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Death Penalty: Do the Pros outweigh the Cons?

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Locke2012

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As much as I am a fan of the Death Penalty and its benefits, I have grown uncertain as to whether or not the pros really outweigh the cons. Someone help me out here.
 
Death Penalty: Is it effective?

NO
 
I changed my views on the death penalty recently as well. With all the exonerations of folks on death row that have been going on, I've been wondering about the efficacy of our justice system at indicting the right people, and just how inconsistently the death penalty is applied in practice. In my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros.
 
I am still in the middle on the subject. I learn towards no simply because I feel if one person dies that shouldn't, then the whole system is wrong, but I do not feel that strongly enough to put up much of a fight.
 
StillBallin75 said:
I changed my views on the death penalty recently as well. With all the exonerations of folks on death row that have been going on, I've been wondering about the efficacy of our justice system at indicting the right people, and just how inconsistently the death penalty is applied in practice. In my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros.
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The indictments have actually garnered my love of the death penalty. With the death penalty, the convicted automatically does an appeal, whether or not he wants to. With life imprisonment they do not. The number of indictments from death penalty felons is on the rise, but would their case have recieved that much attention had the death penalty not been a factor?
 
I would say they do not. Almost 100% of my reasoning is the reasonable certainty (though never proven) that some innocent people have been executed. That's just too much for me to swallow.

I also think it's not an effective deterrent because it's too sterile and siconnected from the public eye. If we're really going to do this, why don't we do it in the town square for everyone to witness? If a person can be tried in public and keep his dignity, why can't he be punished in public and keep his dignity?
 
StillBallin75 said:
I changed my views on the death penalty recently as well. With all the exonerations of folks on death row that have been going on, I've been wondering about the efficacy of our justice system at indicting the right people, and just how inconsistently the death penalty is applied in practice. In my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros.
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This is one of the few things on which I have changed my position over the recent past. With the number of persons being released on new evidence, mostly DNA, there are most certainly cases where innocent people have been executed. In some of these cases, the prosecution knowingly withheld evidence in order to make their case. At the very least, a non death penalty can be reversed.

Now, however, I wonder if with the improvements in evidence procedures, particularly DNA, are we more apt to get it right now? Even with that, there still is the nagging doubt in my mind that either prosecution or defense plays fair, increasing the chances of an unjust verdict.
 
StillBallin75 said:
I changed my views on the death penalty recently as well. With all the exonerations of folks on death row that have been going on, I've been wondering about the efficacy of our justice system at indicting the right people, and just how inconsistently the death penalty is applied in practice. In my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros.
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Exactly.

I do support it in certain situations: red-handed mass murder . . . where 'guilty or innocent' isn't even debated. But watch that still get flubbed.
I'd be more likely to support it if our system wasn't so jacked up.
 
What are the pros? The appeals are much more costly than housing a prisoner for life. Sometimes the guy really is innocent. The death penalty is not applied equally. It doesn't deter anyone. Have you seen the list of countries that have the death penalty? :(
 
The pros: ridding our economy and society of a leech who has proven their selves worthless (according to the more stringent support I offer)
 
Dicentra said:
What are the pros? The appeals are much more costly than housing a prisoner for life. Sometimes the guy really is innocent. The death penalty is not applied equally. It doesn't deter anyone. Have you seen the list of countries that have the death penalty? :(
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This is true to a certain extent. Certain crimes simply cannot be effectively deterred, such as assault, murder, in many cases at any rate. It's simply due to basic human psychology.

What sickens me most is situations where politicians try to mess around with attempts to prove an innocent man was executed. See: Rick Perry.
 
I support the idea of the death penalty, but I'm not as sure that I support the way the death penalty is handled in America. It should only be handed out in cases of truly monstrous crimes, and the standard of certainty should be considerably higher in order to hand out the death penalty.
 
Dicentra said:
What are the pros?
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The pro I see to the death penalty is that it's a guarantee that that person will never again commit another crime. Someone who's in prison for life could escape and commit a crime again, and can commit crimes against other prisoners and workers at the prison while imprisoned. A dead man will do none of that.
 
molten_dragon said:
I support the idea of the death penalty, but I'm not as sure that I support the way the death penalty is handled in America. It should only be handed out in cases of truly monstrous crimes, and the standard of certainty should be considerably higher in order to hand out the death penalty.
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But who decides on what is truly monsterous? The level of brutality? The age of the victim? The number of murders?

Also on another note: If you do believe in the death penalty, do you believe that it should be painless or painful?
 
Locke2012 said:
But who decides on what is truly monsterous? The level of brutality? The age of the victim? The number of murders?
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Probably the number more than anything else. Serial killers and terrorist attacks would definitely fit the bill. I'm not so sure that a single murder, regardless of how it was carried out or who was murdered should qualify you for the death penalty. It is admittedly a difficult thing to quantify. If you gave me a bunch of examples, I could probably tell you whether or not I think that person (assuming guilt) deserves the death penalty, but it's difficult for me to come up with a set of guidelines. I have no doubt it could be done though.

Locke2012 said:
Also on another note: If you do believe in the death penalty, do you believe that it should be painless or painful?
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It should be relatively painless. The point is to insure that the person doesn't commit any more crimes, not to punish them through torture.
 
molten_dragon said:
Probably the number more than anything else. Serial killers and terrorist attacks would definitely fit the bill. I'm not so sure that a single murder, regardless of how it was carried out or who was murdered should qualify you for the death penalty. It is admittedly a difficult thing to quantify. If you gave me a bunch of examples, I could probably tell you whether or not I think that person (assuming guilt) deserves the death penalty, but it's difficult for me to come up with a set of guidelines. I have no doubt it could be done though.



It should be relatively painless. The point is to insure that the person doesn't commit any more crimes, not to punish them through torture.
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What are your thoughts of he current method of injection?
 
Nobody should have the right to take the life of anyone else except in the case of self defense. To me any other arguement either way means nothing.
 
1Perry said:
Nobody should have the right to take the life of anyone else except in the case of self defense. To me any other arguement either way means nothing.
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Well obviously if you get into a fist fight you don't pull out a gun and shoot them, but I don't think you meant that.
 
Jryan said:
Well obviously if you get into a fist fight you don't pull out a gun and shoot them, but I don't think you meant that.
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Nope........
 
Locke2012 said:
Problems With Lethal Injection - ABC News

This shows some examples of the torture that injection can bring. True it is not a high percentage, but the pain is devestating.
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I wouldn't call the pain of being stuck with a needle several times because they can't find a vein devastating pain, I've experienced it several times actually. And as far as I know, none of the chemicals administered cause any pain. Being paralyzed and aware that you were suffocating to death would be extremely unpleasant, but it sounds like really the people administering the drugs just need to be better trained and it would solve most of the problems.
 
I'm not a fan of the death penalty. I used to be, until I did a little research. It hasn't been shown to be a deterrent. It's government murder, even if it's an "eye for an eye" type of deal. It costs unbelievable amounts of money. Our legal system, while good, is far from infallible.

I would support harsher treatment of extreme criminals. Especially if we could find a way to have them contribute something back to society. I just don't think killing them is the answer. There's no going "Oops! We made a mistake there." and taking it back.
 
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