Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

[Patryn]

A fact that has been submerged in the death penalty debates seems to be that it seems that it actually deters crime.

I'm a little shocked because everything I've read seemed to indicate that opposite, but it appears that studies show that each execution prevents between 3 and 18 murders. Also, that for each 2.75 years reduced from the time on death row another murder is prevented.

So does this change anyone's minds about the issue?

I'm not sure where I stand.

[Sampson]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Source?

[Patryn]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Check the link.

[Sampson]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Sorry, didn't see it.

Well, as the article says, the information is disputited.

But even if it is in fact true, I still don't like the idea of government having the power to take its citizen's lives.

[Denmo]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Personally, I think that anyone who truly deserves it should get it, and get it overwith. The world is over-populated as it is. Getting rid of the bad end of the bunch seems like the logical choice.

Either that, or we should start making prisons underground. The ones on top are getting too full.

Of course the obvious solution to all this is to target crime itself. Other countries can do it, why not America?

[The_Real_Crunk]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Kill'em all and let God sort'em out.

But there is no god, so we're ****ed.

[Manji]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

sorry if i sound cold and cruel, but i think we should be much more diligent in killing those who sour our world. if someone knew that if they were caught, they'd suffer death as a consequence, no question, it would steer them another direction and make them think of the moral line between right and wrong.

if there's no real consequence, what's to stop a person from killing who they want, raping the women they see or stealing what they wish to possess?

should we execute some who stole a t-shirt or bag of cheetos? no. but i do believe that anyone who murders or rapes another human being deserves to die if proven guilty of their crime. i dont believe in "life sentences". just kill them. they are taking up space in prisons and tax payers pay for them to stay alive and be fed. if a murder was proven to be in self-defense, that's about the only way it could be justified. however, there is no excuse for rape, and any man who takes it upon himself to violate our mothers, daughters & sisters for their own sick desire for power, control and lust, should die.

now, what about human nature and how our laden instincts drive us to commit animal acts? well, animals kill animals for food, not for personal gain(although maybe if you're speaking of defending territory) or psychotic fun... humans do. that's the difference. its arbitrary. in the case of rape, sure, sex is a human function and a terribly strong drive for both men and women alike. but we live in an age where we have the power to control ourselves and we should. we're not cave people(although you might wonder about that), we have the ability to excercise our god-given sense of right and wrong and follow a good conscience. the world needs more respect for itself, for everyone who lives here, for the women who carry our children and our future.

anyway, that's my rant. that's how i feel about it. i'm glad i'm not a judge. i'd be sentencing executions all day long. there's A LOT more to this issue than what i've laid out here, but it's the basic way i feel.

[Funk]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

I love that saying.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

The goal of capital punishment is to ensure the person can never threaten the public again. But dead people are useless. We need to reform the way we handle life sentences so that goal is accomplished and we can still use the person for labor or medical experimentation or something. I'd rather they take up space in a prison and do something productive for society than take up space in a graveyard and nobody gets anything out of it. People say that would just be more problems because the prisons are already overcrowded. But we'll never actually fix that if we keep just working around it.

[Karim]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

While I believe those that are driven into committing crime by circumstance are certainly less likely to do it out of fear, it still won't actually stop any of the real monsters out there- the ones most likely to be put on death row.

People who genuinely want to commit murder will still commit murder regardless of the circumstances of things like capital punishment; fear is not really a deterrent for someone who is mentally unstable.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Well, if they're dead than they can't break/get out of jail and kill more people.

[Caciss]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

Well, I'm pretty sure not that many peeps are escaping jail.

Also, in a study with a source I can't remember, psychopaths tend not to have fear, and thus setences like these generally don't scare them.

Not to mention, as Sampson said, we're essentially giving the government the power to kill it's citizens. An ideal I don't really agree with.

It's an iffy topic, even if I desire them to be executed, I don't think I can stand in favor of it.

[Armored]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

The goal of capital punishment is to ensure the person can never threaten the public again. But dead people are useless. We need to reform the way we handle life sentences so that goal is accomplished and we can still use the person for labor or medical experimentation or something. I'd rather they take up space in a prison and do something productive for society than take up space in a graveyard and nobody gets anything out of it. People say that would just be more problems because the prisons are already overcrowded. But we'll never actually fix that if we keep just working around it.

No, because then you're creating a bigger business out of jailing.

The prisons are overcrowded, so prisoners go do labour for whatnot and make the prison money to grow bigger, fit more prisoners in and make more money, in a cycle that ends with longer jail sentences and more frequent jailing.

That's some serious Terr **** right there.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

I didn't say anything about the jails making money other than the funding for keeping the prisoners alive and paying staff. They wouldn't get to turn a profit. It'd be like free slave labor for the government, basically just chain gangs on a broader scale and better utilized.

[Ryner]

Re: Every Execution Prevents 18 Murders?

The only problem with capital punishment is that there's such a long wait between sentencing and execution.