The Death Penalty - To what degree is it right or wrong?

[Jack Haywood]

Ah, the death penalty. One of the oldest forms of punishments to exist. Some people think it should be used, albeit only for very serious crimes like child rape, others think it should never be used at all and a few (mainly in totalitarian countries and people who adore them) think the death penalty should be used very liberally for all kinds of things.

What do you all think? Also, if executions were televised or live streamed, would you watch them?

 

[oldTireWater]

I'm all for fewer people, and I believe in revenge. However, I don't trust the legal system enough to be completely on board with the death penalty. Put me in the "mildly" column.

 

[A Useless Fish]

I am for it in principal, but I think keeping people around for decades after sentencing for it can sometimes make a mockery of the sentence. Appeals are fine, but they need streamlining. Also, we need more variety of execution methods, to spice things up.

Also, an additional question to add to that of the OP: If executions were televised or live streamed, would you watch it?

 

[Jack Haywood]

Also, an additional question to add to that of the OP: If executions were televised or live streamed, would you watch it?

I shall dutifully add that.

 

[Recoil]

The biggest thing that I think the death penalty has going for it is how much cheaper it is to kill someone than it is to house them for the next 60 years. At the end of the day it's the taxpayer who foots that bill, while corporations use inmates as slave labor to build products that are marketed as being "Made in the USA".

 

[RG 448]

It should be abolished completely and anyone who disagrees is wrong.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

I actually wouldn't be against the termination of those for whom it is determined that they cannot possibly be rehabilitated and are definite threats to the lives of others. The issue is that unless you can figure out an exception for such cases to the usual rules for capital punishment and keep it from being abused somehow, you're going to have to run all capital cases through the same series of appeals taking the same amount of time and money anyway.

I'm of the opinion that there are worse things than death, anyhow.

Also: anyone who would watch a livestreamed execution might have serious issues.

EDIT: It should be noted that in the initial hypothetical I posited we're assuming we have the killer dead-to-rights, no mistake about it, and that there's no reason to believe that an appeal will result in the sentence being fucked with.

 

[An Account]

Eh, I'm not wild about it. Especially with the way it's used today. The appeals process is so long, and so expensive, that it's probably better to just let them rot in jail. I think we should be taking more advantage of the labor opportunities that our overcrowded prisons present. Spending the remainder of your life doing grueling, thankless hard labor sounds worse than death to be completely honest.

 

[Just A Butt]

It certainly doesn't work as a deterrent, but as Recon said, it's cheaper than housing them for life. However, it still ain't cheap.

I'm all for an Escape from New York style prison, where we just drop these fuckers off on some island somewhere and let them kill each other. No outside food or medical support, just survival of the fittest.

May I suggest Florida for a possible site? It's pretty fucked already anyway.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

It certainly doesn't work as a deterrent, but as Recon said, it's cheaper than housing them for life. However, it still ain't cheap.

I'm all for an Escape from New York style prison, where we just drop these fuckers off on some island somewhere and let them kill each other. No outside food or medical support, just survival of the fittest.

May I suggest Florida for a possible site? It's pretty fucked already anyway.

Would need to figure out a way to separate it from the mainland.

 

[Just A Butt]

Would need to figure out a way to separate it from the mainland.

A big-ass canal and BUILD THAT WALL.

 

[Clop]

To me the death penalty is a bad solution to a shitty problem. Before anyone climbs down my fucking throat, it's not black and white, there will always be those moments where you can't just say "no, never kill" - life would be so goddamned easy if anything worked like that. As a standard punishment it's just a bad use of resources and will inevitably have its share of innocent victims.

I've heard it numerous times; "What if you knew without a shadow of a doubt that the person was guilty?" and the answer from me will always be: "But I don't." Even one innocent victim of death penalty is bad collateral. It's not a question of whether the person deserves death, it's whether we deserve to be forced to kill a person as long as we have other options. You wouldn't trust your government to handle school lunches, let alone whether someone should die.

As for the "it's expensive to keep them alive" yeah, it is, because the courts and bureaucracy are fucking wasteful. I still wouldn't support the death penalty even if someone just volunteered to cap their ass with a shotgun. I also wouldn't fight the convictions of serial killers, rapist-slash-murderers who took down entire families like it was nothing being strapped to the chair. It should always be an absolute extreme option to an extreme problem with no repentance. If they want to find Jesus in their cells while they spend the rest of their lives in there, that's fine. If they're any threat to the prison staff or other prisoners, no mercy. As much as I hate the death penalty, I'm not looking to risk anyone's life for the sake of a principle.

But euthanasia, that I do encourage. A prisoner with a life sentence should have the freedom to choose death. Clean and easy, just write your name down and sit on the chair, no long-winded court appeals. Hell, just hand them a rope and say good night.

 

[TaterBot]

I have little to no faith in the judicial system, especially juries. Jurors who yesterday were behind the chip counter at the local convenience store; today sitting in a courthouse deciding matters of life and death. They're not trained, educated, or experienced to decide legal issues.

When you're summoned, you must appear or get excused which isn't easy. Once you're there, you are not free to leave w/o judge's approval under penalty of law. "Civic duty ', my ass. You're quite literally a prisoner at that point.
The fights in a juryroom are ridiculous. Emotions are king. As a writer once said, "He surveyed the jury members sardonically and thanked the gods that neither his life nor his freedom depended on their intelligence." People who want to be jurors exhibit "conscious self-importance and simulated modesty."

tl;dr The judicial system as is, is too incompetent and/or crooked to pronounce death.

 

[QI 541]

I strongly agree with the death penalty and I think it should be applied to all other members of kiwifarms.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

I strongly agree with the death penalty and I think it should be applied to all other members of kiwifarms.

You sound sort of upset. Want to talk about it?

 

[Just A Butt]

I strongly agree with the death penalty and I think it should be applied to all other members of kiwifarms.

We are all good boys. We dindu nuffin

 

[MemeGray]

Prisoners should have to prove their worth to society and if they can't they should be used up as a resource

 

[Gustav Schuchardt]

I strongly agree with the death penalty and I think it should be applied to all other members of kiwifarms.

String 'em up I say. It's the only language wot those bastards understand.

 

[Lemmingwise]

People always go on about how expensive the death sentence is, what with all the appeals and such.

I think the solution is obvious: make death sentences easily accessable and affordable for everyone. No child left behind.

 

[StyrofoamFridge]

I believe the death penalty is merciful for individuals who commit serious, heinous acts such as murder or violent rape. It is unjust, in my opinion, to leave people in impoverished and stagnant places for the rest of their lives. Death penalty should be an option on the table of a judge and jury, in certain situations. Violent and dangerous inmates often pose a danger to guards and prisoners. Escapes can still happen, even today.

The death penalty should be as painless as possible, swift, and justifiable. It is mercy to put such horrible individuals out of their misery. I believe executions of people should be open to the public, at least in a live stream. Society has gone too soft; The consequences of murder can be a reinforcement to individuals to make better choices before robbing the life of another.