# Death Penalty **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 23, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062 "2013-01-23T00:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/81 "2013-01-28T14:54:22Z")
I don’t know if the quote is real or not, but it’s highly unlikely. Bundy began killing outside Florida, at a time when the death penalty [had been ruled unconstitutional](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia). He also briefly accepted and then turned down a plea bargain that would have resulted in a 75 year sentence, so it doesn’t appear his plan was to have himself executed. Beyond that, Florida is certainly not the best state to go to be executed. Texas has executed four times as many prisoners since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, as have a couple of other states. In terms of “efficiency” - the ratio of executions to current death row inmates - we’d be near last (having the second largest number of current death row inmates). Virginia appears to be the “most efficient” DP state. > [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > I would extend said penalty not only to murderers, but also to rapists, child molesters, kidnappers, terrorists (domestic OR foreign), and those convicted of particularly brutal assaults, and armed robbery. > > \ > > Trouble is, the bleeding hearts that oppose the death penalty generally don’t care for my solution of Death In Prison either. If by “bleeding hearts” you mean the US Supreme Court, [yes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coker_v._Georgia). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/82 "2013-01-28T15:02:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > This nonsense again. It’s the expense of discovering if they are actually guilty that costs so much, not the actual execution. Especially since death penalty trials tend to be so badly done, with incompetent lawyers, bad evidence and obvious corruption & prejudice, that there’s an immense amount of room for appeals. > > The same can be accomplished by keeping them in prison for far less money and effort. As Dr. William Petit said, when he pushed for the death penalty for the two men who broke into his house, tortured him and murdered the rest of his family “Do you WANT a criminal justice system based on economics?” Keeping murderers in prison for ten years would be cheaper. > [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I no longer care whether or not it’s kept. I find the idea of life without parole kept in solitary but for 1 hour a day in a cell with a concrete bed to be utterly horrific, and as such I don’t think we need to be so cruel and unusual as to actually execute someone when we can sentence them to endless isolation for the remainder of their lives. Were it me I’d be begging for a bullet in a few days. Bullshit. Murderers on Death Row go crazy with appeals to NOT be executed. Remember, Willie Horton was in prison for life-without-parole when he was allowed out on a work furlough, broke into a couple’s house, and tortured them for 12 hours before the man managed to escape because he knew Horton would kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/83 "2013-01-28T15:09:18Z")
And we’re supposed to take what from that, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/84 "2013-01-29T00:35:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t know if the quote is real or not, but it’s highly unlikely. Bundy began killing outside Florida, at a time when the death penalty [had been ruled unconstitutional](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia). He also briefly accepted and then turned down a plea bargain that would have resulted in a 75 year sentence, so it doesn’t appear his plan was to have himself executed. > > Beyond that, Florida is certainly not the best state to go to be executed. Texas has executed four times as many prisoners since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, as have a couple of other states. In terms of “efficiency” - the ratio of executions to current death row inmates - we’d be near last (having the second largest number of current death row inmates). Virginia appears to be the “most efficient” DP state. > > If by “bleeding hearts” you mean the US Supreme Court, [yes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coker_v._Georgia). What can I say? The Supreme Court Justices often divide themselves along ideological lines. We all know of decisions made by the Supreme Court that we either agreed with or disagreed with, and this includes liberals as well as conservatives. In fact, in my experience one of the few decisions that the Supreme Court made that pissed everybody off was the way eminent domain is currently carried out, but that’s a thread for another time. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/85 "2013-01-30T14:09:09Z")
I am for the death penalty because, “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” - Socrates ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/86 "2013-01-30T15:48:58Z")
Socrates _chose_ to die. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/87 "2013-01-31T03:57:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Socrates _chose_ to die. Yes he did. Now some would argue that the death row inmates don’t want to die, and I would say that’s true for most of them. Funny thing: Socrates chose to die but I don’t think any of the murder victims of the people on death row chose to die. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/88 "2013-01-31T15:28:42Z")
Oh, well, that settles it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062.md?page=4)