"Would you support the death penalty if your child was murdered?"

[NightTrain]

REPLY: "Would *you* support the death penalty if my child's killer was your mother?"

[bardgal]

1. NO. Death is too easy. Period.

[Merlot]

2. Nope.

I'd want them to rot in a very small cell for the rest of their natural life. And to be somebodys bitch.

[jdots]

3. NO n/t

[Jesus H. Christ]

4. My brother was murdered.

I don't support the death penalty.

Neither do many family members of murder victims.

It's a disgusting and bullshit argument.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. I am so sorry!

----------------------------------------------------------
Save this nation one town, county, and state at a time!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm#why

[Warpy]

16. I second that

I'm a survivor, too. I was 16 when it happened, and even then, I wanted that man locked up so he could never do it again, but I never wanted him dead.

Revenge is for unevolved people, I think. In my case, it would have added guilt to loss that another person had been killed in my name.

[question everything]

18. How dreadful this must be for you and your family

And only you and your family can really tell whether killing the murders really offers some solace. From what I have read, it does not.

I hope that you and your family have found the means to deal with this horrible event, to accept that it happened but not be obsessed by it, to celebrate the life of your brother by being able to adjust to life without him, in peace and acceptance.

[JohnLocke]

40. I'm sorry.

:hug:

[question everything]

5. No. The death penalty does not bring back the dead

does not deter others from crimes, does not even bring "closure" the family of the victims. All it attempts to do is to provide a sense of revenge. The penal code of a progressive society does not include revenge.

[KG]

6. i've given this much thought.

the murder of kin would not change my convictions against capital punishment. the lives of my family members is no more less than any other human beings.

[jonnyblitz]

9. yup.

:thumbsup:

[NightTrain]

7. That quote, by the way, comes from the director of...

...the Connecticut Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. I heard an interview with him today on a college radio station. Personally, I thought his comeback to that cliched question was beautiful, which is why I posted it here!

[jrthin]

10. No. And that is not

to say that if that occurred to my family member, I wouldn't "want" the heart ripped out of the murderer. That's only human. But knowing me, I couldn't live with the thought that I was in any way responsible for another's death. Too much bad karma.

[MrSlayer]

11. I support it anyway but I would be the executioner if someone killed my

kid or any member of my family. I always say they had better hope the cops get them first because they won't get the luxury of lethal injection and appeals from me. I'm firmly conservative on this issue.

[NightTrain]

14. You only read the subject line, didn't you?

The point was not the original question, but rather the reply.

[MrSlayer]

26. Yes well I support in that case as well.

If my Mom was fucked up enough to murder a child I'd have to support the Death Penalty for her as well. It would be hypocritical not to.

[NightTrain]

29. Well then, you certainly picked an appropriate username.

:eyes:

[MrSlayer]

42. Purely Coincidental.

I'm named for the band not for my love of killing. heh. :crazy:

[Solon]

35. Got a question for you...

Lets say you actually catch the guy, unawares, and kill him, you hunted him down and killed him. You then find out, while sitting in jail, that the guy you killed didn't do the crime. So my question is, do you deserve the death penalty for that?

[MrSlayer]

43. Well Yeah.

If that scenerio unfolded of course I would.

[Guaranteed]

12. I just thought of that tonight!

LOL that's hilarious- I was taking a shower and thinking about Dukakis. I realized he should have come back with "Would you support the death penalty if it was your wife on trial?"

Dead Man Walking

This movie helped me to clarify my thinking on this subject. And I've learned from much life experience that revenge actually hurts the revenger -- spiritually, psychically -- than it hurts the original actor. The negativity can be fatal.

[Atrichea]

13. No.

Is death really punishment?

[roguevalley]

15. no. let them live and remember.

[melnjones]

17. good answer... nt

[LiberalVoice]

19. Nerp

End of story.

[LWolf]

20. No. I don't support the death penalty.

For any reason. Ever.

I had a brother murdered in 1975. He was 19.

I do not support the death penalty.

[Angelique]

50. If someone seriously hurt my child, I'd cut their heart out....

.. yes, even my very own mother. I am so sorry to hear about your loss, and I am not in any way making light of such a travesty, but.. if they ever catch the low-life bastard that killed your 19 year old brother, call me before coffee in the morning, and I'll do the job that needs to be done..

[LWolf]

52. He did a few years and was released.

A quarter of a century ago. If I was defending anyone, let alone my child, from attack, I would defend vigorously, with no hesitation.

I won't take life after it's too late, for the purposes of revenge.

Actually, someone did attack my child recently; except the "child" is a 25 year old man. He was attacked in public, by a stranger, with a knife. He incapacitated the attacker, placed a boot on his throat, pulled out his cell phone, and called the police without ever realizing that the attacker's knife had penetrated. All very calmly. The attacker was hauled off to the hospital, charged with assault, and billed for my son's treatment. He was still recovering in the hospital when my son was released the following day.

[deltau]

21. ABSOLUTELY

I know that the death penalty doesn't stop crime and the age old comeback that "at least he wont kill anymore" is overworked, but knowing someone who killed a love one was still breathing would drive me crazy. Besides, "life in prison" in most states amounts to less than 15 years before release.

[Jesus H. Christ]

24. You'd execute your own mom?

Jesus fucking Christ.

[seabeyond]

22. no......keep whomever locked up

i dont need em dead. a drunk drivin kid kills my kid, wouldnt even need to see that person in jail

[DoNotRefill]

23. yes.

Now if my mother killed my child, no death penalty necessary for her, I'd do it myself....but maybe for me, after I was convicted of killing her.

