Here's why I favor a death sentence

mrstime said:
I only favor the DP for child molesters, because they never seem to get cured! for all others I believe life without the chance of parole is real punishment!
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That might be fine "IF and that's a big IF", it meant life... forever. But, as you see from my original post, life without parole didn't really mean life without parole.
 

squatting dog said:
I'd like to know more about his story. Can't form an opinion without all the facts.
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Let's just use you as an example...

You're outside working on your car and a little kid is snatched and killed that day. You didn't do it but you were outside and they have no other witnesses saying different.

You spend 20 years in prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Finally somehow there's a DNA test that proves your innocence and you could get out and be free.

However, if they changed the death row wait to 10 yrs and you get executed only for your family to find out 10 more years later you were killed for nothing....

Would you be ok with that? Not being snarky just an honest question. Because over the years they have discovered that some people spent years in prison that were innocent.
 
In general people complain about the death penalty, they complain about taxes to pay for prisons, they complain about places that try to rehab these folks to get them back into society as a productive member instead of a killer. We can't have it all ways.

And regardless of what they do, another murderer in the making is probably born each day. It won't end just because they do this or do that was the point I was trying to make.

I too don't think they should go unpunished. But I also don't think killing them makes us any better than them. It makes us the same in my eyes.

I could never vote for someone to be put to death. I just don't have that kind of hatred or evil or whatever you want to call it in me.

I think people who kill others have mental issues that stem from early life that never get dealt with. But if God can give someone who genuinely repents a second chance then we should at least consider it.

Mainly because none of us are perfect.
 
I'll bet just about everbody that has been wrongfully convicted in America couldn't afford expert legal representation.

The justice system is broken. If you don't have a lot of money to spend on your defense, the outcome is always worse for you :(

Right, wrong, or fairness plays a much smaller role in justice than having an expensive defense attorney.
 
We always prefer to have simple answers to complex situations, and this is no exception.
People aren't born violent or evil. If they were, then it would be a fault of genetics.
The culture we all grow up in plays a major role. Many things we are exposed to help shape who we become, but every recipe is different.

Our brain gets wired up in early childhood development, and it's vastly complicated, even for children who grow up in the same household. Perhaps one was bullied in school, or fell in with the wrong crowd, or internalized matters in a different perspective. Even siblings aren't treated equally.

I think much of violence and aggressive behavior comes from anger, lack of learned emotional regulation, poor self-image, drug experimentation, and damaged morals, values, and ethics. For some, it's a time bomb waiting to go off. It seems to me that the death penalty is assigning blame entirely to the individual, and that who they have become is 100% their choice. I used to think that because it was convenient but have since learned it's complicated.
 
bobcat said:
We always prefer to have simple answers to complex situations, and this is no exception.
People aren't born violent or evil. If they were, then it would be a fault of genetics.
The culture we all grow up in plays a major role. Many things we are exposed to help shape who we become, but every recipe is different.

Our brain gets wired up in early childhood development, and it's vastly complicated, even for children who grow up in the same household. Perhaps one was bullied in school, or fell in with the wrong crowd, or internalized matters in a different perspective. Even siblings aren't treated equally.

I think much of violence and aggressive behavior comes from anger, lack of learned emotional regulation, poor self-image, drug experimentation, and damaged morals, values, and ethics. For some, it's a time bomb waiting to go off. It seems to me that the death penalty is assigning blame entirely to the individual, and that who they have become is 100% their choice. I used to think that because it was convenient but have since learned it's complicated.
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I agree with what we are is conditioned and that conditioning is enormously complex. But do we want dangerous killers loose in society? No, then how about life in prison or mental facility? What if we ask the murderer what they want? Of course they become an expense for society. Do we murder them so that the books balance?

I am totally for rehab for whatever comes down, not murder. When I am Emperor, our society will care first and foremost for human well being, not profit. Pipe dream as it is. :)
 
Paco Dennis said:
I agree with what we are is conditioned and that conditioning is enormously complex. But do we want dangerous killers loose in society? No, then how about life in prison or mental facility? What if we ask the murderer what they want? Of course they become an expense for society. Do we murder them so that the books balance?

I am totally for rehab for whatever comes down, not murder. When I am Emperor, our society will care first and foremost for human well being, not profit. Pipe dream as it is. :)
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Yes, no matter what has happened in their life to shape who they are, we have to protect society from them. As to what to do with them, I think they need to understand that actions have consequences, and that means prison time. What they do with this time is up to them. They can make choices to better themselves, or to remain as they are, and live with minimal life sustenance.

If they decide to try and better themselves, perhaps a tiered system, where they have to spend a certain amount of time (Say 3 years) in strict confinement to see if they can stay out of trouble, and move to the next tier (Perhaps a factory situation where they can learn a trade). If they do well for another 3 years, then perhaps admitted to more of a work environment, but still under guard supervision. If there are setbacks along the way, then they start that tier over. Weekly counseling required, even if done remotely.

I don't have all the answers, but I think we need to realize that nothing happens in a vacuum, so all we can do is to try to provide a way back. If they choose it, fine, if they don't, they will live out a life of unpleasant existence.

I think when you become Emperor, you will do the noble thing and find the answers that have the most merit. The masses are counting on you.
 
We don't know all the details about Kyle Hedquist and have never met him. While in prison, he's shown remorse for what he did, has gotten an education, and appears to have been rehabilitated... on the surface anyway.

He was raised in an abusive home by alcoholic parents, which might partially explain what he did, but really only a psychopath would do what he did. He marched his girlfriend up a dirt road and executed her. He told her what he was going to do to her. She was so scared, she was hyperventilating. How does someone get to that level of depravity that he could do something like that?

Granted, an 18 year old doesn't have fully developed morals or sense of consequence, but jeeze!
 
We have convicted too many innocent people to ever use the death penalty. It needs to be abolished. If you are poor and black you are much more likely to be convicted of a crime which is sad and pathetic.
 
Maybe we should have cameras along city streets, in public places, and on residential doorbells, and surveillance systems on online social sites that flag certain words and phrases, and undercover cops walking around tourist sites and busy shopping centers and driving around in unmarked cars, and we should definitely fund ever-advancing DNA and forensic sciences ...

oh, wait...

Despite having all that, while the number of wrongful convictions is way lower than it was 20+ years ago, they still happen. As well, tens of thousands of the worst crimes, including murder and child predation, still go unsolved every year, and the perpetrators escape justice. And some violent criminals escape justice because they had a clever attorney, there was a legal technicality, the prosecutor was lousy or lazy, a key witnessed lied, the video was fuzzy, or the jury was confused or biased.

Despite surveillance and watchdogs, advancements in science, and a justice system that is sworn to uphold a defendant's constitutional rights, there are missteps and mistakes, and there's sheer luck and erring on the side of caution, because practically everything involved is done by humans.

Is there a fix for that?
 

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