Why I am NOT for the death penalty

[nadinbrzezinski]

wrongful convictions and wrongful executions.

There are moral reasons too... but you cannot guarantee 100% that every conviction is correct.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. You got it....I'm with you.

Recommended.

[muffin1]

2. K&R n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

3. I disagree, respectfully.

If the only reason to outlaw the death penalty is that it could be applied in error, then that does not address the moral issue at all. And that leads one to have to answer "yes" to the question, "Well, if you knew absolutely that the person was guilty, there was no chance of mistake, would the death penalty be okay?"

The death penalty is not an issue of whether or not it is applied accurately. It is an issue of morality, and imho it is morally wrong in ALL cases, regardless the nature of the crime, regardless the certainty that it's being applied to the guilty person.

It's really so much easier to say "No, never, not in any case," than it is to finagle around which cases and which degree of accuracy is acceptable. In no case. Period. End of discussion. Not in the Connecticut case. Not in any case. Never. No.



Tansy Gold, who rarely comes out in favor of absolutes but this is one time when she does
(edited for stupid typo)

[leftstreet]

9. +1

Nicely stated

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Why I said also there are also moral reasons

but that's ok. I don't expect reading comprehension anymore.

Suffice it to say that every mistake made, and man (or rarely woman) that is wrongfully killed by the state cannot be corrected.

I am against it on moral grounds too...

But that would be ANOTHER and MUCH LONGER, and useless, leading to a flame war, they always do... post.

I don't have the energy for that.

[Tansy_Gold]

12. Which was why I **respectfully** disagreed

I just wanted to fill in the moral reason, at least as I saw it.

Not screamin' at you or nothin', just a respectful disagreement. And it had nothing to do with a lack of reading comprehension. I readz jus' fine.



TG

[elleng]

4. Absolutely.

One of the reasons I went to law school.

[spirit of wine]

5. Reflections On The Guillotine

By Albert Camus is a good essay to read on capital punishment. Funny about some of the things Camus mentioned in the essay about terrorism were a problem then and still is today. You cannot kill an idea, only its supporters.

[emilyg]

6. Had it been my family

in Conn. - I would gladly kill.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Trust me on this, I have transported to the hospital

people that are even more horrific than they... and I would not kill them either. If they died in a shoot out with the cops, that's another story... like some of these boy scouts almost did.

Suffice to say one of those boy scouts was probably responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, both directly and indirectly. And I would still NOT pull the trigger, lower the blade, hang them, shoot them, or whatever other method the state uses.

[emilyg]

17. Each to his own. In my

much younger days I worked hard to get a convicted killer off. Time has changed my opinion on the death penalty.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Yep, and I wonder how or why, not you... but why

many Americans as they age they become more hard core... never mind most Americans have never really seen or met truly horrific people... at times I wonder what is in the water? And it will make it very difficult to join the rest of the world in not doing it.

Of course we could always go back to public executions... yes on all channels, on the tevee, you cannot escape it... the last time popularity dropped fast was in the 1920s when they were public. A few botched executions and the outcry was amazing. One reason they moved inside the walls. But if we are going to practice it... make them public, VERY PUBLIC.

[Booster]

20. It's already been done - Oswald.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. That was not a public execution

or was he already convicted and I missed that?

Nah I mean in the middle of the day all channels in a given state go to the execution chamber... or preferably a gallows OUTSIDE the walls. Firing squad maybe?

[LAGC]

7. Even in cases where you're 100% sure you've convicted a really bad person...

It often costs more to house the convict on death row for 10+ years (with all the appeals) than it does to just let them live their natural lives out in less expensive general population.

The only exception is if the convict WANTS to die and waives all appeals to let it happen faster, but that's pretty rare.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Even then the cost is high

the state has to do at least ONE, it is automatic, and not waivareable. (At least in this state and in military justice)

[gateley]

8. I think it's barbaric and it sickens me that we as human beings accept this. nt

[applegrove]

23. I agree.

[readmoreoften]

14. In Texas, you can't even guarantee that 10% of the convictions are correct.

"The Law of Parties" means everyone who is connected to someone connected to a murder gets on Death Row. Like the borderline mentally retarded guy who was pumping gas and looking for change to buy a soda when the guy from the apartment complex who asked for the ride spontaneously shot the clerk. Or like one guy who was driving people home from a party and a friend of a friend in the car asked to get dropped off at a liquor store. Unbeknownst to everyone, the guy robbed the liquor store later on that night and now everyone who was in the car gets death row.

It's supposed to be a "mastermind" law. In reality, it's a kill 'em all let god sort 'em out law.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. IT is sad that we are in a country still struck in ...

the tench century BCE in some ways.

Yes, we have a little in common with Saudi Arabia... where people are executed for religious reason. Yes, there is quite a bit of religion in the courts.

[phasma ex machina]

15. I'm against it on strictly moral grounds. Legalisms get too convoluted for me. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. I am also against it on moral grounds

but the horror of executing INNOCENT people is one that might be more real for some folks.

[Rhythm]

22. Another against it in ALL cases.

The civilian authorities should NEVER be in the business of killing people.

[Voice for Peace]

24. Great movie I just saw on the subject: Pierrepoint

True story of a hangman in Britain. Despite gruesome subject it is a beautiful film

[muffin1]

25. I just heard of this yesterday.

Claude Jones is believed to have been executed for a murder he didn't commit. With a sentence of life in prison, the wrongly convicted can always be released later. With the death penalty, well...not so much.

I really do not understand the sentiment that the occasional mistake is somehow okay.

http://www.examiner.com/anti-establishment-in-national/texas-executes-innocent-man

[eppur_se_muova]

26. Been against it since seeing this documentary ... (yes, it happened in TX)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(documentary)