Death Penalty or Life in Prison

[sherryinutah]

An eye of an eye.  If someone, including me, take someone's life I think execution should take place.

There's the issue of tax dollars supporting someone who might not deserve support.  There's also an issue of prisons being over crowded.

Oh...and...let's not drag things out.  I think execution should take place within 30 days of being convicted.

My point of view may seem harsh...but let's face it...some of the crimes committed are pretty harsh, as well.   

[lorettahknox]

The problem with the death penalty is that innocent people have been slaughtered by the state because of police incompetence or false testimonies. You cannot bring those people back. The death penalty is a forever penalty. All is lost. Never to return. Tell the people who have a family member who was executed for a crime they did not commit and then the real truth comes out about the death penalty. I hate the horrors that have been inflicted on innocent people in this society by those who minds and hearts are twisted. I have felt my own rage at the torments I have seen and known in my own life but I still don't know what the answer is, and everything my anger demands is too cruel.

[PGS28]

I don't think life without parole is reasonable because people change over time.  I don't think death is necessary unless they giving that person life without parole would endanger the other prisoners, which I doubt there is such a case.

[Azanne07]

life in prision w/ no paro.

[jstein2]

Life in prison. I personally wouldn't to be responsible for taking another person's life even if it is in the name if the law. And besides there have have been alot wrongly incarcerated. What if one of those they are about to execute, is actually innocent? After they kill the person and realize their mistake, what are they going to tell the family? "I'm sorry"? They could say that all they wanted, but that would not change the fact that the justice system is flawed and cost the life of an innocent person.

[queenofnines]

No because if you took an innocent life, you don't deserve to live. Even if it's a subpar, crappy life in prison.

[lynnc35]

I do not encourage the death penalty, what if a person is innocent.

[duroz]

Do you believe that life without parole is a fair alternative?  

Just a note:
"Life" - (as in a "Life sentence") does not mean "exactly what it says" in all states - in some states, a "Life sentence" is 25 years (possibly even less in some states? not sure on this), in some it's 30 years, some - 99 years. And then in some, a life sentence means just exactly that.  

[duroz]

I'm pretty sure the death penalty is irreversible. If someone is in prison and later found not guilty, at least you can let them out.

Yes I think that sigmapi1501 is right on this....there have been too many cases where - years later, sometimes MANY years, people were determined to NOT be guilty of the crime which they were convicted of, and imprisoned for.

I CANNOT imagine being involved, in ANY way, with a criminal case with the sentence being the death penalty, that was found later to have wrongly convicted someone, and that wrongly convicted person had already been executed.

It would be difficult enough being involved at all in ANY criminal case which was later determined to have wrongly convicted someone, and that person had already spent x to xx years in jail.    

[mfinkler]

I have to say that I have been torn about this subject all my life but I found that when it is a child that ends up dead or someone that I know buried in someones back yard the first thing in my mind is put them to death. I am hoping for the death penalty in a case coming up finally justice for someone that i knew for over 15 years who was murdered and buried 5 feet from this mans back yard. Her and her boyfriend deserve justice for what happened to them and it is time for their family and friends to have some closure and peace knowing this man will def never be able to hurt anyone again. He has already escaped from prison and hired an assassin to kill off legal workers and witnesses on his case.

[duroz]

I know one thing...I would rather be put to death than spend the rest of my life in prison.....Prison does not look like a fun place at all and its somewhere I hope I never go!

That's kind of always been my thinking, too.......if I knew that all I had to look forward to every day, for the rest of my life (assuming "life" actually meant "life", not 25 years with possibility of parole after 7) was going to be the same: the clanging jail/cell doors, crazy scary inmates, guards who might be as bad or worse, etc etc etc......

I think that a person would suffer more being sentenced to a "life" like this, than getting a quick out by being executed.

I really have nothing against the death penalty, other than the possibility of execution of an innocent person.

I do also agree that overcrowded prisons make sentencing criminals to life in prison a less than ideal solution, too.

But I still feel they would "pay for what they did" more by being forced to live out the rest of their years, knowing that's the only life they will ever know, in prison.

[duroz]

I have to say that I have been torn about this subject all my life but I found that when it is a child that ends up dead or someone that I know buried in someones back yard the first thing in my mind is put them to death. I am hoping for the death penalty in a case coming up finally justice for someone that i knew for over 15 years who was murdered and buried 5 feet from this mans back yard. Her and her boyfriend deserve justice for what happened to them and it is time for their family and friends to have some closure and peace knowing this man will def never be able to hurt anyone again. He has already escaped from prison and hired an assassin to kill off legal workers and witnesses on his case.

I can certainly understand how, and why, you could feel that way.

And good grief....the man you refer to sounds like a real lunatic! Scary.
 
That's the kind of thing you really never think you'll see, other than in movies/on TV, because it's just so crazy. 

[ashleyxatrocity]

This is quite a catch 22. Capital punishment is a violent and archaic way to deal with a criminal, but in some cases, it is completely understandable. (Those of you who say its wrong, imagine if someone just murdered your spouse/child/etc...you WOULD want them executed.) On the other hand, it is expensive to keep these criminals alive. Personally, I say that we should worsen conditions in prisons. I had a friend who was in prison for 6 years and when he came out, he knew everything about Sons of Anarchy and Archer (as well as many other shows) because he had a television with over 60 channels. I mean, if someone is supposed to spend time in prison to reflect on their crime and reform their life, why would do they need/deserve things like cable TV? I think that we need to bring prisons back to what they used to be. Terrifying, dark, dungeon-like places of torture and fear.

[duroz]

......we need to bring prisons back to what they used to be. Terrifying, dark, dungeon-like places of torture and fear.

ashleyxatrocity - I do totally love your color scheme, but finding it just slightly hard to read - (yeah yeah I know....getting old sucks)

Would you consider bolding the deep pink text (which I'm wondering about - how do you get deep pink?), to maybe make it easier for old fart-heads like me to read??

[masked_brown_guy]

I can understand giving a one time murderer life in prison but a serial killer should be put to death. Why should people keep someone like that alive? Why are we wasting our money and resources keeping someone alive that obviously does not value human life? There are people on the outside working crappy jobs that pay to keep convicted multiple victim serial killers alive because of "life in prison". It is not a moral issue, it is just logical. do you think people like that fear death? by keeping them alive in prison to "punish them" you are only prolonging their harm to this world.