Scratchtown Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Discuss. Knapp posted it in his status. Thought discussion could take place if anyone wanted to. http://news.yahoo.com/nebraska-poised-abolish-death-penalty-162251556.html 1 Link to comment
ZRod Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I oppose the death penalty in almost all cases, especially after we've discovered how many people were wrongly executed for crimes they didn't commit (not necessarily in Nebraska). I'm wavering on this, but right now I think it should be reserved for extremely heinous crimes such as mass murder, or some military misconduct. Other than that I see it as a waste of money and not a real punishment. 1 Link to comment
Scratchtown Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I'm with you. I have never really thought about taking a stance one way or the other till tonight. 2 reasons why I'm against the death penalty. 1. God said "Do not murder" he did not say "Do not murder, unless...." 2. As a taxpayer, it costs more to administer the death penalty than a lifetime of incarceration. If it was mass genocide or treason on an extreme level then I would start to lean the other way in that situation. 1 Link to comment
rawhide Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Maybe all life + sentences should be Supermax facilities. Small rooms. No TV, just books, magazines. One hour a day isolated exercise. Minimal visitation rights, no "canteen" at all. Might be more of a deterrent than lifelessness. Life with no hope, no rewards. Adequate. Those conditions are still better than most prisons throughout the world. Or......nah too inhumane. Link to comment
huskerenner Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I'm with you. I have never really thought about taking a stance one way or the other till tonight. 2 reasons why I'm against the death penalty. 1. God said "Do not murder" he did not say "Do not murder, unless...." 2. As a taxpayer, it costs more to administer the death penalty than a lifetime of incarceration. If it was mass genocide or treason on an extreme level then I would start to lean the other way in that situation. I have never heard God say anything,just second hand rumors.And a ten cent bullet is much cheaper than a lifetime of incarceration. Link to comment
zoogs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 True, but that doesn't reflect actual purely economic costs of having the death penalty. http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-cost In California the current sytem costs $137 million per year; it would cost $11.5 million for a system without the death penalty. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/01/considering-the-death-penalty-your-tax-dollars-at-work/ In a tough economy, those dollars add up quickly. And who pays for these costs? State and local governments typically bear the burden of paying to pursue death penalty cases and those costs are typically budgeted and paid for through tax dollars. State spending on corrections, including prisons, has nearly quadrupled over the past two decades: it is now the fastest-growing budget item after Medicaid (report downloads as a pdf) https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/17/six-reasons-the-death-penalty-is-becoming-more-expensive As appeals come to take longer and challenges to lethal injection protocols slow down the execution process, these housing costs add up. The problem is perhaps most stark in California, which has the country’s largest death row but rarely carries out executions. Mitchell, the attorney, found that the yearly cost of housing and medical care for the state’s death row inmates comes to $184 million. She said that death penalty proponents have long argued that replacing the punishment with life without parole would force the state to pay the medical costs of elderly inmates, but this is now happening anyway. 1 Link to comment
Scratchtown Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I'm with you. I have never really thought about taking a stance one way or the other till tonight. 2 reasons why I'm against the death penalty. 1. God said "Do not murder" he did not say "Do not murder, unless...." 2. As a taxpayer, it costs more to administer the death penalty than a lifetime of incarceration. If it was mass genocide or treason on an extreme level then I would start to lean the other way in that situation. I have never heard God say anything,just second hand rumors.And a ten cent bullet is much cheaper than a lifetime of incarceration. Yea, except they don't do that. Also, in my faith, God did say to not murder......in the 10 commandments. (Go post in the atheist thread if you want to continue that discussion) Link to comment
Ratt Mhule Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Bring it back for the Omaha guy that killed his mom with a baseball bat/knife, threw his baby brother over a bridge into a river (alive and awake), and threw his other baby brother in a dumpster and then get rid of it. In fact, for one day, get rid of that cruel and unusual punishment rule and throw his ass over a bridge with weights on his ankles. POS scumbag deserves death. And his girlfriend too. 1 Link to comment
Ratt Mhule Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 And if I would say the same thing about the POS that killed the cop today. Fortunately he died already. Good riddance. 2 Link to comment
Moiraine Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 The way I think about the death penalty is, would I be willing to be the one to kill the person? It's my government that is killing these people so in a way it's me doing it. And the answer to that is no. Why should I have to lower myself to killing someone? Whatever they did is not reason enough for me to become a murderer. They can stay in jail for life and face whatever consequences there may be after they die "naturally" (or I suppose by getting killed by someone who's already a murderer). 4 Link to comment
Dbqgolfer Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 My personal beliefs have gone back and forth on this issue. So, i finally decided that if i'm not sure, it's best error on the side of life, and being opposed to the death penalty. But admit that I don't lose much sleep (actually I don't lose any) when someone who deserves to be put to death, is. There are two arguments/comments that have swayed me; and that kind of go together. 1) It's easy to to be for the death penalty when you look at individual cases. However, when you look at how the death penalty is administered overall (unequally applied etc) it becomes easier to be opposed. 2) It's not about whether certain people deserve to die, but do we as a society have the right to kill. (talking about death penalty, not warfare or protecting ones home/family) 1 Link to comment
Stumpy1 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I might be in the minority here but I am for the death penalty. I actually think it is to lenient right now. I would prefer to see someone convicted of first degree murder without a reasonable doubt taken straight from the courtroom and led to the execution chamber. I think this would serve a big wakeup call to these people that don't give a sh#t about killing someone. Right now, they have a mentality that they will get life in prison and that is fine with them. Link to comment
Bigred_inSD Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I support this idea as well. The point has been made that it is cheaper for life sentences, the mistakes made by juror, and how it is unequally applied when you look at race, gender, and economic standing. 1 Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I used to be perfectly fine with the death penalty. Then, the more I studied it and read about it, the less it makes sense. It's more expensive and it lowers us to the level of the criminal we want to put to death. BUT, the biggest thing for me was that when a horrible criminal is put on death row, many times that actually makes that criminal some kind of sick legend. It keeps their story in the news from time to time and the loved ones of the victims have to keep reliving what ever that evil person did. I'm glad Nebraska repealed it and now, we can put these horrible people in prison for life and forget about them. There is only one situation I can think of that I would support the death penalty against someone moving forward. If that person somehow had control over people on the outside and from prison that person was directing them to murder or do other horrible things like terrorism...etc.. Even then we should be able to control communications enough to stop that. Link to comment
Scratchtown Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I used to be perfectly fine with the death penalty. Then, the more I studied it and read about it, the less it makes sense. It's more expensive and it lowers us to the level of the criminal we want to put to death. BUT, the biggest thing for me was that when a horrible criminal is put on death row, many times that actually makes that criminal some kind of sick legend. It keeps their story in the news from time to time and the loved ones of the victims have to keep reliving what ever that evil person did. I'm glad Nebraska repealed it and now, we can put these horrible people in prison for life and forget about them. There is only one situation I can think of that I would support the death penalty against someone moving forward. If that person somehow had control over people on the outside and from prison that person was directing them to murder or do other horrible things like terrorism...etc.. Even then we should be able to control communications enough to stop that. The last few sentences sounded like it came straight out of a "Castle" episode. Ha! Link to comment
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