Are there any conditions in which you would support the death penalty?

[cynatnite]

A mother and her daughters were horrifically murdered. The gruesome way in which these three individual lost their lives is at the very least disturbing. It's enough that I don't want to go into detail. I've avoided reading too much about this ever since I learned how their lives were taken away.

I'm against the death penalty for a lot of reasons, but this particular crime has me hesitating. In this instance, I think I could be persuaded to seriously consider it if I were there.

I'm curious if anyone else has felt the same way. If you're normally against the death penalty are there instances that would be acceptable in your eyes?

[babylonsister]

1. I'm persuaded; these guys don't deserve to breathe. nt

[VMI Dem]

2. If I am personally carrying it out. Why involve the rest of society in my revenge?

[shraby]

9. It's not what I would call revenge. Those people don't

deserve to breathe anymore. They are wasting precious oxygen.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. nope.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Yes WAR CRIMES, not because it will serve as a deterrent

no, I am not that crazy, it don't... but when millions die on your execute order...

And High treason, for the same reasons...

Otherwise, it is actually more expensive than anything and we have executed innocent people. So unless you can guarantee that you will NEVER execute an innocent person...

Texas, not that long ago.

[peacebird]

35. plus one!

[PeaceNikki]

5. No.

[ZombieHorde]

6. self delete

[cynatnite]

12. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

7. Anger, horror, and depression may make me pro capital punishment,

but I think our laws should be based on logic, and not anger, horror, and depression.

[cynatnite]

15. I'm horrified and sickened by what happened...

That's probably why I would make a lousy juror on something like this. I'd want to bludgeon the bastards myself.

[TheWraith]

37. Well spoken. nt

[Fumesucker]

8. This link is to a DU LBN story about a man who got out of prison a week before he died of cancer...

He was cleared of a rape and murder conviction by DNA evidence... After 30 years in prison..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4608282

[glen123098]

10. Nope, I wouldn't even give the death penalty to Cheney.

[proteus_lives]

11. I favor the death penalty for certain crimes and the people who commit them.

I know what crime you're talking about.

Those men deserve to die.

[haifa lootin]

13. I'm normally very skeptical about the value of the DP but this case is a great example of when

I would gladly pull the switch.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." Nietsc

[haifa lootin]

17. Nietzsche is peachy but Sartre is smartre.

...
anyhow, one doesn't have to be a monster to defeat one.

[Taverner]

16. Look - I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it

It's that I don't want the state to have that kind of power

I know it was pretty much an open and shut case, but what if it wasn't?

It wouldn't be the first time someone was falsely accused of a crime

[Pavulon]

24. His dna inside a 11 year old burned alive pretty much rules that out..

he deserves to die. However the state fucks up to often. I say send him to Florence where he has no books, no visitors, no tv, no weights, and 1 shower and 24 hours in a empty swimming pool a week.

Never speaks to another inmate, never hears a voice except the people who despise him. That and the inverter on a florescent light behind 2" BP glass.. He would literally never see the sun again.

Then when he figures out how bad that really is, he has no sheets, nothing that can be used for suicide. Just lots of time.

[Taverner]

31. Again - it was an open and shut case

But I still don't think the state should have that power

And besides, think about it - we kill the guy. Shot to the arm. Dead.

How as life improved for anyone?

Did the killer suffer? No

Did the killer see justice? No

Did the family get their daughter and mother back? No

All that happened is the guy who did it was put to death. Painlessly.

Let him live in a prison cell for the rest of this life, and now we're talking justice. Now we are talking a punishment that fits the crime: He tortured and killed people in this family, let's leave him in a jail cell 23 hours a day, with one hour for a walk around the prison yard. Talk about hell - what if that's what you had to look forward to every day. Take out the TV, the cable, the internet.

Do you understand what I mean? Does this make sense?

[Pavulon]

34. Oh I agree. We need to remove the population of drug offenders and related junk

and reserve prison for people who deserve to be there. It needs to be like Florence ADX. 10 years, no tv, no books (other than law library), nothing but a concrete wall, soundproof room, and spare time.

Prison should not be a social network.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Only for George Bush and Dick Cheney

[GoCubsGo]

41. That would let them off too easy.

I'd rather see them rot in prison for long, miserable time. But first, confiscate all their assets and spread them among the unwashed masses they so despise.

