Our second topic, by chance, is strongly related to our first one, Saddam Hussein's execution, but while the latter was about an isolated case, this one takes a wider perspective and discusses the issue of proposing or opposing capital punishment around the world. Please, consider this when you are reading and commenting on this new topic.
Here are the links provided by your colleague, Gisheilla:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~kenc/cappun.htm and
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-224694/capital-punishment.
Hope you will find them informative enough to make up your mind about it.
As always, have fun,
Kinga
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9 comments:
Prisons are in terrible conditions and are extremely overpopulated. Acording to the United States department of justice state prison expenditures in 2005, aproximately 29.5 billion Dollars are diverted to prisons per year per state. The Government spends aproximately 22,000 dollars per year per inmate, that is aprox. 60 Dollars per day. I am in favor of capital punishment. Though 80% of people in jail are their because of drug related insidents. They obviously get parole and a chance to redeem themselves. But their is a large percetage of prisons that have numerous killers, rapists and kidnappers. These are the people who should face the electic chair. I am not saying every bad guy should be put to death, but special cases where the killer/rapist or wrongdoer commits such terrible act, then and only then does he truly deserve to die.
I am against Capital Punishment for three reasons. First, I do not think it is the right thing to do and it is clearly not on moral grounds. The convict may have committed a drug related crime or a murder related crime, still I truly do not believe it makes any difference. I think ending someone’s life because he did something wrong is worse than the crime committed in the first place. The second reason, which is the continuum of the first, is that capital punishment does not get you anywhere. For example, if the convict was a murderer and he murdered a boy, his family would be very sad and angry. The first thing that comes to mind in an incident like this is the true desire for killing the murderer. However, decent people are not able to do this; that’s why, they want the capital punishment; they want to end the murderer’s life just as he has ended their son’s. Instead, if they think rationally for some time, they would see that if they end his life, there will not be any way for him to feel remorse. They should realize that if they put him in jail for life; then, he will be miserable for the rest of his life. I think this is more satisfactory than just sentencing the convict to capital punishment. This way, he will feel sorry and he will regret his actions. The third reason I want to discuss is related to one of Jose’s ideas on this topic. He stated that prisons receive a considerable percent of the government’s budget and I think he implied that capital punishment will be a cheaper way to get rid of the convicts. Even if I am wrong about what he said or not, I want to share with everyone that capital punishment is not as cheap as everyone thinks it is. Last semester, I took a US Politics course, and surprisingly found out that capital punishment is very expensive. In fact, according to Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research’s Report, “Death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.”
Bibliography:
Costs of the Death Penalty. (n.d.) Retrieved January 24, 2007 from Death Penalty Information Website: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7.
can every person still has an equal right to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." in so-called love and an ideal spiritual community? I will argue for capital punishiment.
first, most countries in the world are undoubtly just societies and the nature of moral community, but lot of them don't apply capital punishment any longer. why? we want to make our societies full of love and at least look like an ideal spiritual commuty, so there are still murders, rape cases and drug related cases. That's rediculous. What's the point being so nice but cannot really make community ideally full of love?
Secondly, as Jose said in his comment, the prisons are in terrible conditions and are extremely overpopulated. How come the goverment waste money on these who could be killed by capital punishment? I still think giving the money to the poor may make the community more like an ideal spiritual society.
thirdly, let me apply the central principle of a just society again that is every person has an equal right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." government tend to be nice to its people, suppose people all want to protect his or her own right. will murdurers, rapers or somewhat else in the society make the trouble? or let's think in another way, if murderers are not killed by law, will people who are tired or just bored of life murder someone and then enjoy rest of his or her life in the prison.. I should admit that's a really few percent of people but they do exist..
All in all, I support capital punishment for makint the community ideally full of love.
Economical reasons should never play a role in arguing for or against the death penalty. Moral or emotional judgments are out of place as well. Only facts and empirical data are appropriate to be used in the decision making process, for this is the one basis on which all crimes can be treated equally.
I strongly oppose capital punishment for many reasons. First and foremost, nobody has the right to take lives. If this is false, why would the death penalty exist in the first place? Murderers may have violated this principle, but that does not authorize the government to take their lives on their part. Secondly, although I don’t think that people that have killed can ever be treated, they are no harm for society, if they are locked away. Life in prison is better than having no life. This leads me to another argument: we never know if a person is guilty or not. Sentences based on sufficient evidence are not undisputable – and there have been cases where a convicted murderer’s innocence was proven after he was put to death. One such incident alone would be enough to oppose capital punishment. My last argument is that countries not executing death penalty do not have higher crime rates. I live in Europe, where no country is allowed to put people to death. It obviously works.
