The thought of that sentence ,'life without parole' would drive me to suicide.

@buzz13 that is frequently what happens

I also don't think human life is special in the larger since of things and don't trust the government with the right to decide who lives and who dies. But neither your point, not mine addresses the posters question.

Well, we can have harsh punishments for offenses thereby creating a cruel and barbaric world or we human beings can transcend our baser nature and make a kinder, gentler world for us all to live in.

@JeffB True, my way of taking away discrimination would be to look at why some get it easier.

@JeffB, @dare2dream I don't look at it as punishment, but rather removing those who prove a risk to the rest of society.

@Rugglesby ok, what if it ends up being that's it's actually hard to prove these cases and a good portion of them are going to find innocent people guilty of the crime. If that was true, would it change your stance?

@JeffB Only looking at cases wheer there is no doubt, our biggest mass shooting, there is no doubt whatsoever the guy did it, so he shoudl be compost. Someone who runs after little girls and shoots them. Seriously, I think it is a sick society that doesn't just shut the book on this guy. Not revenge.

@Rugglesby it seems impossible that you put that too in the hands of government, that they would use it the way you want. You reading that situation differently?

@JeffB agree, the government twists anything.

The death penalty is pretty expensive with all the years of appeals. I am not going to dig around but it seems i have read that life without parole ends up being cheaper

Being locked away in a prison within a prison forever insurers they will never kill again. Besides, are we to execute people for crimes they might commit in the future?

@dare2dream It's not a matter of executing them for crimes they might commit in the future , it's a matter of executing people who have already been found guilty of committing crimes , and additionally , preventing them from repeating it again . Sometimes , prisoners do escape .

@Cast1es : I see. You want to kill them to prevent them from repeating crimes. As I said, you want to kill them for crimes they MIGHT do in the future.

@dare2dream Your intentional second mis-interrupteration , of what I wrote , is just as wrong the second time you wrote it , as it was the first time . Their punishment , is for the multiple crimes , they have already committed . Period . Even if they remain in prison , for the rest of their lives , they will still be around guards , other prisoners , workers who would be required for jobs prisoners are not allowed to do , lawyers , visitors , therapists , medical personnel , etc ., who , I might add , except for the guards , are all unarmed .

good points

The problem with victim families deciding is that it would make punishments for the same crime carry wildly.

It also has potential for people to get away with things from social pressure on the victim. Like how abused spouses often won’t prosecute their abuser.

Your last question seems to assume that I have not thought this out. But yes, I did go through that thought experiment and still came to the conclusion that the death penalty is not something that I want our society to perpetuate.
The death penalty does not somehow undo the damage that has been done.

@Myah ok ... I get it... thank you.

Once a killer is caught and behind bars then what happens is no longer about him. It is about us and who we are and what kind of people we are. I refuse to stoop to the same level as the killer.

@dare2dream thats cool and i hear you. I just can't allow these people to continue. Heck... death is the cowards way out anyway. I would put them in a cage of monkey's. They would wish they were dead.

Yes, THIS was what I was trying to say. It is not equally applied even if you think it could be justified.