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Hi all.... wondering what your perspective is regarding the death penalty. Do you think a murderer who has confessed to killing should immediately be put to death or do you think they can be rehabilitated? I don't mean to offend anyone. Just curious.

qspawnq 4 Apr 11
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41 comments

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0

The law is an ass. Dickens was right. Confessions are always unreliable, and can be made under pressure or coersion. Judicial killing is just another type of murder and demeans us all.

1

Absolutely opposed. No one is beyond redemption.

1

I don't think the state should have the right to execute its citizens. It's barbaric.

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Rehabilitation is mostly a myth with respect to most criminals. At least 30% of inmates are psychopaths/narcissists. They cannot be changed. It is a brain mutation.

That is nonsense

Even if true what right does the state have to kill? As by your own admission these people are acting under The compulsions of a damaged brain.

@chazwin As i have written elsewhere, too many innocent people are falsely imprisoned. Hence, no executions.
I also think every inmate should be required to work. And lots of requirements, in anticipation of life on the outside.

@Amisja I have noticed that you do not research before you spew. What I posted above is based in studies, of inmates in the US and canada, made over decades.
I am 66 years. I learn something new everyday. But on agnostic i do not post anything that i have not researched to find multiple sources, and opposing views.
Psychopathy is a brain mutation that eliminates empathy from the person's emotional responses and understandings. At this time, this cannot be changed.
To learn more about psychopathy/sociopathy, start with Doctor Hare's seminal work, "The psyoohpaths among us."

@Jacar There are serious problems with making inmates work. Both America and China use inmates as a cheap source of Labour and this has the effect of wrecking the economic prospects of the poorest in society by taking jobs from them and lowering wages on the outsife. Additionally cases have come to light cartridges are the beneficiaries of companies that uses h Labour and have a tendency to give too long sentences or convict on slight evidence. In China the prisons are filled for that reason. In the USA though thought wrong the practice is !it's common than you would imagine.

@Jacar Why make a personal attack? What do you think I do for a living?

@Amisja Not a personal attack. Just a comment about how often you respond with a few negative words. As above. Which could be construed as a personal attack on me.

@Amisja, @chazwin Letting people do nothing is not good for them, mentally and physically.
This is bad for them and for us. I have details about how this can be reasonably accomplished.

@Jacar Tell that to the priest

@Jacar You make a big mistake thinking you are older and therefore smarter than others.

0

Some people revoke their right to live in a civilized society. I'm all about forgiveness but some people are just evil and do not deserve to be among the living.

Evil is a medieval religious concept with no place in the modern world. Some people think that those that believe such nonsense do not deserve to be listened to.

@chazwin "Evil" is in the behavior of those who inflict harm upon others without regret, nor remorse.

@Jacar Thank you mr. Dictionary. No evil is a religious concept, and meaningless to atheists.

0

Before putting them to death I would need proof beyond a doubt that they did commit the crime. There are extenuating circumstances to many killing crimes but I do not believe that anyone can be rehabilitated when they have openly commited murder. If you cannot justify the murder in some way, you at least know that the killer will not kill again.

My schizophrenic sister shot and killed a boyfriend in her 20s. She lamented often...that she was going to Hell, for killing that guy. She died at 76 last year! She was a tortured soul, (being witness to your only sister in this state, is another kind of lifelong living sadness).

Uauuu that´s a radical point a view. No mercy at all. This is one of the things I hate in US.So may innocent have been killed there

@Freedompath that is sad for both. So sorry

@margarida thank you.

@Freedompath I do hope that anyone at all that reads my remarks here know that I am responding to what is known as "the death penalty." I am in no way saying or trying to say that people who have killed someone should themselves be killed. There are always extenuating circumstances.

@DenoPenno I understood. Unless your sister or some other family member ends up where my sister did...it is hard to imagine the pain that I felt! A family lost their son, and my sister did it and could have been put down as well! And, we had made great efforts to find help for her and we were told, ‘until she does something, there is nothing that can be done,’ ...the system may pretty much work like this now.

@Freedompath So sorry to hear this

@Freedompath Would you be happy to have killed her yourself? If not why would you out that burden on us all as members of society?

