Death penalty. For or against?

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Capital punishment?

What are others opinion on the death penalty? I'm a man of peace, but frankly when I read of pure acts of violence, I can't help thinking the perpetrators should be hung or otherwise lose their life rather than be left languishing in prison for 20 years at taxpayers expense.

It is a daily occurrence in the news both in England and America of extreme violence and innocent public or bystanders being stabbed to death or shot, often for nothing more than a "bad look" or to steal some trivial item such as a mobile phone.

In one court case the other day in England the murderer laughed at the family of the person he'd killed, taunting them with his trivial sentence and the fact he would "soon be out but their f***ing son was dead, get over it"

Does capital punishment help to deter murder in the first place or does it encourage someone who has already murdered to keep shooting out with the cops/others because he has nothing to lose?

Public polls tend to consistently support the death penalty, but most western countries do not support it. Why is that?

I'm against capital punishment in most cases, but when it is total pyscho behaviour such as the above, hang the bastards.

I'm in favor of capital punishment in all cases and situations.

That sounds like a philosophical quick-start for serial killers.

I am 100% against the death penalty, it is wrong on so many levels

I'm playing devils advocate here by asking why you would disagree in an extreme "fictitious" case:

Take for example a serial killer who raped, tortured and killed children and showed no remorse and then taunted the families of the victims while in court, not only admitting his crimes but saying how much he enjoyed *graphic brutality* while leering at the parents in the courtroom, enjoying their horror.

Almost everyone on the planet would want such a man killed. Why would it be wrong in this case? It would be a fair assessment that he would unlikely ever be allowed out of prison during his lifetime, so it truly would mean life in prison. Why not death and be done with him?

i'm all for the death penalty, but only for politicians

I am for the death penalty, but with provisions.

1) It must be a heinous crime that shocks the conscience.
2) The accused displays no remorse.
3) The accused is able to distinguish right from wrong.

I'm against, because if i ever murder someone i could be put to death by my own opinions. there's just no way i'm going to be a sacrifice on the altar of the god of irony.

god of irony?

Explain.

method of speech, metaphor, etc.

add 4) it has to be very thoroughly proven. There have been many cases of people who were not guilty of a capital crime but were put to death anyway.

Since the purpose of severe punishment is to remove very bad people from our midst, I would favor the "Devil's Island" approach. A penal colony relatively inexpensive to guard but very hard to escape from.

ruveyn

dammit, that rules out the politicians!

For when my enemies are at trial.

Opposed when the people at trial are not my enemies.

Yeah, that one is a given.

I think the guillotine should be brought back for someone that is sentenced to the death penalty. I mean it works much faster than lethal injection, it's guaranteed to kill the person, and it's cheaper. Oh it's also painless. In a second or two, the persons head would no longer be attached to the rest of their body.

Then after it's done, the head could be used to play a quick game of dodge ball, kick ball, or soccer. I would say basketball, but I doubt decapitated heads bounce. Though, could play dribble free basketball with the head