Whoa, I'll have to remember that one for future references.

I suppose reading the Bible does have its rewards.

Just needed to make a comment on Rivendell's remark...

Since when has the United States EVER followed in the footsteps of another country?

That's the whole point of our existence...we broke away. We have never, and will never, follow the example of the rest of the "civilized" countries because we have a pretty damn civilized nation already.

My two cents.

ya but arent religon laws in some way part of state laws?? another commandment is u shall not steal so we have laws about stealing....

Well, it could be religion or it could be an innate sense of morality.

I don't necessarily have a religion, but I grew up knowing that stealing is wrong because my parents (who do not necessarily have a religion neither) taught me that. I'd say it's more morals than religion.

What happens to the feelings of the people that actually have to carry out the death penalty? (like Tom Hanks in Green Mile)

yes, i beleive if you kill someone then you deserve to be killed.

Can people stop posting these "loose" opinions without backing them up? The forum is called "Debate" for a reason. It's not called "Opinions".

Well, if you say it that way, what of the person who must carry out the death sentence, as TK had asked before?

But he didn't work on the sabbath so they couldn't condem he of rthat, because if they did he would've been stoned, but the way he spoke his words hie never incriminated himself and he didn't work on the sabbath.

God is saying you know what is wrong and what is right. If you kill osmeone that is wrong therefore you should be punished justly acorroding to the laws

You're going to have flaws in every system. There aren't that many people that are truly innocent that get the death penalty. Are you going to risk the chance of all of those true murderers not having the death penalty (and can later kill more people) just because of those few people? I sound evil saying this, and probably sound as if I don't care for other humans, but think about it - there are more deaths from criminals that get off easy compared to how many innocent people are killed by capital punishment. Besides, how many capital punishment cases are there, anyways? Not many.

^exactly most of the time they sit on death row for years and years not to mind wasting our money then they eventually die.

Taking one person's life doesn't mean that person's life should be taken away. Would you like to sink to that murderer's level? No one deserves to die. No matter what they do in life, because we don't live in en eye-for-eye society, do we? If someone gives you a penny, will you give a penny back?

The thing is I KNOW i would want that person dead if they killed one of my loved ones, no questions asked. Shoot, i may do it myself. I thank God for forgiveness

Read this:

Uninspiredfae said this just last page.

same here, i had 2 write a report on it.......buh i dun think the death penalty is right, they should jus give the person life in prison

prison is paradise to some people because they need someone telling them what to do in life. Also they get a free college educatuion, free meals, free cable, free work out places so when they get paroled they are stronger and can go kill some more people...

Please, if you're going to say something, support it with something.

Well, I guess the death penalty sucks, but I mean, if you do the crime, do the time. I mean, although it sucks taking away another person's life...wait what am I talking about. Maybe they shouldn't be put to death. Just leave them in jail but somehow make them suffer. Well, not torture or anything (although, that wouldn't be such a bad idea..*cough* j/k). I don't know, I guess it's good to give them time to think about what they did. For example, that Jamie Bulger story where this toddler was killed by two young boys. Should they be given the death penalty too? Here's a link: http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=Jamie+Bul.../bulg-n08.shtml

a better link about the story is here:
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=Jamie+Bul...s/uk-bulg.shtml

Another BETTER LInk (the other ones don't explain story, just opinion. Here's story:)
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=Jamie+Bul...s/uk-bulg.shtml

nobody deserves to die..but I mean even if it is a capital murder....I still think something like jail for life would be better than KILLING the person. I don't think ANYONE should be put to the chair unless they are POSITIVE that they PURPOSLY killed people and wern;t drunk or have metal or stress issues. But I hate thinking about "the chair" ..

Natalie - but if you would torture them, Supreme Court wouldn't allow it because it would be cruel and unusual punishment...you won't know how far to go with torture, you know?

With the Jamie case: They deserve the punishment fitting which is death. They knew what they were doing. Plus if they start at a young age killing people they are going to get older and kill more people. I'd rather stop it now Because even if they get a 25 year sentence they will still be able to be parolled or serve the entire term and get our of jail and possible kill someone else

Yeah I agree. Oh I know Kathleen. I was just joking about torture stuff because that's just cruel and it would just be doing the same thing that they did. Hehe, wow, I read my post and I sounded like such a cruel person but I'm really not.
Oops!

i thihk its wrong no one has a right to klill anyone

^ but also think of someone, without mental or stress issues and murders 3 little kids. With no reason, no excuse....then they goto jail and attempt to kill everyone they have contact with, or osmehting like that.

WHat are you supposed to do?


In general I think it's wrong,....but there are times when it is the only thing to do.
A capital offense is the only time they use the death pentalty, but I just hope that they have complete evidence that they really did commit the crimes....

Alright, what if someone was convicted wrongly? Death penalty was given? The guy dies. Poor guy.
All because of a stupid jury and an evil judge. and a evil law.

yes!... people who have committed murder should be executed. I'm saying this because i don't know anyone who actually had been executed... but there is also a right to plee that you're inisint by saying that you were mentally ill.. or somehting... and had brain damage... so you wouldn't act like a normal perosn... ppl have actually gotten away from murders like that... civilized is an opinion

As I say, there are flaws to every system, and they are inevitable. I mean, why stop the death penalty which sentences a million (not really, but still you get the point) guilty criminals to death simply because there's a few who are innocent or get away? It's impossible to stop all. We can only try our best. I know I sound cruel, but that's just how it is. I don't like the fact that there are innocent people that get killed, but hey...