@chazwin your questions makes no sense to me. I have never wanted to kill others...not even my sister! ...’out that as a burden to society,’...surely you know that ‘society,’ has inacted laws that we all must live by...and also the punishments when those laws are broken! Why would you blame me, as ‘putting the burden on society,’ for my schizophrenic sister? This makes no sense to me and I find it very insulting to boot!

@chazwin I am not putting any burdens on anyone.

@DenoPenno On the subject of burdens. If YOU want to bring back the death penalty, then you shall be placing that burden on others to do the killing.

@DenoPenno, @Freedompath No offense was meant. It was hypothetical. The case of your sister she deserves no punishment for her crime, crime though it was. I understand the burden of mental health as my own brother is also profoundly schizophrenic. Thankfully I live in a country where guns are not readily available, and so my brother's outbursts tended to do himself harm rather than others.

2

I don't know if certain people can be rehabilitated but no one should be put to death. Keep them locked up but under humane conditions as the Scandinavians do. Currently imprisonment in the US amounts to torture.

1

My work truck has been broken into, and my tools have been stolen many times, over the years... we use to hang people for thieving a horse, for a good reason.

If we are going to hang people for stealing a few tools then maybe we should also hang people who consistently lead them into temptation.

That is as stupid as anything I have heard in my 71 years. No need to respond. This is really enough stupid for one day.

5

My reasons for opposing the death penalty are not related to rehabilitation at all, altho I do think it is admirable when a murderer does change, turn their life around, and devote themselves to helping others in prison as a way of making up for what they did. But my reasons, if it's not off-topic, are that it doesn't bring back the dead, it doesn't make anyone even with the murderer, it is not applied fairly in respect to class and race, it is also clear that innocent people have been executed wrongly and then exonerated after their execution, and lastly, as a good socialist, the death penalty has frequently been misused and abused by dictators and authoritarian governments to kill their political opponents, usually socialists or communists.

Brilliant post

@Amisja Thank you, I get lucky once in a while. I stole part of my argument from the lyrics of Elvis Costello's song Let Him Dangle, a song against the death penalty.

4

Me personally, I think the purpose of prison is to rehabilitate someone so that they can become a productive member of society.
For someone who commits murder, either by accident, a crime of passion, personal gain, they were on drugs at the time and weren't in complete control of their faculties, etc, etc. The death penalty holds no place. Another murder doesn't correct a life lost, it doesn't cancel it out, and it helps no one. -It's just revenge-murder wish fulfillment.

For those who delight in killing, i.e. sociopaths who lack empathy, the death penalty makes more sense.
Certainly you could allow them to live out their lives in prison, but they might kill other prisoners.
There are some who cannot be rehabilitated and cannot be in society without murdering other human beings. Until their brains can be rewired and corrected to incorporate empathy they shouldn't be admitted to live in any place where they could potentially take another life.

2

It has proven too unreliable to be forced on anyone. I do think however as a purely economic option that I would support anyone with a life sentence getting to chose it. Basically, I support the right to life, which is a door that swings both ways, and also means we should have some right to death.

It costs more to give someone the death penalty than life in prison. They have pointed this out for decades. Pay attention.

1

I can see the death penalty in some cases. LikeJeffrey Daumer, people like that. There are crimes, or series of crimes, that are so heinous and despicable, the perps deserve to die.
The problem then becomes, though, where do you draw the line?
Probably better to just throw away the key.

I think the death penalty needs to be less buried in bureaucracy and ritual. If we are going to kill someone lets make it raw and quick. A guillotine or bullet to the back of the head. The cost I feel is all about pretending its not what it is.

@Quarm I'm saying the exact opposite:
If we decided to put someone to death, we'd have to know for sure the intracacies of the case. Were there good reasons why the crime was committed? Was there an underlying mental illness? Perhaps it was done in the blind rage of temporary passion? Did the perp's upbringing come into plsy?
OR was it done with premeditated calculation, the criminal knowing it's wrongfulness and doing it anyway, purely for self-serving purposes without regard for the rights of others? Did this wrongdoer see himself (or herself) as more important than everybody else, and thus free to do, well, anything, whatever the consequences for those of less importance?
All kinds of considerations are to be studied.
So to just to put someone to death quickly, to disguise the immorality of putting someone to death at all, defeats the purpose: to do justice.
Of course, if the consensus is, it is inherently immoral, then it shouldn't be done at all.
Your sarcasm is unbecoming.

