Death Penalty

[tenni]

In your opinion:

Is the death penalty justice or revenge?

[monaohio]

ifb you kill someone in cold blood there should be no plea deals so yes death penalty is justice

[darkeyes]

... call it justice if u will, but it is vengeance pain and simple... lower urself 2 the level of the killer if u will but not in my name...

[biguy1940]

definitely revenge...sometimes on the wrong person...that's why it should be done away with

[Annika L]

Totally revenge. No question. In the minds of the victim or their family, this revenge could amount to justice. But it's revenge, pure and simple. And I agree with Fran that even if we knew for a fact it was the guilty party (which is virtually never the case), this would not justify it.

[pole_smoker]

It can be both, or a wide variety of other things. It's not just one thing or an "either/or" thing.

In some cases I'm for the death penalty, and in other cases I'm against it as life in a prison is far worse than execution and life on death row.

[charles-smythe]

…I’m pro-dealth penality…BUT I’m not sure that over zealous DA don’t cheat when they are sure the defendant is guilty…ina death penality case we should err to the side of caution…I think any DA that cheats to get a guilty verdict & the defendant later tyrns out to be innocent…the DA should have to serve the same sentence as the innocent defendant…IE: if he served 10 years…the DA should serve 10 years…if the defendant was put to death…the DA should be put to death…BUT AGAIN if there is no doubt of guilt…fry the bastard…

[open2both]

Revenge? I'm sure the families of the victims would welcome it.
And as a "regular Joe" I'm all for "weeding the garden" so my taxes don't pay for the murderer's tv, air conditioning, food court, birthday visits, …
And it prevents those jokers from victimizing anybody else!

[thatcher29]

Well, I used to be a technician who worked on police radios and i got to know a lot of the officers. My opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with justice or revenge or politics--it's all about the quality of the police officers we hire in the US. Police officers are human and they get emotionally involved with their cases. Not to mention that mixed in with the thousands of dedicated professionals are more than a few complete jackasses. Do cops lie on the stand? Of course, ask anyone who has been to traffic court. Do they tamper with evidence? You betcha. I used to hang out with officers who brag about they themselves broke the law and got away with it. So until we can find perfect human beings to investigate murders, I say life imprisonment is a much better option.

[charles-smythe]

Well, I used to be a technician who worked on police radios and i got to know a lot of the officers. My opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with justice or revenge or politics--it's all about the quality of the police officers we hire in the US. Police officers are human and they get emotionally involved with their cases. Not to mention that mixed in with the thousands of dedicated professionals are more than a few complete jackasses. Do cops lie on the stand? Of course, ask anyone who has been to traffic court. Do they tamper with evidence? You betcha. I used to hang out with officers who brag about they themselves broke the law and got away with it. So until we can find perfect human beings to investigate murders, I say life imprisonment is a much better option. …amen…

[pole_smoker]

Well, I used to be a technician who worked on police radios and i got to know a lot of the officers. My opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with justice or revenge or politics--it's all about the quality of the police officers we hire in the US. Police officers are human and they get emotionally involved with their cases. Not to mention that mixed in with the thousands of dedicated professionals are more than a few complete jackasses. Do cops lie on the stand? Of course, ask anyone who has been to traffic court. Do they tamper with evidence? You betcha. I used to hang out with officers who brag about they themselves broke the law and got away with it. So until we can find perfect human beings to investigate murders, I say life imprisonment is a much better option.
Did those police ever use, and sell illegal drugs that they confiscated and arrested people for?

Or did they ever plant lots of drugs on people who didn't have them, and then arrest them?

[thatcher29]

Did those police ever use, and sell illegal drugs that they confiscated and arrested people for?

Or did they ever plant lots of drugs on people who didn't have them, and then arrest them?

If any police officers I was acquainted with did those things, they didn't share it with me. Their crimes were more on the level of not working the hours they were supposed to or assaulting suspects.

[darkeyes]

If any police officers I was acquainted with did those things, they didn't share it with me. Their crimes were more on the level of not working the hours they were supposed to or assaulting suspects.
Way the polis r in this country and the amount of corruption and dishonesty wich keeps coming 2 light, even if I supported the death penalty in principle wich I don't, I wud have 2 oppose it.. it is not unknown for them 2 fit up their own far less members of the public. Don't get me wrong.. Not all bobbies r bent. Prob nothing like a majority of them and in comparison to most countries they r prob relatively honest tho I do believe the Police as an institution 2 b corrupt... the institution is not as honest and incorruptable as the British public think it is or shud b and neither r its officers, tho in recent years the public have become less trusting of them, more questioning and probably more fearful.

