prooving" it could not have been several cases of mere bad luck. A little while ago she was released when it turned out the medical "expert witness" who testified at the trial (and many similar) had used bad logic and flawed theories.

There are plenty of other recent cases of "absolutely obviously guilty" murderes, rapists, etc being released (sometimes after many years in jail) when it turns out that the police had fabricated evident, witnesses had lied, evidence had been contaminated, or someone had just screwed up.


I have no problem with use of lethal force in defence of yourself or others, when that is the best means available.

But when the alleged perp has been captued and convicted, I think life in prison is sufficient. They will be no more danger to society than if they were dead, but if it turns out they were innocent, you can correct the mistake.
 
But when the alleged perp has been captued and convicted, I think life in prison is sufficient. They will be no more danger to society than if they were dead, but if it turns out they were innocent, you can correct the mistake.
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Not to quibble too much, I do agree with the premise that the mistake is more correctable than in the case of a person put to death, but you can't give them the time they've spent in prison back either - and I have no question that people who have only been sentenced to life in prison have their convictions looked at much less critically than those sentenced to death. You might very well be looking at a comparison of

a) Sentence 1 man to death wrongfully and have him executed

vs.

b) Sentencing xxamount of men to prison for life and have them wrongfully serve out their entire life in prison.
 
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