@Storm1752 I was refering to what we do after all due diligence to prove guilt has been established. Once we are sure the killing is just it should be brutal and quick. Someone who chooses to be an executioner should have the conviction and certainty that what he is doing is just. It should not be buried under layers of illusion attempting to shield us from what it is. Immoral? Of course it is. Its horrific. Killing should never be considered moral or right. At its best it is necessary for the safety of us. But it still is not a good thing or something that should ever be seen as routine or easy.

@Quarm A good, reasonable answer BUT if it's immoral, it shouldn't be done. Defending ourselves IS moral. I'm for giving the criminal a yummy feast laced with a tasteless, fast-acting poison.

@Storm1752 I agree in theory but then I think if progress is to be made in human conflict resolution we must face the subjective nature of morality. In war we commit mass murder quite often of civilians and call them causalities or acceptable losses. Irrelevant to the cause of the war or justification there are always innocent victims who if we are honest are murder victims. The firebombing of Tokyo and similar events were nothing less then atrocities and yet we consider WWII a clean war. (Not you specifically but that is its portrayal I think in popular lore.) My point is immorality of some kind is intrinsic to human action and the best thing we can do is mitigate it as much as possible, be honest about it and never bury it in sanitized language or ritual. We must face our demons or they will grow in the dark and in time destroy us.

@Quarm I happen to think a lot of immoral things happen in war. Hiroshima anf Nagasaki were immoral. Carpetbombing Dresden and other German cities was. Lots of things.What does thst have to do with the death penalty? Nothing.

I failed to see what good killing anyone would do?

0

I have gone back and forth so many times on this question in my life time, that today I'm just not sure. I do think that trying to make a hard and fast rule, is nonsense, and that a case by case study should be made, as is the general rule......do I think there are people that should die for what they've done, and have given up their right to live....I'm sure there are. ....so today .....yes...and I think everyone that has a hand in the sentence, should have to attend the execution, at the states' expense

4

I am not offended...I do not believe the death penalty solves the hurt and pain for victims or their families and friends. But I do believe in humane incarceration, for life. Some atrocities would require that.

5

Killing is wrong, even for the state.

1

It’s all a death sentence.

Happy?

@chazwin Extremely, what’s your point?

5

I firmly believe that NO-ONE has the right to take life from any other person and since there have been, in the past, innumerable cases of Wrongful Executions then LIFE imprisonment for a capital crime SHOULD LIFE without ANY hope of early release or parole.
The same, in my opinion, should go for Paedophiles, Rapists and habitual Thieves, etc, as well.

Were Hitler and Stalin deserving, to name just two? If your answer is 'no,' then there's nothing to discuss.

@Storm1752 The entire Leadership ( Field Marshalls, Generals, etc, etc,) of the Nazi party, Stalin, Pol Pot, EVERY Pope and Catholic Priest, Cardinal/Bishop, etc, who either stayed silent or condoned the slaughter, rape and pillaging of native peoples throughout the centuries or was involved in the abuse of children or adults in the name of Religion throughout the centuries, any Ruler, King or Queen who sanctioned the same, ergo EVERYONE who has ever or will ever kill or cause pain and suffering to a victim/s with deliberate and or malicious forethought deserves imprisonment for the Term of His/her Natural Life in my opinion.

0

wouldn't that depend on the circumstances?

0

I'm for certainty. It has to be certain. Also, I believe that it must fit the crime. Planned, cold blooded or multiple. Less than that would not fit. Also agree to pedophiles, but definitely must fit the crime and be a defined type and be much worse than just having the materials. Not saying that isn't a crime but not capital punishment worthy. Also, I don't want to think too much about what that means.

I do think that confession does mean something. It can bring closure to families and lower court costs. I think there should be some leniency for that.

0

in my opinion, all child predators should be killed, serial killers, serial rapists, people who kill off their entire families, wives and husbands who kill their spouses and or children, hate crime murders. Yes, I absolutely do agree with the death penalty.

