Death Penalty

[wx247]

Just wondering here what everyone's thoughts are regarding the death penalty. I hope I don't open a can of worms.

[j]

100% ... but I would go one step further. Impose the sentence within one year.

[hunter84]

I voted. Just my opinion.

[azsnowman]

AMEN j.......no appeals, no B.S., HANG the SOB'S....like it's said, "Any eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" You kill someone, YOU deserve to die too! "Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses!"

Dennis

[stormchazer]

Hard to say I am pro-death penalty but anti-abortion. I have to look at it case by case.

[Guest]

My vote is no. There's no correction to death, nobody can be so sure or so right to kill someone else.
What happens if somebody is executed and then he's proven to be innocent? I guess we should kill the judge, the jury and the executioner for omicide...

Ciao
Paolo

[Josephine96]

I am anti death penalty and pro abortion {pro abortion depending on the circumstance though}. You'd see me in front of the state prisons with a picket sign everytime they send someone to die

[GalvestonDuck]

Terrorists - YES! Child predators - YES! Certain other situations -- depends. I think it helps in some cases to first determine WHY and HOW someone killed someone else. A drunk driver who causes a death should die. A robber who guns down a convenient store clerk should die. However, a kid who goes off in a fit of mad rage and opens fire on his classmates or a disgruntled worker who does the same with his former employers should be dealt with first. The same applies for a mother who drowns her five children or for a stalker who preys on an actress and then shoots her as she stands in her doorway.

In my opinion, it doesn't help to just say, "You're a killer!" and pull the switch. How will that stop the next one? It might deter a robber from shooting someone or a Klansman from dragging a guy behind a truck or a sniper from going on a killing spree. But it won't stop the next distraught postal employee, teacher, or whatever else, who begins to feel the world closing in on him and is certain that everyone is against him, from taking the extreme attention-getting measure of bringing a load of rifles, locking the doors, taking hostages, and waiting to either kill all who are with him or to be killed in a suicide-by-cop scenario.

Until we determine what causes this kind of behavior, we won't be able to stop it before it happens. It would be more beneficial if we learn to recognize people with the potential to kill BEFORE they kill than to act AFTER another load of bodies get taken out in body bags.

[AussieMark]

Even though I liv in Australia I think we should have it for cases where absolutely everything points to the killer and there is no doubt or slight chance of Inocence.

You may feel guilty about sending someone to death but to ease that you look at what they did and that guilt turns to RAGE and u can't wait to dispose of them.

Does anyone know that status on the Washington DC Sniper Case.

[wx247]

100% ... but I would go one step further. Impose the sentence within one year.

We agree on something j! Wow.

[mf_dolphin]

I am definitely PRO death penalty. It's not the solution for every case but when there is no doubt and the crime warrants it, PULL THE SWITCH!

The DC Sniper case is being handled in 2 seperate trials Mark. The first case, John Allen Muhammad, went into jury deliberations today. He was the older of the two. Malvo's trial has just started but they are in recess today because some of the evidence has not been released from the first case yet.

[Guest]

AMEN j.......no appeals, no B.S., HANG the SOB'S....like it's said, "Any eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" You kill someone, YOU deserve to die too!

I agree completely Dennis.

[JCT777]

As unpopular as this is going to sound, I do not and cannot support a death penalty. I believe there is a higher power that decides what happens to people who murder others here on this earth. The whole "eye for an eye" thing came from the Old Testament. I don't believe you will find this anywhere in the New Testament. And I am sure if Jesus had commented on it, he would not say "Well, since it is a revenge thing, we can just overlook the 'Thou shalt not kill' commandment".

But besides the religious aspects, killing is one of those things that just bothers my conscience. I would rather see a murderer locked in isolation for the rest of his/her life than be killed. Even if the murderer took the life of someone I care about.

[opera ghost]

I'm still trying to decide on my opinion on this one. In some cases I think to myself- Wow... The world would be much better without that person breathing the air (Timmothy McVeigh comes to mind) In other cases I wonder if death is really the answer or if rehabilitation/life incarceration is more reasonable.

I'm still on the fence and have no desire to get off it it immediatly.

[Stephanie]

100% ... but I would go one step further. Impose the sentence within one year.

I agree - there should be the ability for appeals just in case, God forbid, the person sentenced is actually innocent, but it shouldn't take years and years.

[blizzard]

As unpopular as this is going to sound, I do not and cannot support a death penalty. I believe there is a higher power that decides what happens to people who murder others here on this earth. The whole "eye for an eye" thing came from the Old Testament. I don't believe you will find this anywhere in the New Testament. And I am sure if Jesus had commented on it, he would not say "Well, since it is a revenge thing, we can just overlook the 'Thou shalt not kill' commandment".

But besides the religious aspects, killing is one of those things that just bothers my conscience. I would rather see a murderer locked in isolation for the rest of his/her life than be killed. Even if the murderer took the life of someone I care about.

I was just wondering if you feel that the New Testament makes the Old Testament obsolete?

And it is not a "revenge" thing. IMO

I am not sure which way to go on this subject. But since it is legal in some states, I agree that it should be carried out within a timely manner if it is to be done at all.

[JCT777]

I was just wondering if you feel that the New Testament makes the Old Testament obsolete?

And it is not a "revenge" thing. IMO

IMO, killing someone because they have killed could be construed as revenge. And it certainly is revenge if you deem the act as "an eye for an eye".

I believe that certain laws and teachings in the Old Testament were replaced by the New Covanent. Jesus was more of a "turn the other cheek" man than an "eye for an eye" man. Not that I am saying we should let murderers continue to murder. But we have the option of letting them spend their lives in jail. Let God pass the final judgement.

[stormchazer]

I'm still trying to decide on my opinion on this one. In some cases I think to myself- Wow... The world would be much better without that person breathing the air (Timmothy McVeigh comes to mind) In other cases I wonder if death is really the answer or if rehabilitation/life incarceration is more reasonable.

I'm still on the fence and have no desire to get off it it immediatly.

Yeah...thats the rub for me. What if we are wrong? What if he/she is innocent. McVeigh was cut-and-dry but there are many more that are not.

[blizzard]

Life in prison costs us, the taxpayers big bucks. If it is cut and dried and no doubt about the guilt of the offender, I can see the benefits of capital punishment. There are so many sex offenders and drug traffickers that are parolled early due to the fact that our prison system is so overcrowded. Those convicted of certain crimes that warrant the death penalty, should have one chance at an appeal, and then let 'em have it. Clear out the cells. For those states that do not have the death penalty, institute it, clear out the prisons. Put that tax money to better use such as schools. Our children deserve the education more than a lifer in prison does. But who gets it? The lifer, free of charge to him.

[mf_dolphin]

What ever happened to the concept of "Hard Labor"? If we put Ross Peroit in charge of our prison system we would be making a profit instead of spending our tax dollars keeping habitual offenders in food and clothes. Not to mention VCRs, color TV's, weight room etc...