The death penalty -- it's unworkable

[buckyparsons]

"Now, after searching analysis by our country's top legal minds, the institute has concluded that the system it created does not work and cannot be fixed. It concluded that we cannot devise a death penalty system that will ensure fairness in process or outcome, or even that innocent people will not be executed."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-traynor4-2010feb04,0,4779581.story?track=rss

[Mamie]

"Now, after searching analysis by our country's top legal minds, the institute has concluded that the system it created does not work and cannot be fixed. It concluded that we cannot devise a death penalty system that will ensure fairness in process or outcome, or even that innocent people will not be executed."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-traynor4-2010feb04,0,4779581.story?track=rss

Sorry for your recent loss, bp.

[aubrey04]

I agree. The Dp has never been a deterrent, nor has it been equally appointed. It is barbaric and inhumane.

There are too many innocent people who have been exonerated do to dna results.

Killing someone to teach them killing is wrong is idiotic.

I disagree with you. The fact is deterrence is only one of the "prongs" of sentencing in the United States.. the others are rehabilitation and punishment. Barbaric murderers (like the killers of Channon Christian & Chris Newsom, Joseph Duncan, Charles Ng, Jonathan & Reginald Carr, etc) can NOT be rehabilitated, so that "prong" doesn't apply..

The prospect of the DP might not deter murderers from killing.. but again, that's only 2 prongs that don't apply.

But PUNISHMENT does apply here. You rape, kill and torture someone, then you should die too. I don't think the DP is trying to "teach" anyone, anything.. It is punishment, plain & simple.. and a just punishment in MANY cases.

Duncan, Lemaricus Davidson, Jonathan/Reginald Carr, etc are barbaric and inhumane garbage who need to be wiped off the planet.

[impartial]

I disagree with you. The fact is deterrence is only one of the "prongs" of sentencing in the United States.. the others are rehabilitation and punishment. Barbaric murderers (like the killers of Channon Christian & Chris Newsom, Joseph Duncan, Charles Ng, Jonathan & Reginald Carr, etc) can NOT be rehabilitated, so that "prong" doesn't apply..

The prospect of the DP might not deter murderers from killing.. but again, that's only 2 prongs that don't apply.

But PUNISHMENT does apply here. You rape, kill and torture someone, then you should die too. I don't think the DP is trying to "teach" anyone, anything.. It is punishment, plain & simple.. and a just punishment in MANY cases.

Duncan, Lemaricus Davidson, Jonathan/Reginald Carr, etc are barbaric and inhumane garbage who need to be wiped off the planet.


Then let them mingle with other barbaric inhumane garbage.

Killing is killing ... there's no 2 ways around that. If we truly want to teach people not to kill, then we would not as a society say it's okay to kill in war, it's okay for a jury to pull the killing trigger, it's okay for a judge pull the killing trigger.

It's total hypocracy to say that killing one human being by another single human being is evil, but killing one human being at the decision of a group of human beings is justice.

imo

[Humdinger]

I agree. The Dp has never been a deterrent, nor has it been equally appointed. It is barbaric and inhumane.

There are too many innocent people who have been exonerated do to dna results.

Killing someone to teach them killing is wrong is idiotic.

Your bolded statement is rather redundant, considering the fact that the criminal who experienced the DP would be DEAD, right? :blink:

You can't "teach" a dead person anything at all!

That also isn't the intended purpose for the DP, nor was it ever.

In fact, I don't believe that ANY criminal punishment is necessarily meted out in order to "teach" the criminal not to commit crimes, but rather, to remove criminals who simply refuse to conform with the norms and mores of society.

The actual LESSON, or the "teaching" part of it is first of all, learned early in life as we are familiarized with basic rules and laws that we have to obey. That rightfully for most people, is started on a smaller level during toddler hood.

Bottom line after that is that it's then up to each individual whether or not to actually accept those rules and laws, and apply them in their daily lives, and THAT is where criminals go wrong. They think they can escape conformity, and thankfully, the DP, when applied, wipes that notion out in one fell swoop.

[HolyMoly]

Your bolded statement is rather redundant, considering the fact that the criminal who experienced the DP would be DEAD, right? :blink:

You can't "teach" a dead person anything at all!

That also isn't the intended purpose for the DP, nor was it ever.

In fact, I don't believe that ANY criminal punishment is necessarily meted out in order to "teach" the criminal not to commit crimes, but rather, to remove criminals who simply refuse to conform with the norms and mores of society.

The actual LESSON, or the "teaching" part of it is first of all, learned early in life as we are familiarized with basic rules and laws that we have to obey. That rightfully for most people, is started on a smaller level during toddler hood.

Bottom line after that is that it's then up to each individual whether or not to actually accept those rules and laws, and apply them in their daily lives, and THAT is where criminals go wrong. They think they can escape conformity, and thankfully, the DP, when applied, wipes that notion out in one fell swoop.


Unfortunately, it also wipes out the lives of the wrongly convicted, in one fell swoop. Interesting enough, your post doesn't adress that point.

[Humdinger]

Unfortunately, it also wipes out the lives of the wrongly convicted, in one fell swoop. Interesting enough, your post doesn't adress that point.

I think you're looking for perfection, for absolutes, and there is no such thing.

Whether it be incarcerated or DP, there simply IS no perfect system, and the USA as far as I've seen, at least has the best system in the world, overall.

[HolyMoly]

I think you're looking for perfection, for absolutes, and there is no such thing.

Whether it be incarcerated or DP, there simply IS no perfect system, and the USA as far as I've seen, at least has the best system in the world, overall.


Finding a satisfactory level of perfection shouldn't come at the expense of innocent people, who have been wrongfully convicted. It can happen to anyone, not just the perceived undesirable.

[Humdinger]

Finding a satisfactory level of perfection shouldn't come at the expense of innocent people, who have been wrongfully convicted. It can happen to anyone, not just the perceived undesirable.

Finding a satisfactory level of perfection shouldn't also come at the expense of say, a murdered, abuse or sexual abuse of baby or child, which those murderers specifically and most definitely DO deserve the DP in my eyes.

And they deserve death swiftly, after their FIRST offense, and certainly not after "attempted rehabilitation" which is lame and impossible.

Look how many of our babies have been murdered or sexually abused by REPEAT criminals.

The criminal deserves to be dead, period.

But debating the DP is similar in nature to debating politics or religion. You are never going to convince me of your stance, and the opposite is also true. So in that light, we'll simply have to agree to disagree, but I for one, am more than elated that this nation believes in, and enforces the DP.

In fact, I don't believe this nation applies it often enough, and certainly not swift enough, but that again is my ability of acceptance in imperfection in our system.