No, in my opinion killing the criminal is far far too easy and kind, they SHOULD be made to endure imprisonment for the Term of their Natural Life with NO chance/hope of Parole or Early Release on Good Behaviour Grounds what-so-ever.

Too many people wrongly convicted. Once they are dead, there is no hope to correct the error. We are the only western culture who still has the death penalty. The death penalty must go.

So no nuance, no consideration for mental derangement, because of physical abnormalities or, say, a cruel upbringing?

@Storm1752 I just feel like some ppl are so not deserving of life and there is no rehabilitating ppl like that

@Triphid only problem is we the tax payers have to suffer, they don’t deserve to eat or breathe anymore!

@sandrarocks83 Why not 'install' them on some very remote island, particularly one where sharks congregate ALL the time, give them very basic of needs then merely let them fend for themselves.
If it were up to me I'd happily put them on the Bikini Atoll where the U.S. did ever so many Nuclear Bomb Tests. No necessity for Prison Cells, wardens, high walls, etc, there and eventually, IF the radiation doesn't kill them ever so slowly and most agonizingly, then ONLY the strongest of them will live out his/her sentence in the end.

0

I don't think confessions are reliable, but there are crimes that deserve the death penalty. We have ways of collecting hard evidence and of gathering data, that are pretty conclusive. I'd be more in favor of executing child rapists, than I would murderers, on the whole.

0

I would leave that up to the immediate family. The captured videos of Police Brutality and Military Crimes against humanity have never been addressed. Will the American Indiian or the Blacks of the South ever be given justice. Every convict receives medical attention and innocent people die everyday from lack of medicine or proper medical attention. Your talking a muted argument that has been raging for centuries.

0

I believe that the death penalty should be reserved for the most extreme cases in which the person is actually caught in a cruel and vicious attack or deliberately sociopathic action which is terribly dangerous to others; and only such cases that there is a clear and persistent pattern which makes the person a clear and present danger to society. In such cases, there is no doubt that such a person MUST isolated from society, but we have no obligation to expend public funds to keep such a person alive. Ergo, such a person merits the death penalty.

But, would that not be the cost of living in a civilized society? Keeping them away from others for safety?

@Freedompath No, not to me.

@wordywalt ok, then you can wall yourself off!

@Freedompath I have a right to my reasoned perspective, as do you. I am not walling myself off, and I will not be walled off my anyone else.

@wordywalt ok..,I never attacked your opinion...I just pointed out another alternative if you feel threatened!

@Freedompath I do not feel threatened. I am just asserting that I am not walling myself off and, as you seem to assert.

@wordywalt I re-looked up the words ‘assert,’ ...verb, ‘declare’... and alternative ...adjective, ‘offering a choice’...I meant the word ‘alternative,’...I took our exchange of ideas, as just that, you do what fits you...making suggestions means to me...that we can take them or leave them!

@Freedompath okay. No need for an argument.

@wordywalt sometimes, we need arguments to clear up things! It just needs to be up-front and rational.

I think a " psychopath is by definition mentally deranged. But maybe we should kill him anyway? An interesting question might be, are there SOME psychopaths aware of their mental state and REFRAIN from criminal acts deliberately, knowing their moral compass is broken?

@Storm1752 A psychopath knows the difference between right and wrong, but does not care. All that matters to him or her is what he or she wants. A psychopath is NOT psychotic.

0

You have to take into account that most "confessions" have been shown to have been coerced and, few if any guilty murderers actually confess.

2

In EUA there is dead penalty, yet you have a huge rate of crime. There is no point in taking peoples life...it's cruel. You can not say it's wrong to take someone's life and do the same.

But then you have a problem with prisoners killing other prisoners and guards. How do you protect other persons from murderous prisoners? In the U.S., solitary confinement has a lot of critics as being inhumane and their is a move to abolish that...so how do you keep prisoners and guards safe if you cannot execute? Seems like quite a conundrum.

@dahermit well in USA people are so religious,( so don't take what god gave 😛 ) and you live in pure capitalism so jails are a way of creating business and jobs.

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