Kill Murderers? Should we do it?

[Joshua 0]

No. How many people have been on Death Row who have been found innocent just in the last few years? If we can't guarantee there will be no innocent people on Death Row, then there should not be a Death Row. Maybe we could do a better job in the justice system of making criminals earn the money being spent for their imprisonment, rather than passing so much on to the taxpayers.I, however, propose something even more controversial: Those who do result in innocent people being convicted through negligence or lying, such as crooked prosecutors, cops, or even judges, should suffer punishments at least the equivalent of any murderer.Being in a position of authority should mean more accountability and risk of punishment for abuse of your position, not less accountability and less punishment.If we are to speak of justice, then let us do justly.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Joshua (see edit history)

[Plenoptic 0]

Well, I've though over this topic a few times before, I still am not completely sure. If they are sent to prison for life, or for 25 years, I think they may be able to change their life after suffering, although sometimes there are some people who don't deserve to be out of jail or to live because they have been in and out of jail their whole life. In fact, some time in the past month, two men who had been in and out of jail for various reasons, some severe, had just gotten out of jail, strangled a mother to death, raped her 2 daughters, and left them in a house to burn. So should they live? Not after their career. But if they are kept out of life in prison where they can't harm anyone but themselves, then maybe it's OK, because they'll still live, but probably suffer.

[arnz 0]

To keep it a bit short, i'm a believer in rehabilitation, while at the same time in extreme cases some should be locked up indefinitely (if not given the death penalty). I'll still have to sit on the fence regarding the death penalty, although there has been extreme rampages where the police has given the "shoot to kill" order, and I'd have to say I'd agree in the rare case of really extreme cases like that. But yes, there are cases where the accused may be innocent, hence one of the reasons of sitting on the fence re the death penalty.

[arza1 0]

I think that murderers should be hung, but in the electric chair, or whatever they do today, instead of being givin a life sentence in jail! What is the point! them goverment people are just wasting our money, by collecting extra taxes paying for food and items for people in jail! If somebody did something wron, like murdered, and given a life sentence, they have time to think of a new plan for a murder, if they escape!? I am thinking the head of the prisions, or whoever is wanting them to escape and go around and start murding people, but why? Do they know the people who are in jail? Or do they just feel bad for them. Dont feel bad for them, just look what they did, they ended somebodies life unexpectedly, and that is pure wrong, and all they do is give the murderers a time to think of another plan... I think anybody with a life sentence should be killed, or sent away to their death somewhere... somewhere.

i do know what most people are going to say. "what give one human being the right to kill another human being."

but for whoever believes the quote i have a question............ so what gives one human being to judge what is right and what is wrong? how are we supposed to know. well we have an idea. we think we know. but is killing people for a murder really a good idea. i mean what if the person getting prosecuted is incessant. how are you really supposed to know without hard physical evidence. even then how are you supposed to know for sure?
Edited August 1, 2007 by arza1 (see edit history)

[mojoman 0]

Now lets say the person that brutally, tortured and killed your friend, their is hard evidence, confession, witnesses, etc. do you still want to see the guy alive? Don't we pay for prison upkeep with our taxes (not sure on this one)? What if rehabilitation doesn't work and the guy is still even more violent in prison?I personally would not want to and support the death penalty

Edited August 1, 2007 by mojoman (see edit history)

[FLaKes 0]

I disagree with them being murdered, an eye for an eye and we will all be blind. I also think that there is no point in the life sentece.. what is the point, its like having a dead person in life but just being mantained by the governmente. I really think that it is a stupid sentence, you dont have the right to decide if a persons life should be taken away because of their acts nor should you have the right to decide how they will spend the rest of their lives, but then again they did that to the person they murdered. It is a really complicated situation, and I think that what should be done to these people is to rehabilitate them in some way and have them do charity work for life or something productive so they can try and give back to the society what they took away from.

[TypoMage 0]

Isn't the answer obvious? If someone has taken a life the only way for them to pay is to give there own life. So yes all murderers meet the gas chamber or whatever any way they could die, I really do not care they are just planet earth scum.