/SLIGHTLY overprotective of my 6 month old little tyrant

[Taxloss]

25. Ah, hypotheticals, favoured retreat of the logically bankrupt. n/t

[NightTrain]

30. Ah, sneering, the favored retreated of the pompous and self-important.

[Taxloss]

32. I'm sorry, I thought the post was intended to provide an answer

to logically bankrupt pro-death RWers, and I was mocking their tactics. I wasn't attacking the post or you.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[William Bloode]

28. Well only if...

I got to pull the switch personally. But having been locked up, and in single cell i would settle for life in prison with a few years in single cell. As already mentioned death is really too easy.

[hollowdweller]

31. I always used to be for the death penalty. Then I became a caseworker

I see people rush to get a case closed so they can get it out of the way. I know the same thing happens to people and cops. I think the fact that if you don't have $$ you get the death penalty and if you do have $$ you get life is enough to nullify using it. It's just not applied fairly. Then this DNA thing exonerating so many really flies in the face of killing people too.

Then there's this whole culture we are in now that devalues life. I don't mean to sound like an anti abortion person. What I mean is we have the death penalty, war, workers getting laid off after 30 years. HMO's denying people treatment. I think we need to turn the corner and no death penalty is part of it.

[Pastiche423]

33. Eighteen years ago

I had reason to deeply contemplate the death penalty. I was asked by a detective, if the man that had crippled me for life (among other things) was caught, would I want him to die.

My answer was no. I would have wanted him sentenced to solitary confinement for life - a much harsher sentence.

[LibertyorDeath]

34. I would be the one administering it.

*

[buddysmellgood]

55. You beat me to it.

[Raenelle]

36. That's not the point. We try by law, with impartial juries.

Hell, I'd support the death penalty if somebody even hurt one of my cats. But a grieving angry vindictive revenge-seeking victim is not the one, our society has decided, who judges such things.

[ChairOne]

37. Are you willing to take a chance of killing the *wrong* person...

... to satisfy your righteous bloodlust?

[vetwife]

38. Touchy one...

Cheri was like my daughter. She called me Mom. She was murdered and all of you know that. It has been a horrible 8 weeks. I can't even describe what has happenend to my emotions. I have pondered those two questions most of my life. When it happens .....God Forbid it happens to any of you. You will draw your conclusions, not so much for revenge. As a Person of Faith ..Revenge is not supposed to be up to me but forgiveness...the Death Penalty conclusion comes from Killing again...Because this person has already killed 2 people and it seems to be getting easier and not even an arrest has been made.

The person who did this destroyed more than one family and took more than one life. Our diabetic daughter is now having to see a therapist. The whole family is shook. The killer is still out there and it was a brutal brutal murder. My son's dreams have vanished and I feel he is slowly dying. If the law was fair and they locked these folks up for life without parole, then maybe I would not have changed my mind. Some in my family still did not change their's. I still want him to face the Law of the Land and pay for his crime. This was a girl of 27 who maybe had the mind of a 16 year old and had problems and the heart of an angel. Someone who did that to her would kill a kid in my opinion. She was like my child. It was me she called Mom, she was not that close to her family.

On the other hand, if it had been my Mother who killed your child.?
I guess I would just die. I hate torture of any kind and I couldn't stand the thought of my own parent or child doing something like that. I would probably get suicidal.

I hope and pray you will never ever have to try and take a stand on that issue. My niece was killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver in 2000. He got off. He killed another girl in Tennessee last year. Another wreck and he was drunk. He is now finally facing vehicular homicide. Both victims were in another car minding their own business. That still did not affect me as bad as mutiple gunshot wounds to the head to a person who would not even harm a bug. She would pick it up and put it outside.

[Buck_Fush]

39. no, then I would have to be in pain about the death of my child and also

suffer anxiety about the possibility that an innocent may have been accused of it and unjustly put to death. Just because someone gets convicted does not necessarily mean they were guilty, and many persons on death row have been found innocent after all.

[Shadowen]

41. A blatant and foolish appeal to emotion.

"Do you want to believe you're descended from APES?"

[NNN0LHI]

44. Of course not. I don't support the death penalty. For any reason n/t

[FM Arouet666]

45. Wrong is wrong

I used to think that this was an irrational thought. Before losing my conservative coil, funny how education kills conservative thought, I would argued differently. Anyway, I would not support the death penalty for anyone, Hitler, Hussein, Jack the Ripper. State sponsored killing is wrong in every situation.

Now if you were a republican, you would accuse me of wanting to free killers to victimize society because I am a weak liberal. Non sequitur, flawed republican logic, does not compute. :evilgrin:

[adigal]

46. No, I would kill the person myself

so I would never get to the death penalty question. Seriously, I cannot imagine how families allow the justice system to deal with it.

[NCN007]

48. I agree

The justice system allows the death penalty and penalizes vigilantism, no matter how justified, to prevent blood feuds.

[crispini]

47. Great response!

Thanks for posting!

And, for the record, my answer's no.

[SemperEadem]

49. No.

It only provides a momentary sense of revenge, and doesn't reanimate the loved one who was murdered. Once the deed is done, everyone goes their way and forgets about the loved ones.

I believe life in prison with no possibility for parole in one of the most vicious prisons in the country is punishment enough.

[rodeodance]

51. nope

[0007]

53. I don't think so!

[Flying Dream Blues]

54. No...

[proud2BlibKansan]

56. No

Locked up for the rest of his/her natural life would be a much worse punishment.

[maveric]

57. Yes. But I support it regardless.

It should be saved for the worst of the worst!
Ala Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, Speck, McVeigh, Kissinger, Rumsfeld...