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I can only say I hope to live to see the day the death penalty is abolished once and for all in the United States.

b6 13y ago
I hate injustice. I hate the idea of an innocent person being put to death. I hate strange inventions like the electric chair, which must be an absolutely excruciating death. But sometimes people do terrible things and incur a debt that they can never repay. In one particular case I remember, the guilty party abducted a child, raped her repeatedly, put her in a trash bag, and buried her alive. There's no doubt he was guilty because he led police to her grave. The perpetrator could never ever walk among normal people again. What do you propose to do in these situations? Is it somehow useful for these people to languish in prison at the expense of the public? Would that somehow be more correct, helpful, or humane? This is not a fake question where I'm attacking you -- this is a real question I struggle with.
- thatswrong0 13y ago
  Many who sexually abuse others were themselves sexually abused. This is not excusing their actions, but it absolutely should be kept in mind when considering the punishment for any sort of crime. From petty to heinous, many people who commit crimes come from very shitty situations. And even those that don't often simply have mental issues. What about the truly evil? Should we not consider them 'sick'? The problem is that justice is seen entirely from a punitive perspective. I hope, in the future, that most crimes will be treated with not a punitive hand but a rehabilitative one. Drug abuse should be met with rehab, not mandatory minimums. Likewise, hopefully it will become the case that we will try to treat violent offenders instead of just carting them off to prison to rot or commit crimes again upon release. Prisons wouldn't disappear of course, but hopefully they would become options of last resort instead of the first solution.
- rhizome 13y ago
  Is it somehow useful for these people to languish in prison at the expense of the public? It's certainly cheaper. Also, in the case of innocent people convicted, it preserves the opportunity to let them out. What's the harm in not executing people?
- iandanforth 13y ago
  There are two independent and sufficient pillars to my belief. The first is that no human or group of humans has the right to take the life of any other. The second is based on the infinite malleability of the human mind. I believe that redemption is possible for any and all and the inability of a system to redeem someone is a failing of that system and the duty of a society is to never give up on anyone.
vixin 13y ago
Why pretend life does not have a price. We price it everyday. A 100,000 people have died in Syria, mostly under horrific circumstances. Cost/benefit analysis dictates that no one should intervene and indeed, no one will in spite of the alleged chlorine attacks. Meanwhile the taxpayer shells out a lot of money to keep dysfunctional killers alive, preserving that which they denied to their victims and thus a necessary link between action and consequence is broken. That said, I reluctantly conclude that the death penalty should go because the greater evil is the possible death of an innocent.

b6 13y ago

I hate injustice. I hate the idea of an innocent person being put to death. I hate strange inventions like the electric chair, which must be an absolutely excruciating death. But sometimes people do terrible things and incur a debt that they can never repay. In one particular case I remember, the guilty party abducted a child, raped her repeatedly, put her in a trash bag, and buried her alive. There's no doubt he was guilty because he led police to her grave. The perpetrator could never ever walk among normal people again. What do you propose to do in these situations? Is it somehow useful for these people to languish in prison at the expense of the public? Would that somehow be more correct, helpful, or humane? This is not a fake question where I'm attacking you -- this is a real question I struggle with.

thatswrong0 13y ago
Many who sexually abuse others were themselves sexually abused. This is not excusing their actions, but it absolutely should be kept in mind when considering the punishment for any sort of crime. From petty to heinous, many people who commit crimes come from very shitty situations. And even those that don't often simply have mental issues. What about the truly evil? Should we not consider them 'sick'? The problem is that justice is seen entirely from a punitive perspective. I hope, in the future, that most crimes will be treated with not a punitive hand but a rehabilitative one. Drug abuse should be met with rehab, not mandatory minimums. Likewise, hopefully it will become the case that we will try to treat violent offenders instead of just carting them off to prison to rot or commit crimes again upon release. Prisons wouldn't disappear of course, but hopefully they would become options of last resort instead of the first solution.
rhizome 13y ago
Is it somehow useful for these people to languish in prison at the expense of the public? It's certainly cheaper. Also, in the case of innocent people convicted, it preserves the opportunity to let them out. What's the harm in not executing people?
iandanforth 13y ago
There are two independent and sufficient pillars to my belief. The first is that no human or group of humans has the right to take the life of any other. The second is based on the infinite malleability of the human mind. I believe that redemption is possible for any and all and the inability of a system to redeem someone is a failing of that system and the duty of a society is to never give up on anyone.

vixin 13y ago

Why pretend life does not have a price. We price it everyday. A 100,000 people have died in Syria, mostly under horrific circumstances. Cost/benefit analysis dictates that no one should intervene and indeed, no one will in spite of the alleged chlorine attacks. Meanwhile the taxpayer shells out a lot of money to keep dysfunctional killers alive, preserving that which they denied to their victims and thus a necessary link between action and consequence is broken. That said, I reluctantly conclude that the death penalty should go because the greater evil is the possible death of an innocent.