Comments on: Death Row inmate’s final words: Reason to rethink the death penalty

By: David

David — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:37:53 +0000

I think the justice system feels victorious when they carry out a death sentence they handed down in the same way they resist clemency when it will appear to them they made a mistake. I am thinking of the Carla Faye Tucker Case and the denial for clemency.

No one wants to be wrong. If that was the only bottom line why not carry out the sentence immediately? Even the justice system knows it is flawed…

As for me a lot of the death row cases I see are people with mental illness of some sort, not insane, but with serious issues that cause impulsive behavior and with results they can never reverse.

Forced isolation, living in the past indefinitely, not working, being watched 24/7 achieves nothing.

I would like to see criminals be forced to face and communicate with the families of the victims, to be brought out into humanity by being accountable for their actions to the people who matter most-the victim’s families at least once a month.

I would like to see them all on a psychological treatment plan that is geared toward their release upon successful completion of the plan and at least a bachelor’s degree. I would like to see them re-integrated into society with a guaranteed job and probation for ten years secured by a device that tracks their whereabouts.

I am not a bleeding heart for convicts by any means but I am sick of my tax dollars being forcibly earmarked to bail out the richest of my brothers as opposed to the least of my brothers.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:37:56 +0000

Wow. That’s powerful stuff.

I agree with Josh. My brain says one thing but my heart says another.

By: Eric Boehling

Eric Boehling — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:36:19 +0000

I don’t understand the reasoning for capital punishment in penal systems wherein prisoners who are threats to others can be effectively detained. The death penalty seems reactionary and vengeful, but not rational. What just cause do executions uphold?

Killing someone in self-defense (or in defense of another) makes sense to me, since it is not the killed person’s death you desire–the person’s death is a tolerated result of your innate right to protect your life (or the life of the person you’re defending). In my view morality is a reciprocal exchange: you and I agree not to transgress each other’s innate rights. These rights are 1) the right not to be deceived, and 2) the right not to be coerced.

So you can shoot the man who tries to shoot you, and you can lie to the Nazi at your door who asks if you are hiding a Jew, because in each case the perpetrator has chosen to transgress another’s innate rights, and the corollary to our innate rights is the the duty to preserve them. But none of this means anyone can morally kill in order to punish.

Right? I’m really asking. . . If someone disagrees, please reply to this post.

By: joshua johnson

joshua johnson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:28:46 +0000

My primal nature says eye for eye but my inner karmic sage says no killing is ever right.

By: Carlo

Carlo — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:57:39 +0000

As long as the justice system remains flawed (is wrongful convictions) then I have to be against it. There was a recent case in Australia where a young man was convicted for rape, even though he had a solid alibi, was too young to be in the bar where the alleged rape took place, and also the fact that there might not even have been a rape at all (the woman doesn’t remember a thing, probably drugged).

He was convicted because DNA samples found belonged to him…but later on they discovered there was some sort of mix up. After spending more than a year in jail he was released. He’s now suing.

How common is this?

There is so much effort/money/resources that go into the punishment end of criminality, but much less into the causes of it.In the end, it’s really society failing so many of the convicts. I bag on “society” a lot, I know. But come on, it’s all f***ed up.

By: Abbie Mood

Abbie Mood — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:46:11 +0000

For me, the death penalty isn’t as simple as a for or against.
My thoughts…
-Financially, there’s weighing the pros and cons of “getting rid” of someone or taxpayers paying for them to live their life in jail.
-Otherwise, is it really justice to kill someone who killed someone else? I almost think it is better to let them live their life in jail thinking about what they have done.
-What about the person who has to inject the person? Sure they’re doing their “job” but technically their job that day was to kill someone.

There’s just so many factors and so many different circumstances to consider, I can see why this is such a highly debated issue.