The Death Penalty needs to be eliminated from our society ASAP

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>It is AWFUL. In all respects. </p>

<p>Another innocent man killed. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/opinion/01herbert.html?_r=1&hp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/opinion/01herbert.html?_r=1&hp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This makes me sick. I hope some idiot Texan comes in this thread just so I can tear them apart in debate. Death Penalty = modern day slavery. Let's think of some problems with the death penalty shall we?</p>

<p>1st and most importantly. An innocent man can be killed legally by the state. Think about that.
2. It is ineffective. Studies indicate that it is not a deterrent. The rest of the civilized world (which has all banned the DP) hasn't faced any increases of crime after their elimination of the DP.
3. It is racist and sexist.
4. It costs more to sentence a man to death than it does to give him life in prison.
5. You can always release someone wrongly found guilty. But you cannot bring a dead man back.</p>

<p>Also, has anyone heard recently about the Georgia man who was literally saved by the Supreme Court? The state of Georgia was going to execute him even though all signs pointed to his innocence. Seems like the cops set him up.</p>

2

<p>^I totally agree with you, man. The death penalty is still one of those barbaric things that our seemingly “civilized” society still keeps around. It is just sad to see these cases where innocent people are being killed, and I mean, it’s not even in like a war zone or anything! They’re literally taken from their homes, their lives completely productive and normal, and they’re killed by the system. It really needs to be fixed. Fast.</p>

3

<p>isn’t the real moral here that texas sucks?</p>

4

<p>Whoa wait a second. You can’t set the death penalty equal to slavery. Mostly because slavery requires the slave to be alive. They may end the same way, but that’s where all likeliness ends. Poor debate point.</p>

<p>I agree though. The death penalty is not only barbaric, it’s ineffective and prone to fatal error.</p>

5

<p>There is already a thread going which discusses the awfulness of Texas.</p>

<p>But yeah, think about it. Let’s take a look at the awesome countries that share the DP with us. </p>

<pre><code>* Afghanistan

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Belarus
  • Belize
  • Botswana
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Chad
  • China (People’s Republic)
  • Comoros
  • Congo (Democratic Republic)
  • Cuba
  • Dominica
  • Egypt
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Ghana
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea
  • Guyana
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Korea, North
  • Korea, South
  • Kuwait
  • Laos
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Libya
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Mongolia
  • Nigeria
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Palestinian Authority
  • Qatar
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • St. Lucia
  • St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Somalia
  • Sudan
  • Swaziland
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United States
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
    </code></pre>

<p>AWESOME</p>

<p>The DP will probably be outlawed within the next 15 years. However, if it isn’t be assured that I’ll eliminate it my first day in the Oval Office.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>LOL, sadly this is true.<br>
But think about it. In 100 years people will look back on the DP in the way in which we look back on slavery. There will be books talking about our barbaric American history. They will think about us as moral midgets.</p>

7

<p>Hopefully not. They’re already wasting too much of taxpayers’ money on hotels with bars.</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Lol, yeah because anything the President says automatically becomes law. </p>

<p>But anyway, I am not morally opposed to the death penalty. However, as you point out, it is cheaper to put someone in jail for life. And killing someone to prove killing someone is wrong doesn’t make much sense.</p>

9

<p>I’m not morally opposed to it either, but I think that humans are fallible and unqualified to carry it out justly.</p>

10

<p>I don’t think that it should necessarily be eliminated but I think we should give the person a choice life in prison or death penalty. I mean if I had done something and I had the choice I would probably choose the death penalty. I mean life without chance of parole in a jail cell isn’t really a life worth living. But we should probably give them a choice.</p>

11

<p>^okay, but, why would u give a killer/rapist the choice to take the easy way out? it’s supposed to be a punishment…</p>

<p>totally agree with the OP’s points, though. DP=costly, ineffective, & just plain wrong.</p>

12

<p>I would rather someone get life in prison, where they can wallow in their misery for 50-60 years in an 8x10 jail cell with 1 hour of outside a day, than to let them take the easy way out by ending it painlessly with a needle.</p>

<p>Plus this whole rape and murder “possibility of parole” thing needs to go ASAP. You take somebody’s life, then you never get to breath free air again. And many people who are raped openly tell you they would have rather died than to live with the nightmares that followed, so their lives were essentially taken as well.</p>

13

<p>Yeah but technically the purpose of prison is to rehabilitate people who are eventually supposed to get out and if they’re in for life they’ll never get out. Another alternative might be letting the victims family decide. Thats one of the main reasons we even have it. Say someone killed your parents and then raped you would you want them sitting in jail a couple hundred miles away knowing that he’s living and your parents aren’t. He’s getting three square meals a day and a place to live that you’re paying for with your tax dollars. Some people would want them to rot in jail but some people would want them dead where they know that they can’t hurt them anymore.</p>

14

<p>Yeah, there should be no death penalty and no life sentence.</p>

15

<p>There needs to be a life sentence for some people, like unrepentant murderers and rapists.</p>

