The death penalty

[Adam_ 1,042]

I'll try to keep this a bit shorter to not scare as many people off

 

Just gonna quote the wiki in regards to where this is still a thing and some numbers

 

On to the discussion at hand. The death penalty isn't a thing in a lot of countries anymore and even many of those who do have it in place don't really use it. There's a small number of countries that still do with many of them being rather low numbers, and some being rather high, with China at a staggering 1000+. 

 

Obviously you may live somewhere where there hasn't been any executions in recent years or that doesn't use the death penalty at all since not everyone on these forums lives in the same country.

 

My question to you is if you live somewhere with the death penalty, do you think it should be abolished? If not, but you're unhappy with how it's currently carried out there or how it's applied, what would you like to see change?

 

If you're from a country that has abolished it or doesn't really use it, what do you think about the way your country handles it could be successfully applied to others? If you haven't abolished it but it isn't in use, why do you think that is? Would you be fine with it being abolished? Do you feel it actually should be used more, or if it's abolished there, do you think it shouldn't be?

 

Personally for me living in the states I don't really see an insane need for it. There are some truly fucked up people out there, who are likely beyond rehabilitation (I know some people may not agree with this), but even then, i'd much rather have them sitting in jail suffering instead of essentially getting the "easy" way out. I looked around a bit and found a number of articles stating that it's actually cheaper to keep them in prison forever than it is to execute them though i'd be interested to see if there's data proving otherwise. I don't know if there's any cases where it's really necessary we just off them, though i'm open to hearing examples or arguments. 

 

From what I saw of the executions done in 2020 I don't really think we're any worse off with those people gone, but I don't know that it was really necessary to kill them either. There's also obviously arguments about whether the death penalty is humane and playing God and all that which i've seen people use in the past. If there's legitimately people undeserving (obviously I know this is a very subjective thing) getting it, then surely things could change, and I wouldn't mind them abolishing it as a whole as I don't feel we gain much from it.

 

[@True 2k8 3,227]

This is my preference:

 

The Pit is a prison located in the ancient part of the world, which had established such a fearsome reputation that it became referred to as "the worst Hell on Earth". The Pit also featured a well-like structure which the prisoners were free to climb in order to attempt their escape. Nearly everyone who tried the climb failed due to the gap between two ledges being too far to jump. 

[Wee Man 1,348]

The death penalty is bat shit insane and shouldn't be used in any country. The justice system cannot be trusted enough to not end the lives of innocent people.

[Brazz 412]

Death penalty is pretty insane to me, especially when the data I've seen shows it's the more expensive route. I can't think of a situation where it makes sense to me, not in our modern times at least.

[Justyn 445]

yes

[@The End 2,069]

Some questions I'd ask:

 

How much does the presence of a death penalty detract potential criminals?

How much closure does it give to the families and loved ones of the victim(s)?

How much does it cost versus keeping the prisoner in the prison system indefinitely? 

[≈Flukejiver 1,185]

Tough question to talk about. It depends on a lot of different factors in my opinion. But the death penalty as you said is the easy way out.

[Howl 946]

I find it impractical and don't see a need for it

[Kura 373]

As much as I think it's fair to give the death penalty to rapists, mass murderers, serial killers, child molesters and sick minded individuals who are way beyond recovery, I do recognize the justice system is very dubious, flawed and fallible. In which case, I rather deal with unjust sentences to such psychopaths — e.g., just a few years in prison — than dealing with the death penalty given to innocents.

[Kim 125]

In America, the death penalty shouldn't be a thing. As it harms more people of color who found later in the time to not be guilty of their charges. 

[Josh 137]

I dunno, perhaps as weird as it sounds it should be a voluntary option for those with life sentences, but you’d need a pretty robust framework to ensure people are not coerced into it against their will. I’m similarly for euthanasia and it’s not so much of a stretch between. 
 

I don’t think anyone should be sentenced to death. Even when you think it’s a clear cut case, there’s been enough times where it’s been overturned as new evidence came to light... sometimes it was close to an irreversible mistake. Makes you wonder how many mistakes there have been, and I’m sure over time more will come to light. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Josh

[Alex 35]

10 minutes ago, The End said:

Some questions I'd ask:

 

How much does the presence of a death penalty detract potential criminals?

How much closure does it give to the families and loved ones of the victim(s)?

How much does it cost versus keeping the prisoner in the prison system indefinitely? 

I can't speak to the first two, but I can answer your last point. Due to the cost of the appeals process, it's actually cheaper for the state to keep someone in the prison system indefinitely (i.e. life sentence with/without the chance of parole). 

 

On topic I think the death penalty is completely inhumane. The amount of people who have been executed and later exonerated of the crime they were convicted of is extremely tough to look at. If people have committed truly heinous acts, and there are plenty of individuals who have, let them spend the rest of their lives in prison separated from society. 

 

 

[Dickus 781]

As long as the potential for an innocent person to be executed exists, capital punishment should be off the table

[Dickus 781]

Uhhh I mean ape no kill ape

[Vanzant 1,383]

I actually agree with true lmao

 

 

Honestly I don't agree with bring able to decide who lives or dies. To each their own though