Originally Posted By: LittleQ
All the moral arguments---about folk having no right to send others to death, about innocent folk being killed, etc.---aside, the death penalty is worth doing away with on the simple demerit of ineffectiveness.
That kind of logic is like throwing away a new camera because it doesn't work when we've failed to put the batteries in it.
In order for the death penalty to be a strong deterrent you must first have a high conviction rate. As has been said before, we don't have that because our system is a mess. If somebody thinks he's never going to be convicted for committing murder, ANY POTENTIAL PENALTY AT ALL is going to be poor as a deterrent. The answer is to fix the system so it works...obviously.
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The Death Penalty
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Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: LittleQAll the moral arguments—about folk having no right to send others to death, about innocent folk being killed, etc.—aside, the death penalty is worth doing away with on the simple demerit of ineffectiveness. That kind of logic is like throwing away a new camera because it doesn't work when we've failed to put the batteries in it.In order for the death penalty to be a strong deterrent you must first have a high conviction rate. As has been said before, we don't have that because our system is a mess. If somebody thinks he's never going to be convicted for committing murder, ANY POTENTIAL PENALTY AT ALL is going to be poor as a deterrent. The answer is to fix the system so it works...obviously. Illogical. The majority of people who qualify for the death penalty don't care about deterrents. Do you think a serial killer would stop killing if you introduced the death penalty, or vice versa? Absolutely not. Most of these people are either sociopathic or impulsive. It isn't in the train of thought of those who commit crimes that are vicious enough to qualify them for it.The death penalty doesn't serve as a deterrent. The question in the end should be one of morality, or practicality. Which one is less costly, which one is actually a harsher punishment (some of those facilities are truly awful and extremely boring to the point that it would be more of a punishment than death.) These are real questions.
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Also thor aren't you a christian? What happened to sanctity of life?