I wish I had a minor trial, sitting in a room of 12 people and you being the only one under the age of 19 for 48 hours sucks. Deciding whether a person is guilty or insane for 4 counts of murder with everyone to agree....ugh.

@ amaranthine - Yeah I can't see what could justify minor things with death....

I greet the community of Baka-Updates Manga for this is my first post.

Anyway, as far as the "Capital Punishment" is concerned, I'm against it for a good number of reasons.

1st: "Capital Punishment". Punish them...how? By killing them? Isn't punishment supposed to mean "teach a lesson to someone by using a bit of force and making sure they have learned their lesson and they won't do it again?" How exactly is killing them supposed to teach them anything?
2nd: Learning at small age that killing others is a big no-no and something frowned upon by society, shouldn't it upset us a bit to see the society officially killing others?
3rd: Not only killing someone won't accomplish anything, as far as the relatives of the deceased one are concerned, but that supposed satisfaction gained by the relatives will be short-lived. Needless to say, if they have not been seriously mentally damaged by the ordeal, they will feel some kind of remorse afterwards for "celebrating" the death of the criminal. (or not, it depends on the relatives and the criminal)
4th: I also think that the death penalty could end up killing someone innocent. Needless to say, I also believe that it can be the perfect way to eliminate one's opponent, literally and legally. Of course, I agree that the whole idea of "I have been framed! I didn't do it!" might sound a bit too movie-like but if we completely dismiss this possibility then we let our guard down.

I'm all for "Capital Punishment"
but only for "violent career criminals" who have been given chances to change and haven't, or for criminals who have knowingly taken innocent lives ie. Drug Dealers, Child Abusers, Rapists, Attorneys ..... you know Real scumbags

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Support single moms

first of all, Welcome Georgeman to MU..and i'm a supporter for the death penalty

1st: yes...Killing them won't teach them anything...but punishing them and letting them go also does not teach them anything either(most of the time anyway)...besides if it were me doing the punishment...i think they'd have been better off dead since i have a twisted mind on torture...like taking off finger nails then chopping of the fingers inch by in.. sorry...i won't go more graphic(been reading ichi the killer too much)...light punishment like jail only serves to make them worse...since they're together with other criminals

2nd: ...you have a good point on this...people are all hypocrites <.<

3rd: It can accomplish by having one less criminal to worry about...think about it, if a criminal were realeased he may or may not just repeat the crime again and again...prevention is better than the cure...

4th: again, i can't argue with this since it is a possibility

Last edited by blakraven66 at 1:55 am, Nov 7 2007

Capital Punishment won't solve a shit.
People who kill people do it without thinking
so what exactly is it supposed to prevent?
Assassins and alike will not most likely
be caught for they are specialists.
If I was enraged so badly that I'd need to
slay someone, it is not like I'd think of
any consequences.

quite a heavy stuff you all discussing here. even though i don't like the death penalty but there is a reason for death penalty punishment.



rather than teaching a lesson to the fellow criminal, the point of the capital punishment is meant for the masses. Its to teach the masses that NOT to do the crime. its more like a prevention measure to prevent the same crimes. Though this won't stop the crime completely, at least if anyone want to commit the crime he/she will think twice about it.

So most of the people here think that killing innocent people is wrong?
People that are not innocent can be killed?
If you together allow someone to kill another one who is not innocent,
are you and the hand of death innocent?
If you are not, I will kill you all.

So you're saying we should let criminals go free? and the guilty then goes to kill again...does that not also count as being the indirect cause for the death of another...an innocent even...

well...i would also be okay if we didn't go for the death penalty but a really gruesome punishment would be good for a lesson...like say take off a limb or two...

Capital punishment works the same way as terrorism.
Terror and fear are used as the bridge to configure one's
mind. Do you support terrorism?

Yes, because torturing people who for the most part are a product of a society that ignored their pleas for help when they themselves were tortured is the right thing to do. There might be a few random cases here and there that could convince anyone the said criminal was born evil, but for the most part it's usually not the easy life that breeds people like that. What you probably don't see are these same criminals as small children going to sleep every night scared and crying their hearts out from whatever the hell goes on in their lives. The sanctity of the word "family" is a double edged sword.



That's not a prevention period. Prevention is stopping a person from becoming a killer in the first place.

There is something called life without possibility of parole. This isn't a cut black and white situation. Not everyone commits murders because they enjoy it. For someone who believes in torture I find it ironic you are so troubled with the prospect that insane murderers would be let loose to go on a killing spree.

stop flaming me already ><

Last edited by blakraven66 at 2:36 am, Nov 7 2007

So what are these minor things that you people are thinking of? Many people seem to have a misconception of their punishment system.

And guys, killing an innocent through the death penalty is so rare. Stop bringing it up -_- Don't say "there is a small chance" or "there is a chance". Guess what? Every time you sneeze, you have a chance of dying. Now how many of cases of people dying when sneezing have you heard of? I've heard of only one incident about a teenager. ONE. Out of the 18 years of my life, I've only heard of one incident. And so argument for the chance of an innocent going through the death penalty doesn't go anywhere.

Furthermore, let's not forget why we have a punishment system in the first place, law and order too. Yes the murderer are sent to the gallows/chair/chamber/shooting squad, but what's the REAL reason? The original reason. Criminals are imprisoned to protect the safety of the community. Murderers however, can't be locked up forever. They don't deserve a life sentence if they are guilty since, like I said before, it's a waste of space and money. And they can't be locked up for a limited period of time also. We can't be sure what they might do once they're out again

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Everyday I'm tumblin'

@Elairz: You say that the capital punishment is used as a prevention tool for the masses. However, it is not necessarily true that crimes are prevented by them. Polls, over the years, have shown that capital punishment may or may not be effective. Also, have you noticed that the capital punishment exists on countries with a high criminal rate? Have you also noticed that the crimes in these countries haven't exactly been reduced?

@Mamsmilk: You say that in your enraged state, you would kill the criminal without thinking about the consequences. Well, that's how the human mind works. Everyone is calm and can think logically as long as they are not the victims of a particular case, but have them suffer the loss of a relative and they will be unable to listen to reason. Hell, I doubt that anyone would be cold enough to not feel even a slight amount of rage when a dear person of theirs is murdered.

@blakraven66: By saying "punishing them" I never said teaching them and letting them go away. A criminal must understand the true seriousness of his crime. He must understand the foolishness of his actions and repent for them (I sound a bit like a priest here ) With the current conditions in jail, of course, this is far from possible. In one way this is a lost case in this rotten world. As for the "capital punishment succeeds in getting rid of the trash", remember that the types of criminal vary. To say that letting them out and they repeat the crime means that they are, more than likely, psychologically unstable. Also remember that a murderer is not only your average psychotic murderer #1478, but he could also be a husband/wife who killed his/her wife/husband after a really heated episode. Should someone like him/her really face the capital punishment?

Last edited by Georgeman at 2:45 am, Nov 7 2007

So rare? You better back up what you claim. I know one thing for sure, DNA testing has freed people who were death row. What if this new forensics tool took a bit longer to be implemented? What about the people who were executed before then?



Again, you seem to think executions cost little to no money, but keeping them in prison for the rest of their lives costs more?

Try:

http://www.mindspring.com/~phporter/econ.html
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108

There is little to be gained from executing criminals, and much to be lost executing innocents. Even with you saying it's rare, you cannot deny that it has happened. What are you going to say to those "rare" innocents who were executed? "I'm sorry, but your life is worth less than the deaths of these killers we have to execute...in the name of justice?" Give me a break.