Do You Support the Death Penalty?

[AllieBaba]

Good grief, did I misspell adolescent? It looks so weird.....

Did I misspell misspell? I never know anymore...

 

[AllieBaba]

NO one should be convicted of murder unless it is 99.9% proven! Isn't that why they say beyond reasonable doubt! And the problem is there is people convicted of murder without there being 99.9% proof and put on death row. Just the other day a guy got out of prison having been there for murder when they proved he didn't commit the crime something like twenty years later.

99.9 percent isn't reasonable.
Reasonable is reasonable..not absolute, dear.

People die every day. They slip in their bathtubs, they have trees fall on them, they get kicked by horses, they choke on food. I don't think the few innocent people who wrongly fried on death row should be the issue. You take your chances every time you move from your bed, and sometimes even then a plane drops from the sky onto your house or your toaster shorts out and you die in a housefire. One of the risks of living is an untimely and unfair death.

I'm not sure the death penalty works as a deterrent, which is really the only purpose for its existence. An armed citizenry works as a deterrent, however. And I am reticent to put my seal of approval on something which ends the opportunity of a human being, created by God, to find salvation. I know there are monsters, and monsters who are beyond redemption. I know there are people who have been merciless. But what separates us from them is the ability to extend mercy...particularly to those who do not seek or desire it; and the ability to forgive those who would harm us.

And if you think this doesn't wreak havoc with my support of the war against terrorism, you've got another think coming because it's something I struggle with every day.

 

[catzmeow]

I've worked with them, too.
Bottom line, you never know what they're thinking, though. You can understand where they come from and what makes them...but they're adolescents. It's like trying to decode pi. There are too many aspects to their psyches to read their minds.

I agree. it's so weird, you never know which kids you will reach, and which kids you never will. Though, I did get to the point where there was a look I'd see in kids eyes that was a fairly accurate predictor that he/she was going to do something scary violent. You don't know, though, if they are going to repeat, or if a stint in prison will utterly change their mindset.

I'm with you on trying to prevent them from getting to death row, however. Keep up the good fight, there's not much reward in it and the only hope is that somewhere, years down the line a kid you helped might make one positive choice based on something you were able to imprint upon him.

Financial rewards, not so much. Personal rewards, definitely. I like the hard kids. I enjoy the challenge.

 

[Mr. President]

100% support the death penalty

 

[sky dancer]

That's a really good point. In my jurisdiction the last man to be put to death was hanged in 1964. So generations of detectives have never had to think about the death penalty for a suspect for murder. Many years ago I had a talk with an old homicide detective who was an investigator during the years when someone could be executed for murder here. He told me that the very prospect of someone being executed as a result of his work actually made him work extremely hard to make sure that he got the right offender. He told me it was a huge burden on the conscience of any investigator working on a murder. Now I know the politically correct view is that that should be the case whether or not the death penalty is in place, but that was what he told me thirty-something years ago.

That kind of statement makes a lasting impact, doesn't it?

 

[Missourian]

I'm resurrecting this poll in light of some recent posts regarding death penalty cases.

The tally up until today was 28 for, 24 against, 5 ambivalent and 0 indifferent.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Do you support the death penalty?

Yes. If and only if the evidence is absolute and beyond resonable doubt to a jury, and the judicial authority of the local jurisdiction.

No, for offenders who commit a capital offense before their 18th birthday; no to offenders who commit a capital offense wherein evidence supports mitigation based on mental incompetence - ooops, strike that, that would include the conservative chic.

 

[Missourian]

This is such a difficult subject.

There are so many variables to consider to simply blanket the whole issue under the title "death penalty".

I voted no, I am opposed to the death penalty, but it is a qualified no.

And that is where it all falls down.

The conundrum of capital punishment:

1) The current system for capital punishment is much more subjective than objective. How can a society set a concrete standard for what constitutes a crime deserving of the death penalty?

2) Without 100% proof positive, don't we run a serious risk of state sanctioned murder of wrongly convicted innocent men and women.

