I don’t have a total % (obviously no authorities wish to admit they’ve executed innocent people, and it’s difficult to investigate after the sentence has been carried out).
But here are some worrying cases:
Illinois Gov. George Ryan on Monday imposed a moratorium on the state’s death penalty. All lethal injections will be postponed indefinitely pending an investigation into why more executions have been overturned than carried out since 1977, when Illinois reinstated capital punishment.
“We have now freed more people than we have put to death under our system – 13 people have been exonerated and 12 have been put to death,” Ryan told CNN. “There is a flaw in the system, without question, and it needs to be studied.” http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/01/31/illinois.executions.02/
The paper also has exposed problems in Texas’ death penalty system. In 2004, it revealed the faulty science behind the arson investigation that led to the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. Last year, a Houston Chronicle investigation cast serious doubt on the evidence that sent Ruben Cantu to the death chamber.
The possibility that innocent people wrongly convicted of murder will be put to death in the United States is growing, says a study released yesterday by a group critical of capital punishment.
“The current emphasis on faster executions, less resources for the defense and an expansion in the number of death cases mean that the execution of innocent people is inevitable,” concludes a report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center.
The report identifies 69 people released from death rows… http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-742992.html
I bet over 95 percent of people that think they wouldn’t be able to live in prison could be perfectly content there after some time had passed inside. That’s the thing about being human- we can easily adapt. A body can get used to almost anything.
I can even see some advantages to it- you don’t have to worry about paying bills, buying presents, making decisions, driving in traffic, cleaning house, or working if you don’t want to. You can even get a free college education if you’re in long enough. With my dominating personality, I wouldn’t be somebody’s bitch, I’d have a bitch. Some days, the prison life actually sounds good!
This argument, by definition, says that imprisoned people and their life have no value.
I beg to differ. Think of all the books written, the plans and dreams. Gandhi, Mandela, Solzhenitsyn, just to name a famous few, might all beg to differ on the value of their life, even while incarcerated.
I’m sure that during their time, if someone was to offer them suicide, they would’ve seriously thought it, wished it. What a loss that would’ve been.
Even while in prison, people still have value, and can contribute.
I don’t believe that it is ethical to offer that alternative, at least not during sentencing or the first few years of the sentence. Being sentenced to life in prison would be extremely stressful, I imagine, and many people under that kind of stress would be very emotional and/or not thinking clearly. To offer a life-altering (-ending) alternative during that time is not wise. Maybe after 10 years or so if they wanted to choose suicide, I could go along with it.
If I knew with certainty (if that’s possible) that I’d never get out again, I’d choose suicide. Otherwise any self-improvement opportunities in prison would seem utterly pointless.
I’m also surprised that there’s been no mention thus far of afterlife considerations being part of such a choice. As an atheist, I would have nothing to look forward to in any case, but I would think that for some people this would matter.
I’m with ya here. But mostly because I value my anus. I would not do well in prison. Either I’d learn to fight, or I’d have a hard time sitting down for the rest of my life. I don’t like hurting people, and I don’t like getting hurt, and I certainly wouldn’t like getting raped. I would definately opt to die rather than spend 50+ years in jail. Then again, if I was the type that would do something to get me 50+ years in jail, I probably wouldn’t mind hurting people or getting hurt, and would therefore not be likely to be raped. But really… If I was doomed to spending the rest of my life in jail, what’s the point in living? All I’m doing is wasting tax dollars, not contributing jack **** to society. Just kill me and get it over with.
Glee,
Your argument always struck me as absurd in the extreme. Since 77, in the US, we have executed about 1000 people. Of those, there is question about maybe a handful being innocent, so, say, 5- 10 possible innocents executed out of a population of hundreds of millions of people. Your chances of getting struck by lighting are an order of magnitude greater. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t always try to perfect the system, we should, but to claim that we should get rid of the death penalty because of the extraordinarily unlikely possibility of an innocent man being executed is ridiculous. No human endeavor is perfect, but frankly, I wish more of them ran to the degree of perfection found in the DP.
The only author I can think of who wrote while in prison for murder was Jack Abbott. How nice that he could contribute to society and get paroled! It all ended like a fairy tale. :rolleyes:
A Grimm fairy tale, that is. :eek: And he chose suicide over prison.
glee, my original comments didn’t refer to innocents in particular, just prisoners facing a lifetime behind bars.
but at what price? what i’m saying is lifetime imprisonment, or worse wrongful imprisonment, can be as bad as death. a bird is meant to fly, caged up and domesticated is no way to live. i’m not sure a domesticated inmate who enjoys life in prison is any better.
i didn’t say that. that option allowed the guilty to choose a quick death, while the innocent will just have to hold up against hope … or give up. i just wonder how much hope there is? and when.
I would pick prison. Echoing the sentiments of, if I were innocent, I might be able to get out at some point. Plus, I tend to be a contemplative, solitary sort of person anyway. If it were a blue collar prison things might not be too bad. I could start that novel I’ve been meaning to, work out, be the bunkmate of some hunky latino guy…
I really didn’t start this thread to argue with peoples opinions, but I wanted to address a few posts.
That’s the thing about this kind of thought experiment. I’m not the kind of person who would end up in prison, period, so it’s difficult for me to think that way. And I think the kind of person who would do something that would merit a life sentence probably has a pretty warped sense of morality. I also don’t see how one choice is more moral than the other–if anything I would think that choosing to die is more of a net benefit to society than the alternative, aside from the occasional novel.
Do you get to pick, though? It seems like a lot of people have this vision of prison where you have your own small room, unlimited reading material, and everyone just basically leaves you alone or brings you food every once in a while. My vision of prison isn’t so nice, and includes things like a cell mate and people telling me what to do all the time.
Prison guys, who’s right? Do you get your own cell, usually? How’s the library?
I have to disagree with this. If someone wants to end their life, especially someone who is such a drain on resources as life long prisoners are, they should be allowed to. I think a waiting period is appropriate; say, maybe, 6 weeks or something, but 10 years?
