This…
Do we have to pay for the ammo?
I have no problem with the dealth penalty in extreme cases. Now admittedly being the one to ‘pull the trigger’ myself does add an entirely new dynamic to it but for guys like Hassan, the cretins that raped and murdered the women of the family in the home invasion, John Wayne Gacy, cannibal boy, for the real scum that’s out there ‘yeah’, I’m pretty sure I could do it and not lose a hell of a lot of sleep afterwards.
I am opposed to the death penalty on moral grounds given the relative wealth of our current society. We don’t need to kill people to protect society from them. We can instead afford to imprison them indefinitely, so I believe it is immoral to kill them.
In, say, a frontier society, or a more hardscrabble existence where the security of prisons is less reliable or society can’t afford to guard someone for their expected natural life, I believe that the death penalty is justifiable. If I were to find myself in such a situation, I could be the executioner.
Oops. I misread the poll. Subtract one vote for no, since I’m opposed to the death penalty.
I do reject the notion that you have to be willing to do it for it to be morally justifiable. I couldn’t perform brain surgery and wouldn’t try, but it’s justifiable.
Absolutely not, but I am adamantly against capital punishment, so that should be no surprise.
Now, this is not to say I couldn’t see myself killing someone in a heat-of-the-moment revenge type situation. I ain’t perfect. But to carry out court-ordered justice in a cool reasonable fashion? Nope. Not even if my own family were murdered by the perp. I don’t play that way. Send them to jail and throw away the key, but I ain’t tarnishing my soul with taking a human life if I can help it.
some folks just need killing
I voted yes. There are many, many problems with capital punishment but some people really, really shouldn’t be breathing.
I have to question this premise. I fully support gay marriage, to give one example, while having no desire to marry another man myself.
I’m against the death penalty. They don’t learn nuthin’ that way. The worst of the worst should have life sentences in a SHU (secure housing unit) where they can’t see each other but can look out into a corridor with just a wall on the far side and other nuts in the same SHU. Nidal Hassan, Ted Kaczynski, Charles Manson, Mark Chapman, Terry Nichols etc. would all have to listen to each other all day. Jerry Sandusky would supervise their one hour exercise in person.
Yes in the cases of the death penalty I feel are justified (ie multiple murders).
You’re the executioner whether you pull the trigger or just hire someone else to do it. There’s no moral difference between the two.
As for the poll - I voted yes but I meant to say no. Typical. If I did land the job, I’d undoubtedly push the wrong button and fill the poor bastard with cream cheese.
I voted “I’m going to have to think about it,” because my ultimate goal is to work in end-of-life care, and I may yet have to make that decision, depending on where I work and how the legal situation evolves in the next few decades.
But would you perform brain surgery if you could? I don’t think your analogy is a good one.
I’m finding it interesting that the proportions of votes stay pretty much the same, as the numbers rise. There are about four “no” votes to every three “yes” votes. So while “yes” is in the minority, it’s a very strong minority, and larger than I honestly thought it would be when I wrote the OP.
[QUOTE=Baker;16619773[…]
The test for whether a person REALLY believes that the death penalty is morally and ethically justified is whether or not they would give the injection, pull the trigger, flip the electric switch, or whatever.
If you can’t be an executioner, you have no business supporting the death penalty.
[…]
[/QUOTE]
Like some others, I flatly reject this premise.
There are reasons people may be unwilling to do something besides objections to the morality of the thing.
People who agree with the morality of surgery or embalming may still be too squeamish about it to manage.
People who agree with the morality of police work may still be too scared to try it and have citizens counting on them.
People who find performing on stage or running for President morally acceptable may still be too shy to do it.
And on and on.
How about, I would never work in a slaughterhouse but I have no problem eating the fuck outta some beef?
I would not want to be an executioner but I would not have a problem doing it for certain cases. The two jobs I’ve had in my adult life, soldier and cop, both involve the possibility of having to end someones life. I have never had to do it and I hope never will but I have accepted the possibility.
Another who rejects the premise of the OP. I believe in dental health but I sure as hell would not drill or remove children’s teeth.
As to the death penalty I would happily approve of it for people who represent an ongoing threat to society. I am happy to accept that most violent criminal acts are one off events and don’t warrant the death penalty, but I think it’s not all that hard to identify people who will continually re-offended and continue to harm others.
I voted no - just not in me, but then again, I suppose that might be different if that person had killed someone I loved.
I am not 100% against the death penalty - but only in cases where there is actual video footage and an admission of guilt. Call me paranoid, but there have been far too many cases of people being sent to death row, or even executed, who were later proven to be innocent.
Perhaps the easy answer to this problem is this:
Make a law that puts any judge on death row, if the person they sent to death is later proven to be innocent.
My guess is, that would greatly lower the number of people sent to execution.
While I think the OP is worthy for raising discussion, I disagree with the premise. There are a lot of jobs that need doing that I’m not willing to do, just as there are a lot of jobs I’m willing to do that don’t need to be done. Of those jobs I’m not willing to do, there might be circumstances under which I’d do them.
Furthermore, I’m against capital punishment: I think that civilized society shouldn’t be in the business of killing people if it can possibly avoid it. (If there was really convincing evidence that capital punishment reduced the crime rate, I might reconsider.) However, this is a democracy, and I’m willing to go along with the will of the people on this. For example, while I’m anti-CP, were I elected Governor, I would willingly uphold the existing laws regarding CP. (I would meanwhile pursue changing the law, if it was politically feasible.)
So, I’m probably in a small minority here, but I’m against CP, but while I certainly would not want the job of executioner, and would probably have difficulty with it, there might be (pretty hypothetical) circumstances under which I could be the executioner.
Another example: I could as a jury member find that the conditions for capital punishment had been met, and award that punishment. I would feel just as bad about doing that as I would about pulling the lever, but I would do it.
I’m against the policy. I don’t feel any particular remorse towards the guilty party. I sure wouldn’t hesitate (at least, not sitting here in my armchair thinking about a hypothetical) to kill someone who was in the process of committing a heinous crime like murder or rape.
(Of course, I can only imagine how I’d feel, and I wouldn’t be too surprised to find I’m wrong. For example, an air disaster is a horrific thing, and affects everyone emotionally. But I was completely caught offguard by the strength of my emotional reaction when driving past the location of an airliner crash that I had seen on TV a day or so earlier. This despite not being able to see the debris itself.)
How can any one of you lot give a definitive answer either way? Unless you are actually in that position you can never be sure whether or not you could kill a person.
No, I’m a citizen that supports the death penalty. I’m not employed by the Department of Corrections, so I have no responsibility for carrying out the sentence. Even as a criminal defense attorney, I have not yet tried a death penalty case, and likely never will.
This is just bullshit. I could be the executioner, but it’s still bullshit.