[ibegurpard]

19. no

DNA evidence has exonerated people on death row.
Our justice system is obviously not infallible enough for the ultimate penalty.

[jody]

20. Yes but only if trial and sentence was by an omniscient being. n/t

[ibegurpard]

25. exactly

[Denninmi]

21. Overall, I strongly oppose the death penalty.

Both for moral reasons and for pragmatic ones -- the poor are overwhelmingly more likely to be given the death penalty than the rich, and the entire system is hopelessly incompetent or corrupt. Look at what happened in Illinois -- DNA testing showed that so many of the death row inmates were actually innocent of their crimes that the governor commuted the sentences of all of them because there was no real way of knowing who was innocent, if I recall correctly. Aside from that, it does not deter crime, and it costs far more than just keeping the person alive and in prison for their natural life.

I'm proud that I live in Michigan, the first jurisdiction in the English speaking world to outlaw capital punishment, way back in May 1846.

Granted, there are some crimes so heinous that they deserve it. For example, the hangings of Nazis at Nuremberg and the execution of Adolph Eichmann by Israel were both justified, but these were not just your average murderers. And, I think that in those particular instances, guilt was established beyond ALL doubt, not just reasonable doubt.

Therefore, until humans are capable of perfection, I say no, the risk of killing an innocent person is too much to justify it in an ordinary criminal justice setting.

[frylock]

22. nope

[Greyhound]

23. No. n/t

[elfin]

26. Oh, yes

Upon overwhelming concrete evidence for a horrific crime- not circumstantial.

I would prefer an extended period of research on the convict's brain and background along with prohibiting any conjugal visits before execution.

Have had enough biology background to want to take them OUT of the gene pool as well as to take them off the government expense sheet to make room for more fruitful expenditures of our dollars.

This is new for me. Before I would say "No", in the interest of never condemning anyone to death who may be a victim of racial profiling etc. - but now with advanced science, I would be OK with it -- RARELY.

This goes for either male or female -- get them out of the gene pool, even if it means death in a horrific crime with overwhelming concrete evidence.

[treestar]

27. No, I figure part of being against it is having to be against it

for such a murderer, as long as he/she is locked up for life for real, that's good enough.

Too many stories of people found out not to be the one later.

It is tempting though for this sort of murder. Breaking into someone's house and killing them is as low as it gets.

[Pavulon]

29. you left out rape of an 11 year old and burning them alive..

that pretty much tops off the list of things you do to deserve to be executed.

[Drale]

28. Yes

when it the crime involves children, I whole heartedly support the death penalty.

[FreeState]

30. No - I never support the death penalty for any reason n/t

[TicketyBoo]

32. I wouldn't exactly say "support,"

but I would not object to it in this case.

[Lindsey]

39. No. I'm totally against the Death Penalty....even Cheney. I do

think that people who commit horrible crimes should go to prison (like Cheney)for the rest of their time on this planet.

[TheWraith]

33. Not really, no.

The only scenarios in which I would see lethal action being acceptable are immediate self defense and related situations. Once you have someone under arrest and within the control of the legal system, there's no justification for extreme measures in my opinion.

Even if you could be 100% certain in this case that the accused was guilty, there have been lots of other equally horrific crimes for which the "perpetrator" has later been determined to be innocent. There was a case just today where a man, who had been imprisoned for 30 years for a rape/murder he didn't commit, died a month after being freed by new evidence. That may be sad, but at least he got that month, and the knowledge that he had been exhonorated. If he'd been given the death penalty, he would have been dead 20 years ago, and his family would never get the relief of knowing he was innocent. So long as the justice system is imperfect, there WILL be accidents, mistaken identities, false accusations, and planted evidence.

Edited to add: The assumption that killing someone quickly and easily is a punishment is dubious--certainly more so than the prospect of a lifetime of imprisonment. And life is also the only punishment that can be, if not reversed, at least abrogated.

[NOLALady]

36. No.

Death is too easy for some crimes.

[emilyg]

38. In this case I

support the death penalty.

[flvegan]

40. No, not in the least.

[Booster]

42. Remembering little Samantha Runion, Hell yes. That man

doesn't deserve to take another breath.

[Tesha]

43. No. (NT)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

44. I'm one of those evil people who answers "No".