How many of you support capital punishment and why?
452673
Capital punishment is simply the best law enforcement out there. Ask any country that has employed it. You'll find that their crime rates are MUCH lower than the USA's. This only applies if the nation is comfortable with it of course. \nOn the other hand, its immoral for a man to take another's life no matter what the situation since you are assuming a position of superiority when you do so and every man on the earth is equal. Despite its effectiveness, there are multiple other alternatives to it and capital punishment should not be a first choice.\n\nIts simply a matter of perspective in the end.The typical christian perspective goes against capital punishment and thats due to this christian country. \nThe simple truth is that its effective but at the same time, from a biased perspective, its barbaric, immoral, and there are better, though not as effective, solutions.
732314
I don't agree with capital punishment in principle. But even if you do, it's not a solution to prison overcrowding. In the US, people spend years on death row and it costs much more money than regular prison because of all the appeals etc.\n\nAnd there is no evidence that death sentences would deter paedophiles for the most serious offenders for whom it is a compulsion. Paodophilia is dangerous, disgusting and evil - I understand the anger that makes us want to kill in revenge - but it would not put off other paedophiles from doing the same sadly. All the emphasis on 'stranger danger' makes us forget that most child abuse is within the family & home.\n\n\nBritain's prisons are overcrowded because more and more people are being locked up for relatively petty crime. Paedophiles have always been imprisoned and rightly so. But we also lock up people for not paying their TV licenses....\n\nOnly people who are dangerous or who are serious or repeat offenders should be locked up. People who are addicts or mentally ill should be treated. People who are petty criminals or anti-social should be put to work cleaning up the mess they and others have made, not locked up for year at public expense.\n\nWe could save a fortune by ensuring that people get a decent education - reading, writing, IT and social skills and learning a trade - rather than making everyone sit lots of exams and then excluding the kids who can't keep up. And we need to do more to tackle drugs and family breakdown. A bit more money on counselling could save the whole of society a lot of grief in future.
1180119
I think the most positive effect of the death penalty here in America is that it really pisses off all those pinko commie bleeding heart Europeans.\n\nI think that's more than enough of a reason to keep it around.
747872
Yes i believe it is justified for i believe that if someone takes a life they deserve to have their life taken. To think of all the rapists, murders, and etc. people their are in the world, it is not right to have them remain alive if all they do in the world is take the people we love from the world.\n\nIt costs an average of $20,000 to imprison someone for 1 year,\nto think that a person guilty of first degree murder is sentenced to 25 years in prison... thats approx. 500k \n\nSo unless u think its okay to forgive someone for their sins they commited, for the lives they have taken and the lives they have ruined. then dont enforce the death penalty. \n\nBut i believe in the death penalty because i believe that is the only real justice that is even justified in this world... because all the murders and rapists out there are still alive and will be out in about a decade to commit the same crimes.
415079
Death Sentence = Capital Punishment
800060
I am so torn on the death penalty issue... I don't have a stance yet.\n\nFrom a strictly economical side, I'm against the death penalty, because I've heard in multiple places that it costs 2-3 times more than life in prison w/o parole.\n\nFrom a moral standpoint, it's hard to say.  Killing someone removes them once and for all as a threat.  Granted, while in jail they are only a threat to other inmates and the prison guards, but still, you cannot make a blanket judgment on whether those people (in the case of the other prisoners) deserve the threat, or (in the case of the guards) willingly accept the threat by being in that job.  Also, there's always the chance of escape.  You don't have that chance with death.\n\nIn addition, there's the obvious fact that if you accept the death penalty, almost regardless of standards for conviction, you're going to eventually get an innocent person in there.  Making the standards for conviction extremely high just leads to multiple expensive appeals, which brings us back to the economic reason to be against it.  It also makes the death penalty so rare that any appeal to it being a deterrent is just silly at that point, because even if you are convicted you'd have to be one of the unlucky ones to get the chair.\n\nIn fact, I have not seen any evidence that it actually serves as a deterrent, regardless of the extensiveness of its use.\n\nI do believe that the highest value must be placed on human life, but when you have one human life that continues to threaten others, isn't it respecting that value to end their life?\n\nI don't know.  I'm an atheist struggling to have a position on this.
598527
against . regardless of what someone has done it is not up to me to take there life.there is no circumstance where i would accept that killing one more person was right and justified .
899308
I think this death witll satisfy a lot of people even if the death in unjust.  Many people want to blame someone and here is a good candidate for some.
416989
I am for the death penalty, and for expanding the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty.\n\nI am also for corporal punishment. Caning or whipping can cure a lot of criminal tendencies.\n\nIt is called punishment. There is nothing immoral about harsh punishments. But there is something wrong with failure to punish wrongdoers. Leniency towards evil-doers is surely as immoral as the crimes themselves.
135367
I support it. I also support medical experimentation on anyone stupid enough to be against it.
113653
I know you don't actually want an answer - you seem more interested in pontificating.  Be that as it may, it is perfectly easy to justify a belief in the legality of abortion vs. the legality of the death penalty.  For me, capital punishment is a governmental rights issue - that is, I do not believe the government has the right to deprive its citizens of life under any circumstances.  It's simply something the government should not be allowed to do, because allowing it for some people (odious though they may be) makes it easier to apply it for lesser crimes - a slippery slope argument, essentially.\n\nAbortion is a different issue, because (1) it is not the government depriving someone of life; (2) there's no scientific reason to argue that life begins at conception; and (3) if we assume life begins at conception, then all laws regarding children would apply to zygotes/fetuses, which would be unworkable in any society.
640939
I personally don't agree with capital punishment for the following reasons:\n\n1. Most countries which employ it have flawed legal systems (USA included). This can be seen by the disproportionate rate of poor and/or black people on death row in America.\nYour "punishment" should be relative to your crime, not the lawyers you can afford.\n\n2. I would think the prospect of finding yourself in gaol for the rest of your natural term with no chance of release a much more lengthy and arduous "punishment" than the quick, momentary discomfort of being gassed or put to sleep.\nThis can be seen in Tasmania, where Martin Bryant is serving a life term for killing 35 people and injuring 37 others with automatic firearms in Port Arthur.\nAfter 10yrs in prison he is overweight, depressed and by all accounts suicidal (he has no means to dispose of himself).\n\n3. It just isn't a forward step towards a more peaceful world. We have enough bloodshed caused by wars and others aggresive acts without having state sanctioned killings.
787634
I'm in favor of it. There would be a lot less crime if there were public hangings.
662966
I don't believe in the death penalty.\nToo many Innocent people have been executed for something they did not do.There are two infamous cases here in Australia where the murderers/rapist were caught red handed within days and admitted they did it,both these individuals have tried to commit suicide while in prison,their crimes against another human being were horrendous and had a great impact on our country not just the state in which it took place,in a case like this I think the judge should be able to in-force the death penalty.\nSome people still think the last man hanged here was innocent and it was done for political reasons.
834398
I would for me.... but that's not the point of Capital punishment.... Retribution and justice  are the point. Any determent is just a plus. And one thing is absolutely sure.... the person upon which Capital Punishment is carried out *never* commits a crime again. It is the only punishment with a zero recidivism
341410
i totally believe in the death penalty.
4086
Gallup published results of a death penalty poll in November 2004. Included are breakdowns by a variety of categories, including political affiliations, religious affiliations gender, and race. To answer your question, results showed 49% of African-Americans surveyed are opposed to the death penalty; 44% in support, 7% "no opinion"\n\nThis is as opposed to the statistics for white people: 71% for, 24% against, 5% no opinion.\n\nThe results are aggregate for years 2001 to 2004, and can be found here: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=23&did=1266