Is it really anyworse than rotting in prison the rest of your life? Does life in any state in itself warrent its own preservation?

nordlead and mrstickball, i agree with you about the punishment part.

If the person in case is complete lunatic and cannot contribute anything to the society just han or electricute them.

There is something wrong in society if you get longer prison sentence and fine to pay if you make a financial crime, than a murder. (At least in here) :(

ah, the question of punishment vs. rehabilitation.

should we let people rot in jail, or should we rehab them so when they get out they can be contributors to society? Where is the line drawn? I see the death penalty as extreme case of punishment.

If we let people live out their natural lives in jail, what load will these inmates put on society?

Its a tough question. I'll have to think about it.

Kill them. You'll be getting rid of some of the surplus population. To me, the question is not whether to punish or rehabilitate, but WHEN to punish... I don't see why people set dates and kill people in fancy ways, just say "You're guilty, good luck in Hell", and pop a bullet into their head.

Wow, if your American and get caught with a dimebag of pot in Cancun, you get fined everything in your wallet, and you better hope you have ALOT more than $20.

 

The only problem with the death penalty is Death Row, it shouldn't take that long to get to the chair.

Oh, and the lack of pay-per-view..... in HD!

I'm not really joking, pay-per-view of high profile executions would fund our ENTIRE penal system with no more need of taxpayer funds.... Then Bush could keep us in Iraq forever =) yay! Or we could actually have state health care and save and reform social security.

If you don't think people would order these, you are COMPLETELY DELUSIONAL! How many millions watched Saddam's neck snap before the video was pulled?

i'm agaisnt it because death penalty is a easy way out for a serial killer or whatever.

They shoudl be made to suffer for life. Torcher them etc... Let over prisoners beat them up just enough so they don't die.

Death penatly is for cowards. They need to spend life suffeinrg for what they done.

oh yeah, We just need to take one of the square states in the midwest, it'd be easier to fence in. Just throw them all in there regardless of sentence. If someone is supposed to be released, we just comeback on the day they're supposed to get out, and if they miss their day, f&ck em. HAHA

You bring up an interesting point, although, maybe unintentionally. Should someone who commits a grave crime be killed or made to suffer for their crimes?

Personnaly I believe that there are some criminals that should be made to suffer, but only if a jury of their peers finds them guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If there is one thing that anoys me more about PC society than anything else it is this idea that serious offenders should beg iven comfortable living arrangements whie in jail. EG the biggest mass murder in the history of the UK lives in better conditons than a large number of normal, law abiding people.

What if the alleged "murderer" was found guilty but in reality was innocent? It wouldn't have been the first time that someone was wrongly tried, convicted, or executed.

Sure, it doesn't happen that often, and can be easily dismissed, but what if it happened to you? Your son or daughter? Your loved ones? 

(Heh, that's funny you should say :fight fire with fire". Sony should "fight fire with fire" against Nintendo and start coming out with "two duct-taped PS2s with waggle"...)

1. I do not believe that anyone or any organization has the right to take away life from a person.  Therefore, I don't believe we should have the death penalty.

Then we go on to these as a less philosophical and more practical viewpoint.  However, even if these issues were solved, due to 1. above I wouldn't support the death penalty. 

2. Innocent people have been put to death and innocent people are on death row right now.  If we execute these people, there is no chance of putting wrongs right.

3. As mentioned above, it costs more for the court proceedings and other related things necessary to put someone to death compared to keeping them in prison for life.

4. It gives mass murderers and the like an easy way out.  They should be made to work hard to make what restitution possible to the family/families of their victims.

5. The death penalty has no deterrent effect (this has been plainly shown in studies).

6. Unequal application of the death penalty is disturbing.  Someone could be executed where I live (Virginia, the state that executes the second-most people of any state (Texas executes the most) for something that might land them in jail for 15 years across the river in the District or Maryland.