Heelsonwheels

I know this is a loaded question to some but I can't help being appauled by this.

Russ1974

No idea what you're on about, got a link to a news website or something ... ?

kscarrol

In the US, the state of New Jersey recently passed a bill banning capital punishment. The governor signed that bill in to law a day or two ago, making New Jersey the first state to ban capital punishment in many years. Heelsonwheels is highlighting this development and his disagreement with the move...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/nj....iref=newssearch

DRANGED

:thumbsdown: I'm appalled as well. Sorry, we can't give this mass murderer/rapist/child molester the death penalty because it's cruel and unusual punishment. Yeah, that makes sense.

Heelsonwheels

Thanks kscarrol for the link( i forgot it in my disgust). I can't imagine the pain of the victims families feel when they read this. Back in 1994, Megan's Law was instituted and passed quickly, primarily because of the public's outrage and petitions. The reason was because a known sex offender lived in a neighborhood unknown to the rest of the people, then raped and murdered a young girl. That child killer will now live. Life without parole is bs. IMO there's a place for capital punishment.

Russ1974

Think about us in the UK ... no death penalty, and probably the weakest and "criminal friendly" culture in the World. Hardly anybody even gets sent to prison these days because they are all full.

BOBUCRUZ

These types of people should be punished. I agree with you 100 percent on that. But who are we to say they should die and we should be the one to kill them? Everytime I speak with a proponent of the death penalty, they tend to be Christians. Then I ask, what would Jesus do?

Additionally, there's been a laundry list of convicted criminals who've been let go recently, due to new forensic evidence that clears their name. What if they'd been put to death. In some cases they have. We would have killed a perfectly innoncent person. Sure, it's a charged question to answer, the death penalty, but it definetely needs to be debated and thought through.

BOBUCRUZ

Interesting. However, I'd be interested in seeing violent crime statistics in the UK, then comparing them with states that use capitol punishment. For example, Texas.

tuco

To play Devils Advocate a bit, the death penalty has been proven to NOT be a deterant to violent crime; the death penalty is a revenge killing for the most part. I would guess the incidence of murder is at least as high, likely higher, in the US as it is in Canada, where there is no death penalty. Many things come into play on this tho (eg. the ease of acquiring firearms in the US is one).

In Canada, it does grate on some to keep some serious killers (serial and otherwise) alive but imprisoned at state (ie. taxpayer) expense. OTOH, there have been several cases lately where the convicted "killer" has been proven innocent, using modern DNA testing, and some of these people have been in prison for several decades.

I don't have the answer, but most of the Western World does not use the death penalty.

It is an age-old debate and not an easy one to answer.

BOBUCRUZ

This link should further my point:

The Death Penalty Claims Innocent Lives