16

<p>Zapz, what do you propose we do with murderers? Let them walk free after x amount of years?</p>

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<p>I normally don’t post on this forum, but am happy to see such an important issue discussed here, so I hope it’s OK to add to the discussion even though I’m an adult. I’m very active in anti death penalty movement in my area, and one thing I’ve noticed is that where I live, most of the people involved in it are elderly – older than me. It is very important for young people to get involved in this.</p>

<p>Earlier this year, I saw this man speak about the almost 18 years he spent on Florida’s death row for a murder he did not commit. How he was committed reflects corruption and human error in the legal process. Read this to find out how this kind of injustice occurs: [Juan</a> Roberto Melendez-Colon bio](<a href=“http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/speaker_bio_melendez_colon.html]Juan”>http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/speaker_bio_melendez_colon.html)
He is lucky to still be alive because most people on Florida’s death row are executed in 12-14 years.</p>

<p>For those who somehow think that people who did murder deserve execution because it’s the worst punishment, read about how Susan Atkins, who is serving life imprisonment without parole after slaughtering pregnant actress Sharon Tate, is dying in prison. Atkin’s death in prison of brain cancer is far worse than what she would have experienced through execution: [Former</a> ‘Manson family’ member denied parole - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/03/california.manson.atkins/index.html]Former”>Former 'Manson family' member denied parole - CNN.com)</p>

<p>For those who are against execution because executions deny God the chance to work a miracle on the souls and perspective of the inmates, here’s an article that supports your view.</p>

<p>"I’m 34. I’ve been at Angola [maximum security prison in Alabama] for 17 years. I committed murder and will be here for the rest of my life. I hope to get out some day, but I know I won’t. I deserve to be punished. Prison has changed me and I’ve learned so much while incarcerated. I’ve learned how to be patient and to obey authority.</p>

<p>But because of hospice, I’ve learned the most important lesson: How to love."
This inmate volunteer’s poignant statement is a common message heard inside the prison hospice at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) at Angola, an all-male facility. Hospice care allows terminally ill inmates to live their final days in the most comfortable and natural setting possible. </p>

<p>Powerful stories of the mixed feelings and emotions experienced by those working in end-of-life care were evident in dozens of conversations with current and former inmate volunteers, staff and correctional officers at Louisiana’s only maximum-security penitentiary. Words like hope, despair, reform, care, feelings and love are all frequently used by both the inmates and officers who work together to provide everything they can for the inmate patients waiting to die within Angola’s prison hospice…"</p>

<p>[Revolutionizing</a> Prison Hospice: The Interdisciplinary Approach of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola | North America > United States from AllBusiness.com](<a href=“http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/justice-public-order/944149-1.html]Revolutionizing”>http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/justice-public-order/944149-1.html)</p>

18

<p>"Zapz, what do you propose we do with murderers? Let them walk free after x amount of years? "</p>

<p>I haven’t looked into it at all really, and this is from Micheal Moore, too (which many people bash, lol) but in the special features of the movie “Siko” it showed Norway. They have one of the lowest crime rates. The max sentence to prison there is 20 something years. Prison (that they showed in the movie) is nothing like the USA. They are technically free to go anywhere (just need to be at prison place at night and on weekends). I don’t know how exaggerated that is, though.</p>

<p>20 year is not a short time. I haven’t even been alive for 20 years…</p>

19

<p>^ That still didn’t answer my question in the slightest. Should people who take the life of another person, be allowed to walk free after x amount of years? </p>

<p>I know I wouldn’t want someone who killed a loved one of mine be allowed to go free EVER. He/she took something that cannot be replaced and therefore never needs to be free again.</p>

<p>In Norway, if you take the life of someone (2nd degree murder) you get 6-12 years. That is sickening. I’m sorry, you don’t MURDER someone and get out after less than a decade. In fact, you don’t come out EVER unless you are on your way to be buried.</p>

20

<p>I’m on the fence about the death penalty. </p>

<p>I mean, it makes some sense that if someone kills another person, they should be punished. And if they killed multiple people, then who says they won’t do it again? The death penalty gets rid of the chance that said murderer might escape and continue to kill more people, and it serves as a punishment for the killings done in the past.</p>

<p>But then there’s the possibility that the person sentenced might be innocent. Although the law should have better rules against this sort of thing, like people can’t be sentenced to the death penalty if there is any doubt as to whether they are guilty or not. They must be proven, without a doubt, to be guilty. </p>

<p>And then there’s something my teacher asked when we had this debate: What gives us the right to take someone else’s life? </p>

<p>That is a good point. We don’t even have the right to take our own lives, and we punish those who kill others. So why do we get to kill those who killed? </p>

<p>I feel like I will never exactly go one way or the other on this issue. It’s case-by-case. For one case I might say, the death penalty is needed. And for another I might think it unnecessary. It’s a very complicated thing, which is a testament to the fact that it should not be a sentence handed out lightly.</p>