Capital Punishment For Murderers

[Albert Moulton]

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5. Its God's work, not man's.

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This would only be a bad reason if you don't believe in the same god.

Assuming two people believe in the same god, then they have to debate this question seriously. They still might disagree on whether this is their god's work, but they can't believe in their god and support or oppose the death penalty without reaching some conclusion about where their god stands on the issue.

[Piers]

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Will it dissuade others from committing murder?

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Rarely.

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Is there more than a micro chance that the life sentence will allow an eventual release or escape?

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Irrelevant.

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Does it cost more to keep him alive?

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Obviously. Certainly this argument has been used before to kill people.

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Is there more than a micro chance that the defendent is innocent?

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Usually.

I don’t think the OP’s four points are relevant. Killing criminals is all about public revenge, its up to society decide what it wants. Personally I don’t care much one way or the other.

[Hume]

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Well what's your number then? Can you point to a single case in the last 25 years where someone has been executed for something they didn't do?

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At 100 executions/year (actual number is smaller), you're saying that only ONE person in ONE THOUSAND BILLION YEARS or 73 times the age of the universe would be wrongfully convicted. The last 25 years are pretty irrelevant.

But some quick googling found me this:
Since 1973, 123 people in 25 states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.

In these 123 cases the prisoners were exonerated before the execution, but it obviously shows that wrongful death senctences are passed.

Another news story.

As the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony last week from Willingham's lawyer and a fire expert familiar with the case, the possibility that an innocent man had been executed became a frighteningly disturbing reality. Willingham's last words were not unique; in fact many maintain their innocence until the bitter end.

They are especially resonant, however, because it is clear that he was sentenced to die based on fire forensics that have since been disproved. Many had concluded this long before the new committee had heard any testimony. Yet, in light of these revelations, Gov. Rick Perry refused to grant Willingham a stay of execution. Now, as the panel reexamines the case, its severely limited capabilities give little comfort to those who knew Willingham and seek the truth about the tragic fire.

[citanul]

david,

another hugely important thing you've not taken in to account in your framework is the potential for a serial murderer who is beneficial to society.

say you have a doctor or whatever who has a significant positive probability of curing a disease which kills millions of people. he admits, however, that he intends to kill somewhat randomish people of his choosing on a near daily basis, and will not continue his research and whatnot if he is jailed. obviously the state should let this person murder and never jail him.

c

[Dot_the_Bot]

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If they are convicted of murder and various appeals fail, I'd be 99.999999999999% certain they are guilty.

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So one out of one hundred thousand billion convicted are actually innocent, lol. That number is waaaaaaaay wrong.

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Well what's your number then? Can you point to a single case in the last 25 years where someone has been executed for something they didn't do?

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It was a big deal two years ago that a govenor pardoned the ENTIRE death row to prison when the advent of DNA testing proved that a large percentage of the inmates they had ALREADY executed were indeed NOT guilty for the crime that they were convicted. ( I said 19% before, and that may be wrong...but it was some disturbing amount)

Im not going to go look up the story for you (even though I like you mike)- because the fact is that if you take five minutes to research the subject you will see that people are certainly convicted for crimes they did not commit...and then lose a series of appeals after the fact.

[LandonM]

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It was a big deal two years ago that a govenor pardoned the ENTIRE death row to prison when the advent of DNA testing proved that a large percentage of the inmates they had ALREADY executed were indeed NOT guilty for the crime that they were convicted.

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I assume you mean commuted their sentences.
If he pardoned the entire death row, they all would have walked out of jail the next day.

[IQ89]

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I believe that legally authorised executions should be televised live.

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Executions are recorded 'live' and shown on the news and on 'cop shows' all the time (Thief shoots clerk point-blank in the head), and we people can't begin to get our fill.

[Mickey Brausch]

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I believe that legally authorised executions should be televised live.

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Executions are recorded 'live' and shown on the news and on 'cop shows' all the time (Thief shoots clerk point-blank in the head), and we people can't begin to get our fill.

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When it's real, it's different.

Which is why a very badly "shot" (on photos or film) real-life death carries more capacity to shock than the best staged death scene in the theatre or the movies.

Which is why, in turn, those who stage death scenes in the theatre or the movies often try to do it in the style of reportage, as pseudo-documentary.

[IQ89]

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When it's real, it's different.


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I didn't mean sitcoms or movies you d-bag!

[Mickey Brausch]

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I didn't mean sitcoms or movies you d-bag!

[/ QUOTE ] I didn't mean you meant sitcoms or movies you prada!