3) If you execute a person 5 to 10 years after they committed a crime, are they the same person they were when they were convicted? I am certainly not the same person I was 5 years ago. Five years ago I was a solid supporter of the death penalty.

4) Is the judicial system fair and unbiased? A rich man can buy the best defense possible while the poor often suffer from defense attorneys who are overworked and underpaid, so swamped by caseloads that they cannot possibly provide the accused a top notch legal defense.

5) Is it likely that the bias of the jury will cloud their judgement when a person like Jesse Jackson is quoted as saying "“There is nothing more painful for me at this stage in my life, than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery—and then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”

6) What about the family of the convicted? Imagine in your minds eye what it would be like to watch my son or daughter be put to death. I know that the family of the victim was forced to endure the same terrible sorrow, but that was inflicted by a criminal, not by the state.

7) Is the death penalty a deterent or is it a retribution (or both)? If it is not a deterent, is that important?

8) Is the threat of execuction a valuable tool for law enforcement interrogators, or is it more likely to coerce a confession from the innocent?

9) Is the life of a prostitute have the same value as a housewife? A drug addicts life worth the same as a senators? All human life should be equal, but the reality is that few actually see it that way. Rationalizations invariably creep in.

I barely remember writing this, almost a year ago to the day.

 

[Zander]

With irrefutable DNA evidence, yep.

 

[Samson]

Hot, Sexy Murderess, No

Anyone else, absolutely.

 

[AllieBaba]

IMO, the death penalty should be on the table only when there is 99.9% proof of guilt. But then, that is never the case at any level. Expecting better from the same pool of jurors is rather unreasonable.

.

NO one should be convicted of murder unless it is 99.9% proven! Isn't that why they say beyond reasonable doubt! And the problem is there is people convicted of murder without there being 99.9% proof and put on death row. Just the other day a guy got out of prison having been there for murder when they proved he didn't commit the crime something like twenty years later.

Honey, reasonable isn't 99.9 percent.

Reasonable is you're fairly certain they did it. It could be 60 percent.

I don't support the death penalty.

 

[geauxtohell]

No. It's barbaric.

The state should not be in the execution business.

 

[JW Frogen]

Personally, I think life in those barbaric thunderdomes that are most US state prisons would be far worse than death.

 

[Modbert]

I'm resurrecting this poll in light of some recent posts regarding death penalty cases.

The tally up until today was 28 for, 24 against, 5 ambivalent and 0 indifferent.

R-R-R-Resurrection!

 

[Missourian]

I'm resurrecting this poll in light of some recent posts regarding death penalty cases.

The tally up until today was 28 for, 24 against, 5 ambivalent and 0 indifferent.

R-R-R-Resurrection!

​

 

[Modbert]

As for me, I'm more no on this issue. But it's tough for me to not say death for child molesters. If it's anyone who deserves the Death Penalty, it's them.

Though on the other hand, nature and the other prisoners would take care of that anyway in due time.

 

[AllieBaba]

Child molesters and child murderers are bad, but I still say no to the death penalty. I'm all for giving everyone the opportunity to repent. That doesn't mean we need to let them out.

I voted for the death penalty when it was up for the vote in Oregon. It hasn't come up since. I've since changed my views on it, and not for any political reason.

 

[Andrew2382]

see if you feel that way if someone murders your child

 

[JW Frogen]

see if you feel that way if someone murders your child

True, but justice is not soley a concept about the victim's feelings, one reason the victim's can not be on the jury.

 

[Modbert]

Child molesters and child murderers are bad, but I still say no to the death penalty. I'm all for giving everyone the opportunity to repent. That doesn't mean we need to let them out.

I voted for the death penalty when it was up for the vote in Oregon. It hasn't come up since. I've since changed my views on it, and not for any political reason.

If it came down to it. I would not want my child's murderer sitting in a decent cell, free food/free housing/free access to things that many can't get on the outside,etc. Plus, if I lived in the area, my family and I would be partly helping to pay for that.

This is assuming I wouldn't get my hands on the monster first.