Originally Posted By threeundertwo Maybe this guy. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/07/national/main3680604.shtml?source=mostpop_story" target="_blank">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories /2008/01/07/national/main3680604.shtml?source=mostpop_story</a>
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, either you are or you aren't. As horrific as that story truly is (and it sure is!), I think it speaks to someone who is severely mentally imbalanced...a situation in which the death penalty does not ordinarily apply. Now, I'm against it for one simple reason...sometimes they kill innocent people. If they have someone serving life, and it turns out they are innocent, at least they can get out and enjoy the rest of their lives. Dead is dead. As for this guy, sick though he is and he deserves to be punished for sure (yeah, maybe death, I dunno)...to me someone MORE deserving of the death penalty would be a professional killer. Cold, calculating, greedy...to me those guys deserve to die more than anyone else.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Well, either you are or you aren't. >>> Interestingly, that's not the case for many Americans. Polling showed that there were quite a few Americans that identified themselves as being against the death penalty that nonetheless supported Timothy McVeigh's execution. One way to interpret this factoid is that many people that are against the death penalty do not oppose it when there's no doubt as to the person's guilt and when the crime is especially heinous. But I think that the chances of executing an innocent person are just too great, especially in today's charged criminal justice environment, and for that reason we should seriously reconsider the current state of affairs.
Originally Posted By Ursula I am for the death penalty and this guy seems to deserve it. A mental case? Maybe I'd beleive that if he didn't have the track record reported.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< A mental case? Maybe I'd beleive that if he didn't have the track record reported. >>> I don't see how his prior criminal history speaks one way or the other toward the issue of mental illness.
Originally Posted By Mr X **One way to interpret this factoid is that many people that are against the death penalty do not oppose it when there's no doubt as to the person's guilt and when the crime is especially heinous. But I think that the chances of executing an innocent person are just too great, especially in today's charged criminal justice environment, and for that reason we should seriously reconsider the current state of affairs.** Agreed on both counts. I suppose I'd fall into the category of "sure...do it if there is no doubt, not a SHADOW of a doubt, that they did it"...but the problem is, that's not the way the system works.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I can't support the death penalty under any circumstance. Any way you slice it, it is still a government sanctioned form of murder. I don't see how it solves any problems whatsover, or deters future criminals.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka One way to interpret this factoid is that many people that are against the death penalty do not oppose it when there's no doubt as to the person's guilt and when the crime is especially heinous.>> I think I fall into this category, although I am not sure, as a juror, I could ever vote for the death penalty. Flaky, I know.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Now, I'm against it for one simple reason...sometimes they kill innocent people. If they have someone serving life, and it turns out they are innocent, at least they can get out and enjoy the rest of their lives. Dead is dead.>> That is exactly why I could never support the death penalty. Let them rot in prison with no chance of parole. That is worse than being dead as far as I'm concerned. Plus, as Mr X pointed out, it is reversible if the person is later found to be innocent.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I'm solid against the death penalty. It solves nothing. It doesn't deter, it doesn't bring back the victim, it doesn't make the victim families whole again, it is just another senseless killing. In this case, anyone who does what this person allegedly did is mentally unhinged. Killing him in a few years fixes what?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I'm solid against the death penalty. It solves nothing. It doesn't deter, it doesn't bring back the victim, it doesn't make the victim families whole again, it is just another senseless killing.> Amen.
Originally Posted By Ursula I really like discussing the death penalty because it creates so many thoughtful responses. So, for those not for the DP, what would you do with this guy in the OP?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Make him ride Small World for the rest of his life. ;-) Actually, as I mentioned before, I think life in prison with no chance of parole is a pretty good option.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "So, for those not for the DP, what would you do with this guy in the OP?" He likely should be in a mental facility the rest of his life.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 If competent medical personnel deem him insane, then in a mental facility. If he's sane, he can rot in jail.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka A mental facility for life...not just until he's "better". I'm not sure how common that really is but I think many people fear that someone will get out of the mental institution at some point. I'd prefer that a person gets life in prison w/no parole as opposed to the death penalty. I also fear that someone could quite possibly be innocent of their crimes and be executed. I don't spend too much time worrying about truly evil people who are obviously guilty. Would I celebrate Charles Manson's execution...no. But would I cry...no.
