It's not the stupidest idea, but it's definitely not a good idea...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This post is funny.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Only three industrialized democracies still execute people...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

let's here one advantage to the death penalty.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

1. Keeps murderers off the streets for good. 2. Rather than torturing a person by confining them in a prison cell for the rest of their lives, you put them to death quietly. The death is an injection. They are not cutting off limbs or anything. Look, if you don't do anything bad, you don't get the death penalty. Don't think that the government goes out of the way to kill innocent citizens. If you kill a lot of people, something has to be done. Sometimes a life sentance isn't enough.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

1. life sentance is just as effective in keeping people off the streets 2.I think any criminal you talk to would rather be 'tortured' in prison, however; being on death row must be quite a torturous mental experience 3.the judicial system is far from perfect people sentenced for life have a chance of being found innocent again and released, yes the government only imposes the death penalty when there is overwhelming evidence against but there isn't such a thing as 100% sure 4. it's cheaper to lock them up then kill them

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Please take an English class.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Did you really just say its cheaper to keep them then to kill them. That could be the dumbest claim in the history of the world, it costs more to keep someone in prison a year then to put them through a year of an ivy league college. And that's every year for the rest of their lives. The death injection is a simple quick thing, learn your facts before you try to convince people that they're true.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Uhm maybe learn your facts... A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70% more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case. Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million). Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration (median cost $740,000). (December 2003 Survey by the Kansas Legislative Post Audit) In Tennessee, death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment. (2004 Report from Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research) In Maryland death penalty cases cost 3 times more than non-death penalty cases, or $3 million for a single case. (Urban Institute, The Cost of the Death Penalty in Maryland, March 2008) In California the current sytem costs $137 million per year; it would cost $11.5 million for a system without the death penalty.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I agree with ^ If not that, then it helps overcrowding in prisons. But then again, its not like people in prison deserve the generally good treatment they get.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

there are only about 3000 inmates in death row, so I can't see how thats going to help overcrowding.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Why? I don't understand. It has been proven that it is not a deterrent for murder (the Southern states such as Texas actually have a higher crime rate than those states that don't have the death penalty), it brutalises the American "justice" system even further, it has been proven that it actually costs more to carry out the death penalty than it is to house that same criminal in jail for life, and does not provide "closure" for those affected. It is a better punishment to rot in prison for the rest of your life. So, tell me again, why is it a dumb idea to abolish the death penalty? PS, another point I forgot to add: It's barbaric. The Middle Ages had public hangings. The US still has public lethal injections. For a first world country and world power, the US certainly carries some primitive concepts.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There are plenty of murderers in prison that love it. I forget his name, but a guy raped and killed 6 or 7 nurses, and now he's in prison for life. He somehow made a video of himself in his cell, snorting cocaine and saying how great prison is. He deserves to die, and yet he's in prison having the time of his life.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Pretty sure that most people don't love it. Especially in solitary confinement. And who cares if he is having the time of his life? He is away from society. And also, how did he get cocaine? What kind of prison is this? I don't see this as a valid point whatsoever.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't know how he got cocaine, but he did. And the point of prison isn't JUST to keep prisoners away from society, it's also to punish them.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm sure that many of those criminals don't love having [FREE] temperature controlled rooms, 3 healthy meals a day, healthcare, and access to television and libraries. The vast majority of prisoners (even murders) are not kept in solitary confinement because it's "barbaric". I would care very much if the person that murdered someone I loved was having the time of his life in jail. The punishment has to be greater than the crime, otherwise there's no reason not to do it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

And if we kill the criminal, we are just as bad. This 'eye for an eye' attitude gets us nowhere. Legal or not, if we kill the criminal, we are just as barbaric as them. And 'time of their life'? The case that AtheisticMystic was talking about it was no doubt a rare one. Not every single prisoner sits in prison having fun and doing drugs. And yes, they do have access to all those things. But what's bothering you? The cost? Or the freedom? It's certainly not as "free" as being in mainstream society. And like I said, it costs less to house prisoners for life than it is to execute them. I'd also like to point out that the only countries that still practice the death penalty are China (Communists), other Asian countries (Singapore, Japan etc) and the Middle East. You know, all those people that America's pretty much hated. It's so interesting to see how the US is so similar to those second and third world countries they so openly criticize.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Texas has a higher crime rate because it's huge and about the size of four, maybe five states put together. That's like adding up the over all crime rate in North America and saying it's higher than that of New Zealand. Well duh, of course it's going to be higher, because it's a bigger place with a lot more people that are going to want to do bad things. Although I'm neither for, nor against the death penalty, I would just like to point out that you didn't have a valid argument with those first opening sentences.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I know it has a bigger population size in comparison. But the studies have been linked to the death penalty. They were comparing the crime rate in relation to other states who didn't have the death penalty, and they took into account individual population sizes. It was not measured just in numbers. So taking that into account, yes, I think my point is still valid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Do you have any clue what the word "rate" means?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There are plenty of people that have been wrongly executed as well... we watched a documentary at school about this guy who was executed and the whole time he was proclaiming his innocence, and it wasn't until after the police admitted that they told an alibi that her testimony wasn't important so she didn't make a statement. And he couldn't afford a lawyer so he just got given a court appointed one who didn't really care about his case at all. Also they found DNA evidence proving his innocence after it was already too late.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's not a problem with the deatg penalty, that's a problem with the courts.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's not a problem with the deatg penalty, that's a problem with the courts.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What if you gave someone the option? Let them choose if they want death or life in prison. I can't really decide if I'm in favor of it or not, but I don't want innocent people killed. Mistakes have been made in the past.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But then you would also be giving a choice to murderers. I would rather a serial killer be executed than in prison. They don't deserve the choice.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Not one of the dumbest things... though I feel it has some grounds. If you rape my daughter you would want to have the death penalty before I manage to get my hands on you.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think death or life in prison should be the choice of the victims family(s). Their the ones suffering, so they should be able to choose what would be the better comfort. Like the above Anon said, If you raped and killed my daughter, the death penalty would be bliss compared to what I would want to do to you.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

All 137 countries that abolished the death penalty get along just fine. There are way more stupid things the government could do if they wanted to.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

When you do it, it's murder, but when we do it, it's justice!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah. That's true and it makes sense. The person they murdered (probably) did nothing to deserve it. The murderer did.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. If you kill a murder, you are no better than the murderer

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm confused onto how abolishing the death penalty is stupid. As people have said before me, it's far cheaper as well as more humane. But honestly, anyone who actually ENJOYS prison should be there, or a mental institution.

by Anonymous 13 years ago