The Death Penalty, Debate :P Options

[Ripper1486]

Well, I am part of a debate tomorrow concerning the subject of capital punishment and just wanted to see what you guys have to say about it. I am personally against capital punishment, but want to see some of the arguments people may have against it. My biggest problem is if someone brings up the argument that murderers may be more inclined to commit murder knowing that they don't have a huge punishment like dying, but they will get to live in a prison with food each day, beds, libraries, etc. There are countries which do not enforce the death penalty and do not seem to have many killers running everywhere...I'm still doing research though. I'm going to finish it tonight with my partner, but if you guys have any input, it would be greatly appreciated! On with the debate . . .

(Keep it clean )

[DarkEpyon]

I'm all for it. Especially for the mass murdering types. One less mouth to feed with our tax money.

[HC82]

KILL EM ALL, just kidding.

Actually I think due to the errors that are made by the jury, the fate of a man can never be 100% accurate. Sending an innocent man to death row is so very wrong, rather they remain in jail then be killed for something they never did. Then there are race issues in certain states where certain races are more likely to be accused of a crime then other races.
"He's a niggers, he must be guilty." Go down to rural South and see how well "justice" goes there, especially depending on your skin color.

Needless to say, the flaws of mans judgement makes me question if they should have the right to make a judgement on someones life, especially if it is not 100% sure if the person is guilty, but convicted so.

As for capital punishment in the form of whipping people, I have less mercy here. If they do something wrong, whip em good and whip em hard. This ONLY goes out to the punk kids who think they are tough shit. Whip their asses extra hard for being a jackass. I do understand people get mixed up in the wrong crowds, but still, I'd rather not have them robbing and shooting people if all they need is a good ass whopping to set them straight before things go wrong. Like that dumbass in Singapore, I hope they gave him an extra lash for me. God damn yokel, giving Americans a bad name.

In actuality, the whipping isn'tthe problem, but only provoking fear of doing a crime, thus medicating it. The moral implacation becomes trivalized and only the fear of suffering pain is what keeps someone from doing wrong. Sadly it can be difficult for todays youth to understand what they are doing is wrong, especially if it yields large pay offs and is easy work(ie. drug dealer). For some people, taking anothers life is trival in the sake of getting the next high. Many communities only help to breed this kind of crime. Lack of jobs, coupled with highly addicitive drugs can only help someone to take the wrong path. No job, need a quick herione fix? Go stab that lady for her cash, when someone is on an addicitves substance, certain people actually lose the control to make logical choices(scientificly proven in fishes).

There is no right or wrong in this matter. The world is way to messed up for there to be one simple solution in the view point of what man can do.

[Astrid]

I'm definitely against capital punishment for a number of reasons. Here's a very short version below:

1. I was never a believer of the "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy. If the government truly wants people to accept murder as something immoral, then it should not rationalize it, itself.

2. Statistics show that states without the death penalty have a lower murder rate than those that do; the same goes for countries. This can be explained by #1.

3. About one-third of the executed are actually guilty of the crime. Most of the time, evidence shows up after the death to prove innocence.

4. A life sentence is actually far less straining on the economy than the death penalty, primarily because of the large number of appeals given to the prisoner.

5. This is a very incoherent argument because Cam and I just quit smoking. Can't. .. concentrate

[Ripper1486]

Well, my partner and I lost the debate today...I just wish people were more open minded. Every single point I brought up, people just could not stop saying something to the effect of, "Well, what about the innocent victim who had to die and that death's effect on the family?" I'm suprised that we did change the minds of two people at least, bringing our vote from 5 to 7 Oh well, it's over, I got a good grade, no hard feelings...I would have been happier with a more open minded classroom though. Revenge should not cost so much just to make one family happy for a little while. They are never totally compensated for the death, and killing the murderer or keeping him in prison for life has the same effect. The murderer doesn't get back out into the world to kill.

[DivA]

~a delicate subject.. =.

well, i am one that sees great merritt in the old world law - eye for an eye.. if an individual commits their 1st cold-blooded murder & is proven guilty in a court of law, their "citizenship & life" should be forfeit & consigned to immediate execution by mandate of the state - no appeals, no exceptions.. the argument is simple ~ since the individual in question held no respect for being civil to another's life, they do not deserve to live; for if given the opportunity, what's to stop them from doing it again, & again, & again? =.

*ponders* some would argue prisons to be effective, but prisons do nothing but breed greater evils (gangs, distrust, fear, violence & rape ~ very negative energies that the world can do better without..) ~ if justified, then it would be better to eliminate the problem before it starts to defend the general welfare of civilization..

...

~i would wager that the amount of murder would decrease tremendously if the old world laws be in full effect..

[unitself]

Heavy stuff for a gaming board.
Arguing this point is surely not for the weak of heart.
I would like to give DivA a gold star though. You nailed my thoughts exactly. I don't buy the argument that it costs us more to put someone to death than it does to put them into a hole for the rest of their life. Well, it probably does now, but that's because our system is badly managed. Quicken the process and deal out the sentence quickly. I do understand that some people do get wrongly accused, but I tend to think that if killing someone (murder, not self defense) meant you got killed as well then it would deter people. Then again, I am speaking mearly out of my own head and I have no numbers to back any of this up.

side note - Remember on Star Trek TNG when Wesley accidently broke the small greenhouse and all the plants inside on that alien world and his punishment was DEATH?

[Henge]

a) i dont think our justice system has reached a level of maturity where the public can conciously say "the death penalty is ok because our system doesn't make mistakes"

b) at the same time i loathe the idea of paying for the room & board of some murderer, terrorist, rapist, or what have you.