I am strongly against the death penalty and bloody happy I live somewhere it doesn’t happen. My life has been affected by the death penalty (and I knew neither victim or criminal but it had a huge affect). It is not right to punish more then one person for the crime of one person.
Should I become a victim of a DP worthy crime? I expect that I would see red and bay for blood.
It is then that I expect society to step up. My emotional state should not be justification for state sanctioned murder. Society needs to protect me from my primal revenge urge.
Killing someone because they have killed makes as much sense as smacking a kid to teach them not to hit their sibling.
(I just read the abortion thread…it is interesting to see how pro-life/death penalty and pro-choice/anti death penalty relate. What a whacky wee world it is.)
I don’t think I could ever support the death penalty in a matter of stolen property no matter the amount, and I don’t think that armed robbery would deserve the death penalty either, though it does deserve a very severe punishment.
One note - I am not advocating the death penalty as punishment for some crimes as a deterrent, as I am confident that it doesn’t work. I am advocating it only in the following instances:
We know the person is guilty without a shred of doubt
We know that the guilty party will re-offend
The crime is so destructive that the criminal can never repay his debt
It’s a safety of society, thing - much more sure to kill someone with the above criteria so they can never ever escape or get out to do it again…
That said, I too am glad I live in a place that has outlawed capitol punishment. Of course, I wish the UK would do a little bit more to actually punish criminals, but c’est la vie.
One good reason is that its cruel and inhumane. Another is that people convicted of murder, rape, etc are sometimes innocent. Doesn’t that trouble you?
I am not asking to make them suffer; I do not want to kill anyone. But if someone is so evil that if they ever get out they will do it again, then I do believe that the best way to protect society is to kill them.
Nope, but no matter how small a chance it might be it still exists. And even if the criminal never gets out, he might kill cell mates, guards, other prisoners, etc… Charles Manson may get out some day. He might escape, or some brainless parole board might let him out. It’s not likely, but it might happen. Therefore rather than risk that, if I could know beyond a doubt that he did it and that he would again, then I say kill him to remove any remote chance that he would ever commit the same crimes again.
Okay, I see what you’re saying, and in the bizarre hypothetical world where we know the guy’s guilt for sure but we don’t know for sure whether he’ll ever get out, I can see the argument for capital punishment based on this argument.
Hey Daniel - it’s not my OP, and I agree it’s a bit far fetched.
If I may, my real-world premise is as follows:
Some crimes do deserve death, especially if that person will re-offend
1a. Death may be the only completely 100% sure way to prevent re-offence
1b. Death should not be seen as a punishment, nor as a deterrent, but as a method for ensuring that the criminal never again re-offends
We can’t guarantee guilt or even estimate likelihood of re-offence
Therefore, I do not support the death penalty for any crimes
No, it didn’t sound snarky, I just wanted everyone to be sure (including me! :)) that I was only talking about being in cloud coo-koo land and that in real life I am not a supporter of the death penalty…