The Death Penalty

Ric Flair said:
I am strongly against the death penalty. It doesn't deter other would-be criminals. It is applied far more often to men, the poor, and minorities. We run the risk of executing an innocent person...a result which obviously can't be fixed. It costs more to execute someone than to incarcerate someone for life. It sends a horrible message when the state can kill a citizen. It cheapens the value of human life and degrades us all. 
Click to expand...


This is a pretty liberal stance on a pretty conservative platform plank.

 
This is the perfect example of why I'm not for the death penalty anymore.

I had absolutely no clue who this guy is.  I was I think 11 when he committed his crimes so I wasn't cognizant of anything going on other than playing football in the front yard.

His time on death row and his ultimate execution has cost this state a huge amount of money and wasted time (since it won't deter another person from murder).  AND....ding ding ding.....now the guy is famous again with articles written about him and his brother dredging up the entire story.

This guy should have just been put in prison and throw away the key and forget about him.

Stupid.  Rickets should be so proud.

 
One thing that I wish would get mentioned more in the death penalty debate is improving the prison system as a whole. 

If you want Nikko Jenkins and the like to serve out the rest of their days in a cell, then it would make sense to fully fund and support the system to carry that out in a manner that efficiently protects the public. It's easy to say "Eh just let em rot in prison forever" however very little attention is given to the corrections employees who are tasked with carrying that out. Their work is largely overlooked and completely unappreciated by the public. 

I worked briefly in corrections, and many of my former coworkers worked mandatory over time, with several working 16 hour work days. The training is abysmal at best. Burnout is high. Wages are pitiful. Funding has been low for years. Overcrowding is rampant which exacerbates mental health and medical issues. It's easy to see how the riot and escapes happened. 

 
image

 

'Daddy, I'm Sorry,' 8-Year-Old Said Before Father Allegedly Slit His Throat and Killed Sister

Authorities believe a tearful 8-year-old Texas boy pleaded for his life on Saturday only moments before he and his sister were killed by their father, who then called his estranged wife about a “present” he’d left her at his Houston apartment.  LINK 
Click to expand...


There's a time and place for the death penalty.  This guy[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]the father who slit his childrens' throats last week then called his ex-wife to taunt her about it[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]he deserves to fry.  

 
NUance said:

 

There's a time and place for the death penalty.  This guy[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]the father who slit his childrens' throats last week then called his ex-wife to taunt her about it[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]he deserves to fry.  
Click to expand...




I think he deserves to die, but if the cost is equal why not let him suffer in jail and let God decide what he deserves instead of having another human to kill him?

Also, he tried to kill himself. Death is what he wants.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
NUance said:
image

 

There's a time and place for the death penalty.  This guy[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]the father who slit his childrens' throats last week then called his ex-wife to taunt her about it[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]he deserves to fry.  
Click to expand...
Just reading what you put in your post, I want this guy to die also.

But, let me ask you this.  What are you wanting to accomplish?

If it's punishment, him living in a cell for the rest of his life usually is more punishment.

 
Moiraine said:
I think he deserves to die, but if the cost is equal why not let him suffer in jail and let God decide what he deserves instead of having another human to kill him?

Also, he tried to kill himself. Death is what he wants.
Click to expand...
Due punishment will come without people intervening 

 
Nebfanatic said:
Due punishment will come without people intervening 
Click to expand...


Yeah.

I'm not sure you're going to get treated real well inside if they found out you slit your own children's throats. 

The act is severely heinous. Should be enough to make anybody suffer. But somebody who'd do something that f#cked up could possibly be mentally ill himself, which then opens a broader debate about how we should respond to someone with mental illness carrying out heinous crimes against humanity.

 
NUance said:
image

 

There's a time and place for the death penalty.  This guy[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]the father who slit his childrens' throats last week then called his ex-wife to taunt her about it[SIZE=11pt]—[/SIZE]he deserves to fry.  
Click to expand...




What does that do? Make us feel better?

 
Violence begets violence.

I can't say anybody is wrong for feeling that some people don't deserve to live because of their actions, but the death penalty seems more vengeance than punishment.

 
When arguing in favor of the death penalty, a lot of folks say something to the effect of: "What if it happened to your loved ones?" And the story that NUance linked to is certainly horrifying. But the difference between justice and vengeance is that justice is supposed to be blind and impartial. That's why that symbol of lady with the scales and the exposed boob is wearing a blindfold.

When it comes to justice, emotion needs to be taken out of the equation. If Cary Dean Moore had murdered my family, I'm sure I would not be in a rational state of mind to render any sort of legal decisions, and in that emotional state, nobody's life should be put in my hands. Yes, certain people forfeit their place in society due to their horrendous actions and need to go away forever. But absent of emotion, revenge, and bloodlust, the death penalty simply does not serve any positive function in our society. 

 
Clifford Franklin said:
Yeah.

I'm not sure you're going to get treated real well inside if they found out you slit your own children's throats. 

The act is severely heinous. Should be enough to make anybody suffer. But somebody who'd do something that f#cked up could possibly be mentally ill himself, which then opens a broader debate about how we should respond to someone with mental illness carrying out heinous crimes against humanity.
Click to expand...
I think it’s odd that many people who are against the death penalty for humane reasons would applaud years of rapes and beatings by other inmates as “what he deserves “. 

If one thinks being executed (the equivalent of going to sleep and not waking up ) is horrible,  how can they justify the other as just punishment  ? 

I left my personal views out of, it on purpose, lol just a thought I had . 

 
Found this statistic a good one - it is vengence, not policing or punishing to deter future crimes.

And I don't have time to look it up, but I'm pretty confident that even in states that are using the death penalty, the numbers executed since the 70's and 80's have steadily dropped.

View attachment 13435

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top