The Death Penalty

[Solja_Boy]

I agrea with the death penalty for religous reasons.

[Tonio]

My proposal for the death penalty: the convicted murderer must first spend a year or so in maximum security, enough time to appreciate what life there is really like. Then at the end of the period, the murderer must choose between spending the rest of his life in prison or heading for immediate execution. Make him take responsibility for his life - maybe if he had done that before, he wouldn't be facing that choice.

[signora]

Originally Posted by Tonio

My proposal for the death penalty: the convicted murderer must first spend a year or so in maximum security, enough time to appreciate what life there is really like. Then at the end of the period, the murderer must choose between spending the rest of his life in prison or heading for immediate execution. Make him take responsibility for his life - maybe if he had done that before, he wouldn't be facing that choice.

Unless the person is really down and out about their life, I think most would take life in jail. Look at how many repeated felons there are because they get out and don't want to take responsibility for their life so they go back in because it's the easy way out. Jail is tough for some, but for others it's free bed, food, etc.

[nicole_M (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Baja28

Food for thought....

Don't you have a little girl?
Suppose she was kidnapped.
Brutally raped and tortured (and I don't mean what the pussies stool & anhoying think is torture).
I mean real torture.
In fact, he tortures her to a slow, agonizing, painful death.
He does things to her you cannot fathom.
The creep videos all of it.
He's caught.
The tape is found.
He's tried.
He laughs at you in the court room,
He's convicted.

Should he live?


Guess how I voted......

The bastard that MURDERED my father and uncle is serving 2 life sentences without the possibility of parole...

It's a damn shame. I wish they could take his life the way he took theirs... Instead he sits in jail... Eating 3 good meals a day, etc...

But alas - I am biased.

[smcop]

I think after the person is convicted, it should be left up to the family of the victims. I think people react differently. If the family feels better with knowing the guy will suffer a miserable existence in a maximum facility, then it should be their choice. ( by the way it usually is, very difficult to proceed with a death penalty case without the victim's family supporting you).

I think the real question is should the standard for what one could get the death penalty be different. I wonder if some of you might be surprised that merely taking one's life and being convicted of 1st degree murder, doesn't constitute the penalty of death. The maximum penalty soley for 1st degree murder is life w/out parole.

[Makavide]

First I do not believe in the death penalty. Moral reasons, life is sacred.

Now with that said, I don't think the death penalty works. If it did, then we wouldn't have so many criminals. They would think twice before committing a crime. Part of the reason it does not work is the length of time to be executed.

Another problem with the death penalty - those criminals who are still on the loose, facing the death penalty, what do they have to lose when they are about to be caught?

The biggest problem with our criminal system is not that the prisons are overcrowded, it is they are under utilized. Prisoners are aloted more space then those serving in the military. Instead of one or two beds per cell, stack them up - 24 inches apart. Use up that room. Get rid of the tvs, game rooms, and weight rooms - put more bunk beds in them. Tear down the basket ball courts and put in a vegtable garden. Make them earn their keep. If you are eligable for minimum security - you are on a chain gang cleaning the sides of the roads. Rent them out to farmers. Make prison life unbearable.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by Makavide

If you are eligable for minimum security - you are on a chain gang cleaning the sides of the roads. Rent them out to farmers. Make prison life unbearable.

I would favor lifetime isolation for first-degree murder, in tiny cells with no doors or windows and no entertainment at all.

[MMDad]

Originally Posted by Tonio

I would favor lifetime isolation for first-degree murder, in tiny cells with no doors or windows and no entertainment at all.

And give them a cyanide pill. Their choice to use it if they want to.

[hvp05 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by itsbob

... I am in no way shape or form a supporter of the ACLU, but their arguments against the death penalty make sense.

You may well change your mind again, because their arguments not only do not make sense, they do not stand against fact.

Death, family has to relive it over and over again, for an average of 25 years, as the criminal continues appeal after appeal..

Death, you are going to live on average, another 25 years at tax payer expense in private accomodations.. not having contact iwth other dangerous criminals or felons.

These are just as valid arguments to expedite the process, not eliminate it.

Life, one appeal, and it's usually exhausted quickly.. The day they are sentenced it's usually over for the victim's family.

Over? I, thankfully, have not experienced a murder within my family, but I have seen enough stories to know that the pain is never over or gone. Many family members take the execution as some bit of relief, even if it does require waiting two decades.

Life, you are still going to average 25 years in jail, in the general population. You won't have the benefit of private ANYTHING during that time, YOu will be someone's bithch.. you will probably NOT die of natural causes.

As to being someone's biatch, that's not necessarily true, and is certainly experienced by the minority. Most prisoners align themself with a gang or group, even if they don't really want to, because that is the best way to ensure one's safety. Whites cluster, as do blacks, and hispanics; if someone attempts harming one of a group they pay for it tenfold.

And as for "NOT" dying of natural causes, nothing is further from the truth. The ACLU may tout some numbers or whatever, but the Dept. of Justice has spoken clearly on this issue:

Originally Posted by DOJ

The deaths over this four-year period constituted an annual mortality rate of 250 deaths per 100,000 inmates, which was 19 percent lower than the adult mortality rate in the U.S. general population.

Overall, 89 percent of all state prisoner deaths were attributed to medical conditions and 8 percent were due to suicide or homicide. (Source.)

That report does account for only state prisoners, but this one accounts for state and federal prisoners [through 2004] and the numbers are similar.

Death, you are around forever and can have a "cause" you can become celebrity after time has passed, and celebrities will come to your cause to fight against your execution. You can get rich, selling books... get an education..

And the same can not (and does not) happen with lifers?

it seems a much better punishment to sentence them to life and have them deal with others just like them FOREVER.

That does sound rough... to someone with a conscience. Many of the people who are most likely to receive the DP (such as murderers) are devoid of a conscience, emotions, or other normal mental faculties. Lock them away forever or take their life, they won't much care - but at least their burden on the system and their victim('s) family can be relieved.

That's what makes sense to me.

[nicole_M (Premo)]

Originally Posted by smcop

I think after the person is convicted, it should be left up to the family of the victims. I think people react differently. If the family feels better with knowing the guy will suffer a miserable existence in a maximum facility, then it should be their choice. ( by the way it usually is, very difficult to proceed with a death penalty case without the victim's family supporting you).

I think the real question is should the standard for what one could get the death penalty be different. I wonder if some of you might be surprised that merely taking one's life and being convicted of 1st degree murder, doesn't constitute the penalty of death. The maximum penalty soley for 1st degree murder is life w/out parole.

At the time... My family opted against the dealth penalty. My mother and aunt and their mother thought it was way too easy to sentence him to death. They felt it was letting him off too easily...

He was charged with 2 counts of 1st degree BTW. He is max. security and on lockdown 23 hours per day.