The above r only a few of the reasons I am opposed 2 capital punishment... there are many others which I have written about in these forums over the years...

[tenni]

Way the polis r in this country and the amount of corruption and dishonesty wich keeps coming 2 light, even if I supported the death penalty in principle wich I don't, I wud have 2 oppose it.. it is not unknown for them 2 fit up their own far less members of the public. Don't get me wrong.. Not all bobbies r bent. Prob nothing like a majority of them and in comparison to most countries they r prob relatively honest tho I do believe the Police as an institution 2 b corrupt... the institution is not as honest and incorruptable as the British public think it is or shud b and neither r its officers, tho in recent years the public have become less trusting of them, more questioning and probably more fearful.

The above r only a few of the reasons I am opposed 2 capital punishment... there are many others which I have written about in these forums over the years...

I don't get the impression that people in Canada hold the opinion that most police are bent. Certainly, this is not in the eye of the media presently. Charges are laid about other matters involving the police. It may depend on what economic social group that you find yourself in though.

[darkeyes]

I don't get the impression that people in Canada hold the opinion that most police are bent. Certainly, this is not in the eye of the media presently. Charges are laid about other matters involving the police. It may depend on what economic social group that you find yourself in though.
I didn't say most were bobbies in the UK r bent... but many are.. a minority, but given the number of scandals, prosections, imprisonments, sackings and inquiries over the behaviour of officers, it is a sizeable minority.. however, I did say the police as an institution is bent ... and u are right. Depending on one's social and economic circumstances and/or class, treatment by the police, both individually and institutionally is very different... and that alone and in itself makes many officers and the institution bent... I do not however, claim that as the sole reason...:)

[cuttin2dachase]

For the worst of the worst violent male criminals I think a good alternative to the death penalty AND to the cost to taxpayers for life imprisonment would be to find a large, isolated tropical island hundreds of miles away from the nearest country. Sentence them to be sent there. No amenities, no visits from family. Give each one a half acre plot of land (clearly marked off by crime scene tape), a garden spade and a few packages of seeds, some matches, a tent and a month's worth of canned rations. Let them fend for themselves against nature and the other criminals. The laws of the jungle would prevail for them the same as they did on the street. Survival of the fittest would apply too. The stronger criminals would enslave and/or kill many of the weaker ones. Other weaker ones and the slaves would eventually rise up and kill the stronger ones. The cycle would continue until they all died out. There's no women there, so they can't reproduce either. Problem solved ! I haven't figured out yet what should be done with violent female criminals LOL

I was just kidding. Seriously, the laws have changed over the years so that the death penalty is not as freely handed down by juries and judges as it used to be back in the day. Many states have abolished it altogether. For serial killers and other psychopaths and for other murderers whose crimes are proven beyond the shadow of doubt to have been cold-blooded and/or premeditated, I think a death sentence is proper justice for the criminal and for the victims' families and for society in general. It does also serve as revenge for those families, but that's icing on the cake for the families and is secondary to ridding society of the possibility that these criminals will ever be a threat again.

[darkeyes]

Good on Nebraska.... :impleased

[Visexual]

Death penalty is society seeking revenge. And, because of that it’s cruel and unusual and that will be why it will be overturned in every state eventually.

Now there are some that we just can’t trust in society. And there are no institutions that guarantee these folks will never be back in society. If they don’t escape, they find Jesus and con their way to a pardon or parole.

We should have a capitol elimination instead. Let the convicted decide their own method of just do it in their sleep.

[Masterslave]

It's a barbaric practice left over from the cave man era. Modern nations don't use it. How can you deliver the message don't kill by killing?

[charles-smythe]

In your opinion:

Is the death penalty justice or revenge?

...revenge...

[jamieknyc]

Like most lawyers, I am not in favor of the death penalty. However, people who talk about 'revenge' do not understand the criminal justice system. Criminal justice is purely about the state punishing someone for breaking its laws and has nothing to do with 'closure for the families.' That part is something people get from TV shows. It is entirely up to the DA whether to seek the death penalty or whether to prosecute the case in the first place. If the DA decides to drop the charges because the assistant DA in charge is going on vacation next week (which I have seen happen, by the way), the families have no say in it.

[Hoosier]

...revenge...Martin Richards never got to grow up & experience life, we should let Dzohkar Tsarnev (his killer ) continue living?

[darkeyes]

Martin Richards never got to grow up & experience life, we should let Dzohkar Tsarnev (his killer ) continue living?
Yes... u've got it in 1..:)