death penalty

[geoffgarcia]

I took a death penalty debate course in college.
Everyone had to learn the facts and argue it forward and back, on both sides.
By the end of the course the entire class was unanimously against the death penalty based on the arguments of federalism, cost, execution of innocents and deterrence.

its not something to be treated lightly.

 

[chunksofpoooo]

I took a death penalty debate course in college.
Everyone had to learn the facts and argue it forward and back, on both sides.
By the end of the course the entire class was unanimously against the death penalty based on the arguments of federalism, cost, execution of innocents and deterrence.

its not something to be treated lightly.

i absolutely agree with geoff

 

[tomm10]

I took a death penalty debate course in college.
Everyone had to learn the facts and argue it forward and back, on both sides.
By the end of the course the entire class was unanimously against the death penalty based on the arguments of federalism, cost, execution of innocents and deterrence.

its not something to be treated lightly.

The death penalty is one of those topics that the public rarely discusses with facts. Its a very emotional issue to many just like a lot of other controversal topics.

I find it odd to hear some Christians (Not necessarily here. Not pointing fingers) argue for the death penalty since one of the foundations of the faith is that human life is not ours to take.

 

[StreetCypher]

I took a death penalty debate course in college.
Everyone had to learn the facts and argue it forward and back, on both sides.
By the end of the course the entire class was unanimously against the death penalty based on the arguments of federalism, cost, execution of innocents and deterrence.

its not something to be treated lightly.

I've discussed capital punishment in many of my crim classes. Its a hottly debated subject, and always will be.

Just some things to know about it.
1) the death penalty is VERY EXPENSIVE. With all the legal costs (appeals and court time costs), the time the accused spends in jail waiting (on average 9 years from time of sentence until the death sentence is carried out.) the costs add up straining an already burdened justice system.
2) Many INNOCENT people have been executed.
3) It is NOT an effective deterrent of crime.
4) The nature of our legal system is subjective and therefore DISCRIMINATORY
5) More on a moral note, why reduce yourself to the level of the offender (or worse) in the case of murder.

Whew... i can't believe i remembered all that.

 

[slipknottin]

1) the death penalty is VERY EXPENSIVE. With all the legal costs (appeals and court time costs), the time the accused spends in jail waiting (on average 9 years from time of sentence until the death sentence is carried out.) the costs add up straining an already burdened justice system.

technically the death penalty isnt expensive at all, its the legal costs associated with it. You could remove some of the legal aspects of it, but seeing as weve already executed a decent amount of innocent people, thats probably not a good idea.

I support a near total reform of the death penalty, not the abolishment of it. I believe prisoners should do hard labor while in prison, and if the person is truly evil enough, should not have the option of life, as society should not pay to keep such a person alive.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Legal costs are all associated with the death penalty though, that is the way our great country works. They want to minimize (supposedly) the risk of executing those who are innocent, and they want to keep things as politically correct as possible, if not for the family members - for the press! So yeah, it is more expensive to give someone the death penalty than it is life in prison. What gets me is the severely mentally incompetent people who do not even know what is going on, and whom still get the D.P. (yes - it does happen).

I too took a class in college on the death penalty, I wrote a 21-page paper on the matter, and did extensive research. Just one innocent executed by "accident" is one too many, but we all know the numbers are much higher than that. And for those who say this is the price to be paid for executing monsters, I say let it be your innocent child, or your innocent spouse, or parent who is executed.

Do you honestly think you could confidentially say that the death penalty should still be used as a form of punishment? Hell - they eat better than most as last meal and (in most cases) get a simple injection. Some punishment. Do most people know that the psychopathic people, who are often put to death, feel little to no emotion? Better yet, does anyone realize that these people often do not care whether they live or die?

 

[slipknottin]

I too took a class in college on the death penalty, I wrote a 21-page paper on the matter, and did extensive research. Just one innocent executed by "accident" is one too many, but we all know the numbers are much higher than that. And for those who say this is the price to be paid for executing monsters, I say let it be your innocent child, or your innocent spouse, or parent who is executed.

IMO, its better than having a loved one stuffed in prison for life.

Do you honestly think you could confidentially say that the death penalty should still be used as a form of punishment?

Nope, I feel it should be used to eliminate those that are useless to society. No reason to keep them alive and have us foot the bill for it.

 

[chunksofpoooo]

IMO, its better than having a loved one stuffed in prison for life.

holy crap dude, thats just messed up.



The fact that they even know that innocent people have been put to death means they did follow up investigations. If the innocent person was in jail, rather than dead, then the mistake could have been fixed. Life isnt something we can just take.

 

[slipknottin]

holy crap dude, thats just messed up.

How so? I personally would much rather be killed than forced to live in a 6x6 room for the rest of my life. And you do realize that those on death row often get more appeals than those that get life, right?

IMO, life without liberty isnt worth living.

 

[chunksofpoooo]

sorry man, your talking about yourself. i thought you were talking about your mom or something. imo if someone you love got life at least you could work as hard as possible to get them out if you know they're innocent. if they die....well....they're dead