There are two judgments regarding the capital punishment issue. At one case, some people support the death penalty, and the other one oppose it. From my perspective, each hypothesis has its sensible reason, and stand on equal position. If one convict is put on capital punishment for the cause of murdering other person or people, then some others will think it is fair and justice. The convict gets what he or she deserved for his or her guilt. On the other side, the spiritual community fights against the idea of one person taking the other’s life, because nobody has the right to execute the penalty, except for GOD. These compelling arguments can go on forever with no one can exactly decide which one is right and which one is wrong. Personally, I would say yes, but only with one condition, that the felon has done a numerous and intolerable convictions in connection with assassination. One recent example of that kind of person is Saddam Hussein, whom we have already discussed last week. May be there are a lot of people who will extremely disagree with my opinion based on the ideal spiritual community, such as forgiveness and love. It is true that nowadays world is already full of crimes. Then, why would we add another crime against one of human most personal rights, the right to live, eventhough it would be based on his crime for murdering others? Why don’t we just forgive him and give him a second chance? Well, in reality, how many percent of murderers in the world would realize what they have done were wrong and ready to change? I would not say it is impossible, but it is highly unlikely. There is no guarantee that a prisoner would change his attitude after he is released from prison. He is more likely to do the crime again, eventhough he knows the risk, to be put in jail yet again. At least if we execute the capital punishment, it would put a deep mark to the society. The felons would reconsider to kill somebody because they know it is their lives at stake.
What comes into our minds when we discuss capital punishment? Is it the satisfaction you obtain when an evil dictator is executed? Or is it the satisfaction received by the victim's families when a murderer gets hanged. Cases concerning capital punishment is still not unheard off, even in civilized countries like Singapore. An Australian man was hanged in Singapore for drug trafficking reasons. In a country where even chewing gum would land you a fine and possibly imprisonment, that man was hanged despite international pressure on Singapore to change the verdict. This shows that sometimes, capital punishment is engaged unnecessarily and in the worng situations. The Australian, who only needed some drugs to help his sick brother in Singapore paid with his life due to the injustice imposed upon him. Another situation would be in the presence of a former dictator, Saddam Hussien. A man accused of crimes against humanity and betrayal of his own people, Saddam received the death penalty and was sent to the gallows. Responsible for a massacre of 148 people in the town of Dujail, Saddam deserved the hang man's noose as he manslaughtered people without a blink of an eye. Therefore, there exists situations when capital punishment should be taken into effect. As for minor crimes, capital punishment should be avoided at all costs as peoples lives should not be governed by rules and regulations of man.
Is there any non-lethal alternative that is a fitting substitute for the death penalty? Whereas, the standard of judgement is whether the punishment fits the crime and sufficiently honors the nature of moral community. I will look capital punishment based on justice and moral.Just for our reflection, did you ever get hurt by somebody? at that time, did you ever think that he or she deserved to get punishment or maybe deserved to be treated like how he /she treated you? This little experience should lead us to the reality that we always want a justice. People who admit crimes should get an equivalent punishments. I didn't say that every murderer should get death penalty, but if the crimes he/she admit are too many and too serious, he/she would deserve a death penalty.
The other consideration is because of the fact that our prisons are so full, which means we failure to create a good society. meanwhile, our leaders divert our attention with the thought that capital punishment will make our citizens more secure against aggressive crimes. To end, I would say that I am the proponent of the capital punishment.
Article one, as i feel takes capital punishment under consideration from a christian perspective. While there is nothing wrong with that, we cannot make a case as a whole because christians are but a fraction of a whole. There are religions that consider death a moral and ethical punishment for fitting crimes.
A pedophile being sentenced to death in any country would morally be right, even if the law differs. There are certain crimes and deeds for which, the person committing them has to be put to death and there are other where the convicted person may be given a second chance.
Article 2 shows us that capital punishment has been and will be present for years. With the creation of laws the number of people punished by death has decreased, offenders are getting away using loopholes in the judicial system.
We have set rules for almost everything - you miss an exam and you will lose 25% of your final grade-, why not create new rules - you are caught having committed "fixed set of crimes" you will be punished by death -?
Capital punishment has to be given and only will then there will be a decrease in the number of crimes towards the innocent.
The capital punishment, a sentence of punishment by execution or putting a condemned person to death, started from our ancestor long time ago, because they believed that execution could warm all the public not to guilt. Until today, the capital punishment still use by the government. But when people think ask question about does the it justified, I think we may have many answer because everyone has his or her own opinion. Thought many people think the capital punishment is very fair and justify, because they believe when people who is guilty, they should pay the price. I believe the capital punishment is not always right or justified, because the person who is guilty will not have any chance to prove that he can change and the capital punishment will make the public fell fear because it’s cruel or merciless.
The capital punishment is very cruel and merciless thing to many people, because the guilty people have to give their life for pay the price when they sinned. I am very sure people will fell hopeless and fear when they see the guilty person who will have the capital punishment. Because in our mind, anything that is connecting human’s life is very serious, so when we see or heard the capital punishment happen, we will fell pretty badly on it. Also that kind warming will make us fear, because if we are guilty, the same thing will happen on us.
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