I'm undecided.

I don't think it's wrong morally and I believe that death is sometimes a just punishment, but I do think it's stupid, as it isn't a proven deterrent and costs more.

Who says we have to kill the people in the same way as we do now? Perhaps find some...cheaper way of doing so... Haha.

I like burying personally (inside joke)

I know it's only a movie, but "The Life of David Gale" shows exactly how the justice system could fail. Like, what if the supposed "murderer" was innocent?

well, i guess that the death penalty not only lowers the risk for more murder, but saves the prison money on food, bedding, clothing, etc. there arent that many good things about it though.

i dont understand how those of you who are against abortion are for the death penalty... i believe the american justice system can make mistakes. like, those accused who aren't wealthy enough to buy their own lawyer gets one appointed by the court... there have been many cases where court appointed lawyers have been found to not bring up all the facts, because they didn't care. i mean nowadays it's pretty easy to convict the right person, but there have been cases... also, i don't think they should be killed for what they did. the government should try to work with the criminals.

i dont understand how anyone who is "pro life" can be for the death penalty...

I don't see anything wrong with being pro life and pro death penalty at the same time. After all, they're two different things.

One is to kill an innocent, the other is to kill someone who's most likely committed an awful crime.

I'm pro choice, but I disagree on topics that would contradict my stand on pro choice. But that's normal because you're entitled to hold more than one opinion on different subjects. It's not set in stone that once you've declared your stand in one direction, you can't go to the other.

See, this is what I was just going to say. It's different because the majority of these people are guilty, heartless criminals who have committed a crime of at least murder. On the other hand, the baby is completely innocent.

Also, I think this is the third time I said this...I really need to get a statistic: As I say, there are flaws to every system, and they are inevitable. I mean, why stop the death penalty which sentences a million (not really, but still you get the point) guilty criminals to death simply because there's a few who are innocent or get away? It's impossible to stop all. We can only try our best. I know I sound cruel, but that's just how it is. I don't like the fact that there are innocent people that get killed, but hey...

I think it's worse to convict an innocent person rather than acquit a guilty one, because in the prior one, the justice system itself is commiting a crime. How the hell would you feel if you were innocent and get convicted of murder? Are you really going to think "oh well, I don't like the fact that some innocent people like me are getting the death penalty, but I know the law is trying it's best so I guess I'll hop off to the gas chamber"?

There's not many people that are innocent that get convicted for murder. There are many ways in today's modern world to target the real criminal. Besides, if he or she is innocent, there are things such as appeals. It's quite hard to be proven guilty when you're innocent nowadays. If you're innocent, you'll find a way to prove such.

this isn't always true. if you don't have an alibi, it turns to be your word against someone else's. in lots of cases there's no way you can prove yourself innocent. and i agree with tkproduce. it just seems wrong that the government is willing to risk the lives of a few (a tiny number, but still a number) of innocent people just to be able to get rid of some criminals. i mean it is wrong for us to act like we're god and kill already living people, guilty or not, but to add to the fact that they also risk killing innocent people to do so, it's wrong.

Yes, but it's not like they don't try as best as they can. Like I said, it's saving future victims of the accused as well. Heh I suppose this leads back to my other thread of good and evil...it balances out.

So you're saying that somehow, killing a lot of guilty convicts are going to conpensate for the few innocent ones that get killed? How many dead guilty convicts per dead innocent one do we need for things to "balance" out? 50? 100? 200? I really don't understand your "balancing" argument.

No...I'm saying that when those convicts get out (which they often do, if you would've read more into this topic) and murder some more people, by killing the murderer from the start, none of those future victims would be killed.

...

In America's fine justice system, you NEVER have to PROVE that you're innocent. It's up to the prosecutor to prove that you're guilty. It's called burden of proof.

If the jury can't decide whether someone is innocent or guilty, that person is LET FREE, because he has a presumption of innocence. If that person is PROBABLY guilty, but you aren't sure, then he is INNOCENT.

A guilty person must be convicted guitly beyond all reasonable doubt in America. At least in the old America.

What about being wrongly convicted? Yeah, they may say they have the evidence and whatnot. But alot of innocent people are being put to the death penalty.

Yeah, I think he wanted to clarify the difference between "not guilty" and "innocent" people. But as I was saying before...this is the same argument over and over again. Here, Julia, read the last few posts by me and tk as well as tbolztbabe.

This is my 3,800th post!

Sure that happens. It's not a perfect system.

But, IN THEORY, our system errs on the side of caution. When in doubt, we release.

EXACTLY what I've been trying to say. Heh. No one understands me, or they ignore my posts. Haha.

None of the judges in real life do either .

Thanks, Minda. You're so kind. You'll see...once you and Dan are gone...I'll own...the total of...five people that are still in debate...

I am very for the death penalty...i actually think we she us it for more crimes...and none of this appeal shit....they get the death penalty fry them, hang them, poison them, and in some states shoot them(montana) in singapore the punishment for drunk driving is death...i think we should do that here....did you now Drunk driving is the leading cuz of death between the ages of 15-44...after that its heart disease....i know this because i just got home from my 5 Hour pre lisencing course....but i think that if we cracked down harder then people with get the message...