Capital Punishment For Murderers

[drunkencowboy]

So you think that because there is a chance the accused person might not actually be guilty, we should put him in prison for life instead of killing him?

[drunkencowboy]

Hey David, you should do a post about our justice system in america...

[jimmytrick]

Which costs more, dealing with the range of issues involving capital punishment, or the costs associated with arresting, trying, and imprisoning our people for non-violent drug offenses?

What percentage of drug related violent crime can be attributed to existing drug law?

Can a compeling arguement be made for life imprisonment of Congressional nitwits?

When will the poker related violence start and will Nancy Grace do a show about it or is she limited to babies roasting in ovens?

Did I ever tell you folks about the poker game I ran in prison?

[Mr Rick]

[ QUOTE ]
Murder rates have declined since capital punishment was reinstated. That's evidence isn't it?

[/ QUOTE ]
No. Becuase there is no way to know if other factors are in play (i.e., this was not a controlled experiment). I heard a much better theory. After Roe v Wade (circa 1975)millions of abortions have significantly lowered the 18-30 year old pool of potential murderers and other violent criminals at just about the same time that murder rates and rates of other violent crimes dropped precipitously (1993-2005).

[Mr Rick]

I was a proponent of capital punishment until I saw the movie "The Thin Blue Line" about 25 or 30 years ago. I now have mixed feelings. If you could guarantee 100% that someone was guilty, then the conversation could be started, IMO. But that isn't nor do I believe ever will be the case.

I am not religious but I have given a lot of thought to the ten commandments which seem so important to so many americans. Having read the bible I believe it was written by very wise men. I think that one of the main reasons for the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment is the way in which it affects the person who kills. I imagine it would haunt my life even if I thought I was 100% justified (i.e., protecting myself or my family). Because I would always wonder - was there any other way I could have saved myself or my family without ending somebody else's life? Even if that other person did not deserve to live, in my eyes. I believe that the death penalty haunts us as a nation, in this way. I would argue that there is very little to lose by abolishing it and establishing life without parole sentences instead. But there would be much to gain.

My personal contemporary heroes are Ghandi and Martin Luther King. They moved nations without killing a single individual. Can't we do the same?

[drunkencowboy]

[ QUOTE ]
I was a proponent of capital punishment until I saw the movie "The Thin Blue Line" about 25 or 30 years ago. I now have mixed feelings. If you could guarantee 100% that someone was guilty, then the conversation could be started, IMO. But that isn't nor do I believe ever will be the case.

I am not religious but I have given a lot of thought to the ten commandments which seem so important to so many americans. Having read the bible I believe it was written by very wise men. I think that one of the main reasons for the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment is the way in which it affects the person who kills. I imagine it would haunt my life even if I thought I was 100% justified (i.e., protecting myself or my family). Because I would always wonder - was there any other way I could have saved myself or my family without ending somebody else's life? Even if that other person did not deserve to live, in my eyes. I believe that the death penalty haunts us as a nation, in this way. I would argue that there is very little to lose by abolishing it and establishing life without parole sentences instead. But there would be much to gain.

My personal contemporary heroes are Ghandi and Martin Luther King. They moved nations without killing a single individual. Can't we do the same?

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, you sound like a queer. If someone is going to harm your family, and you therefore think they dont deserve to live, you do what you have to do and dont be such a whiny bitch. Take the pistol out of their mouth and blow the smoke off it like clint eastwood lol.

as for the beginning of your post (and alot of peoples posts) - you dont want to give someone the death penalty because theres a chance they might be innocent? But your okay with locking them up for the rest of their life?

[Mr Rick]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I was a proponent of capital punishment until I saw the movie "The Thin Blue Line" about 25 or 30 years ago. I now have mixed feelings. If you could guarantee 100% that someone was guilty, then the conversation could be started, IMO. But that isn't nor do I believe ever will be the case.

I am not religious but I have given a lot of thought to the ten commandments which seem so important to so many americans. Having read the bible I believe it was written by very wise men. I think that one of the main reasons for the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment is the way in which it affects the person who kills. I imagine it would haunt my life even if I thought I was 100% justified (i.e., protecting myself or my family). Because I would always wonder - was there any other way I could have saved myself or my family without ending somebody else's life? Even if that other person did not deserve to live, in my eyes. I believe that the death penalty haunts us as a nation, in this way. I would argue that there is very little to lose by abolishing it and establishing life without parole sentences instead. But there would be much to gain.

My personal contemporary heroes are Ghandi and Martin Luther King. They moved nations without killing a single individual. Can't we do the same?

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, you sound like a queer. If someone is going to harm your family, and you therefore think they dont deserve to live, you do what you have to do and dont be such a whiny bitch. Take the pistol out of their mouth and blow the smoke off it like clint eastwood lol.


[/ QUOTE ]
First off, I generally enjoy your posts, mostly I lol. Of course I would do what I have to do. That you think I would be a "whiny bitch" for considering what the affect would be to the rest of my life is sad. I know young men who have come back from Iraq completely altered by what they had to do to protect themselves. They are distressed and distraught. I do not think of them as "whiny bitches" either.

[ QUOTE ]
as for the beginning of your post (and alot of peoples posts) - you dont want to give someone the death penalty because theres a chance they might be innocent? But you're okay with locking them up for the rest of their life?

[/ QUOTE ]
Your logic here is poor. Of course I am not okay with locking them up for the rest of their lives if they are innocent. As soon as they are found innocent they should and would be released. An outcome impossible if they already had been executed. By not executing people you give yourself the opportunity to correct mistakes that will inevitably be made.

[drunkencowboy]

touche