Death Penalty

[SoonerCoug]

A discussion on NPR this morning got me thinking about the death penalty. I've always had mixed feelings about it. A law professor and supporter of the death penalty was arguing that lethal injection is far too easy, and that all death sentences should be by firing squad. He also argued that a member of the jury and the judge should be required to witness it. (In other words, he thinks that we shield ourselves too much from the process and make it too painless.) I thought that was an interesting thought.

To me the entire argument comes down to a single question: How many innocent deaths would be acceptable? We are clearly executing innocent people in this country. Is a rate of 1 per 1000 acceptable? 1 in 10,000? 1 in 100? This is a huge moral dilemma that we tend to neglect. Furthermore, I think the fact that we occasionally execute innocent people is the best argument in support of lethal injection over a more painful approach.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

A discussion on NPR this morning got me thinking about the death penalty. I've always had mixed feelings about it. A law professor and supporter of the death penalty was arguing that lethal injection is far to easy, and that all death sentences should be by firing squad. He also argued that a member of the jury and the judge should be required to witness it. (In other words, he thinks that we shield ourselves too much from the process and make it too painless.) I thought that was an interesting thought.

To me the entire argument comes down to a single question: How many innocent deaths would be acceptable? We are clearly executing innocent people in this country. Is a rate of 1 per 1000 acceptable? 1 in 10,000? 1 in 100? This is a huge moral dilemma that we tend to neglect. Furthermore, I think the fact that we occasionally execute innocent people is the best argument in support of lethal injection over a more painful approach.

There's no evidence that suggests that the death penalty has any preventative effect on the murder rate. With that being the case, even one innocent guy being put to death is too much. I know there are guys that are obviously guilty that have done horrible things and definitely deserve to die, but it's not worth it if innocent people are put to death.

[cowboy]

I'm firmly in the anti-death penalty camp.

[creekster]

We discussed a fair number of related issues here:

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=9194&highlight=death+penalty

[dabrockster]

I am not sure there is any 1-100 or 1-1,000 etc that is acceptable for me for putting an innocent person to death..


I support the Death Penalty and I like the idea of what your professor said. Holding a jury etc accountable may help in the jdugement all around in all cases.. I think he makes a good point that we the public is as far away from it as possible. We only read about it in the news clippings and move on..

[Green Lantern]

The fact that the death penalty doesn't seem to be a deterrent to criminals is one reason I'm against it. Why are we doing if it doesn't prevent more crime? Is it just to feel like we've executed some measure of justice so we can feel better about ourselves? That seems like a poor reason to hang on to a barbaric practice. Our civilization needs to progress past executing people.

[il Padrino Ute]

I am a supporter of the death penalty but feel it should only be carried out if there is absolutely no doubt that the correct person is being executed.

That said, I have a couple of questions relating to it not being a deterrent:

- is it not a deterrent because there is such a significant period of time between the sentencing and the carrying out of the execution?

- would it be a more effective deterrent if the justice system was able to expedite the process?

- and to be snarky, how many people has Ted Bundy killed since he was executed?

Ignore the last question, really, but if someone could answer or try to answer the first two, I'd appreciate it. My opinion is that with the way DNA evidence is able to eliminate the innocents, why can't an execution be carried out much more quickly? I tend to believe that knowing that he'd be executed in a prompt manner may prevent some of those thugs from doing it, but then, what do I know?

[Eddie]

I'm OK with the concept of a death penalty. I have my doubts about its current application.

One aspect that drives me bonkers is the cost differential for trial and appeals when the potential sentence is death versus life without parole. If it seriously is that much cheaper to just lock them up and throw away the key - part of me thinks we should spend as little money as possible on them.

And I have a hard time ignoring the folks you hear about (another one just this morning) who have been imprisoned and then suddenly set free 17 years later when new evidence came to light which showed they were not the one who committed the crime.

Of course - in those instances I'm very curious as to what happened to mess up the case so badly. How did the guy get convicted? I tend to believe that with current science on our side those kinds of things are much less likely to occur now.

[creekster]

I
- is it not a deterrent because there is such a significant period of time between the sentencing and the carrying out of the execution?

It has been a long time since I read about this issue, but back in the day the studies suggested it was certainty of punishment, not severity of punishment that dterred. IOW, if you were sure you would be caught adn punished, you werre less likely to do it than if you thought you would get away with it, regardless of how severe the punishment was.

- would it be a more effective deterrent if the justice system was able to expedite the process?

No. This would not affect crimes of passion and as to the rest it comes down to certainty not severity. There was no suggestion that swiftness was a significant factor. No one thinks they will risk it becasue they will get to hang out on death row for a decade or two.

- and to be snarky, how many people has Ted Bundy killed since he was executed?

Exactly the same number he would have killed if he had been left in maximum security until his natural life expired.


A lot of this was discussed in the thread I linked.

[happyone]

I don't have a problem with the death penality per se, but the cost is something that gives me pause.

One question the sentence of life with out parole, what do you do with end of life medical issues? ie organ transplants

[Solon]

Foucault's Discipline and Punish tackles some of these issues in dealing with punishment of the body vs. punishment of the mind; public torture vs. private incarceration, etc.

Even if you only read the beginning, it's great stuff. (those who have read the beginning are agreeing with me)

[falafel]

Exactly the same number he would have killed if he had been left in maximum security until his natural life expired.

Except that he may have killed another prisoner.

[creekster]

Except that he may have killed another prisoner.

I suspect Il pad wouold find that to be a plus. Moreover, if he was kept in death row conditions he would not be able to do so.

[cougjunkie]

:usc:

[dabrockster]

=cougjunkie;292885]:usc:

:clap: