# Gov Newsom cancels Death Penalty **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 14, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109 "2019-03-14T02:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/121 "2019-03-19T12:20:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Life Imprisonment, what did you think?:rolleyes: A crappy board game? A tasteless cereal? I just want to make sure you are advocating the death penalty, from which there can be no return if evidence arise later on, over a life sentence? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/122 "2019-03-19T16:16:13Z")
> [@customdistro](#): > > we are basically already at the point where i was talking about-- where about 13 people are executed over the course of decades, and the real question left is “what are we really spending all this money on?” If it were cheaper would it be okay then? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/123 "2019-03-19T16:19:15Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > If it were cheaper would it be okay then? Would it still cost a human life? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/124 "2019-03-19T16:47:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I just want to make sure you are advocating the death penalty, from which there can be no return if evidence arise later on, over a life sentence? Hardly, but neither is a good option. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/125 "2019-03-19T16:50:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hardly, but neither is a good option. Just between you and me, which one is the better option to you? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/126 "2019-03-19T17:00:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Just between you and me, which one is the better option to you? That’s not the point, lets get back to the thread. You are coming in a a dialogue which didnt involve you. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/127 "2019-03-19T17:03:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That’s not the point, lets get back to the thread. You are coming in a a dialogue which didnt involve you. I don’t give a flying fuck if you want a private conversation, and the question is legit when it looks as if you are pulling for one side over the other. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/128 "2019-03-19T17:26:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t give a flying fuck if you want a private conversation, and the question is legit when it looks as if you are pulling for one side over the other. That’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/129 "2019-03-19T17:28:40Z")
The best way to participate in a great debate is refuse to talk to certain posters or answer certain questions. That is a winning strategy for sure. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/130 "2019-03-19T17:34:53Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > The best way to participate in a great debate is refuse to talk to certain posters or answer certain questions. That is a winning strategy for sure. If they are _honest_ questions, yes. And not a hijack. This isnt a debate about the DP per se. We have had dozens of them. This is more of a debate about Gov Newsomes actions here. Interesting that when Czarcasm starts a thread he gets\* really\* annoyed whenever anyone starts to veer off from his OP. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/131 "2019-03-19T17:44:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If they are _honest_ questions, yes. And not a hijack. > > This isnt a debate about the DP per se. We have had dozens of them. This is more of a debate about Gov Newsomes actions here. > > Interesting that when Czarcasm starts a thread he gets\* really\* annoyed whenever anyone starts to veer off from his OP. 1. I thought you were upset because I rudely interfered in your private conversation, and 2. I’m not the one who brought up the death penalty vs. life imprisonment comparison-I merely followed up on what _you_ said. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/132 "2019-03-19T18:05:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If they are _honest_ questions, yes. And not a hijack. > > This isnt a debate about the DP per se. We have had dozens of them. This is more of a debate about Gov Newsomes actions here. > > Interesting that when Czarcasm starts a thread he gets\* really\* annoyed whenever anyone starts to veer off from his OP. I’m just saying what it looks like from an outside readers perspective. Certainly no need for you to take that into consideration, but for me, when I participate in a debate here my intention is to try to convince others that my side of the discussion is more correct. If someone asks me a direct question and I refuse to respond, I don’t imagine that helps my case very much. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/133 "2019-03-19T18:52:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Then I take it you’re also opposed to life imprisonment? What’s the maximum sentence in your mind that’s appropriate for someone who kidnaps, sexually assaults, and murders a young child and shows no remorse, if we’re operating under the assumption that the purpose of justice is to reform rather than to punish? Are you the same person you were 20 years ago? Would you be if you were thrown into a completely different environment for that time, an environment that emphasizes changing you and instilling that remorse in you? Nobody is the same person they were two decades ago. That’s why these limits exist, to my layman’s understanding. People change, and prison changes people. But what if they really are remorseless? Well, I’m not sure about Sweden, but in Germany people who have life sentences can be taken into “Bewährungshaft” if the government considers them to have a high risk of recidivism. We’re not idiots - if someone is a pathological psychopath with extreme violent tendencies that cannot be reformed, they’re probably never leaving prison again. As it turns out, [Norway has the same law](https://www.google.com/amp/www.thejournal.ie/21-years-breivik-trial-sentence-norway-570722-Aug2012/%3famp=1). Breivik is very likely going to die in prison, despite your rather silly claim: > [@Smapti](#): > > Capital punishment is not wrong. To the contrary, _not_ having capital punishment is often wrong. Is it just or fair that under the much-ballyhooed Scandinavian justice system, that in 2033 Anders Breivik will be a free man after murdering 77 innocent people in an attempt to incite a race war, and will have nothing to stop him from picking up right where he left off? That’s just not how it works. Unless he’s clearly reformed, he’s going to keep getting extensions. And if he does reform… Well, again, 22 years is a long time. People change. Even psychopaths like Breivik. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109/134 "2019-03-19T18:58:26Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Hell, yes, I would. The life imprisonment isn’t coming out of nowhere; it’s a sentence after being convicted. Now, if I were falsely accused of a crime and then convicted of it, I’d rather be given life imprisonment instead of getting executed. While still alive in prison, I can assist my attorney with any and all attempts at exoneration. In California, at least, there might be an argument for gaming this system and trying to get a death penalty verdict instead of a life sentence. If you are on death row in California by all indications you will live there for decades, and you are likely to have more people trying to exonerate you than if you are simply another lifer. Also, conceivably, being on death row is safer since you are likely to be in solitary confinement whereas a lifer might be put in with a general population which can be dangerous. If you are truly an innocent you probably don’t have a gang affiliation for your protection, which might prove critical depending on what crime you have been falsely convicted of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gov-newsom-cancels-death-penalty/831109.md?page=6)