[whale_shark 0]

I don't think they should be killed(at least not instantly) because they wouldn't suffer(when you are dead you don't care how you died and what you did wrong), but i think they should be in prisons where there is nothing but things necessary for survival(food,water and what ever some law about this would say) and they would have to grow their own vegetables, cook for themselves and stuff like that so money from taxes is spent in minimum possible way. If someone would refuse to cooperate then he wouldn't get food so he would die but suffer before he dies(or he would have to kill himself in any way he can think of).

[TikiPrincess 0]

There were a lot of interesting points that were brought up which I would like to address.

 

I'd like to clarify that when I talk of murderers, I'm referring to real murderers, not those who were framed up or something.

First of all, how do we truly know that someone is a real murderer and not framed up or something... But even then, you can go through the appeals process to overturn the decision. There's really only one person who knows, without a doubt, who the real killer is and that is the killer. Photos and video can be doctored, DNA planted, eyewitnesses fooled. If we as a jury are to play judge and executioner, we must be certain, without a trace of doubt, that the person is guilty. According to the US Constitution, all are presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, people can be prejudiced or easily swayed by the silvered tongue of a smooth-talking lawyer. I'd have to agree with Joshua,

If we can't guarantee there will be no innocent people on Death Row, then there should not be a Death Row.

Well, I am a religous person, and following the old Testament, people should be not hanged or electric chaired but stoned yep, stoned. It would demoralize murderers and would stop them from commiting such horrific crimes.

heehee, I love it! Takin' it back Old Testament style!

 

If someone would refuse to cooperate then he wouldn't get food so he would die but suffer before he dies(or he would have to kill himself in any way he can think of).

Unfortunately, we also have this part in the Constitution that says something about not subjecting people to "cruel or unsual punishment." I think starvation and torture would fall under that category.

 

We know that the system is flawed, but I don't think killing a killer is the answer. Two wrongs don't make a right. Killing that person isn't justice and it's not going to bring the dead back. You won't even have a focus for your anger, just another empty void. Maybe instead of looking for a solution, we should try to prevent the problem. Our penal system emphasizes incarceration as the punishment, being taken out of society and locked up. For most of the people in prison, they have already rejected or been rejected from society, if they were ever part of it in the first place. Or the prison is simply an extension of their society as with gangs. Instead of trying so hard to keep the problems out of society by locking them away, we should try to figure out how that individual and society went wrong so we can prevent it from happening in someone else.

[sheepdog 10]

Well, depends. Not all murders are created equal in my book. As someone allready mentioned, the woman who finally kills her hubby that has been abusing her for years doesn't particularly deserve to die. And nobody should be killed unless the case is absolutly proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. On the other hand, you have those insane individuals who go into schools, shopping malls, or what have you, and just randomly start shooting people. Those people have no right to continue to exist on this earth. They are a waste of our natural recourses, they aren't worth the air they breath. Only way to make sure they do not continue is to kill them. Even if they are mentally defective, why take a chance that those defective genes have even the most remote possible chance of being passed on. I sure don't have a problem with that. On the news a few days ago there was a woman who set fire to her own baby. She can go too.

[whale_shark 0]

We know that the system is flawed, but I don't think killing a killer is the answer. Two wrongs don't make a right. Killing that person isn't justice and it's not going to bring the dead back. You won't even have a focus for your anger, just another empty void. Maybe instead of looking for a solution, we should try to prevent the problem. Our penal system emphasizes incarceration as the punishment, being taken out of society and locked up. For most of the people in prison, they have already rejected or been rejected from society, if they were ever part of it in the first place. Or the prison is simply an extension of their society as with gangs. Instead of trying so hard to keep the problems out of society by locking them away, we should try to figure out how that individual and society went wrong so we can prevent it from happening in someone else.

this would be impossible because you can't analyze everything that happened to someone in his life and say ok this is the thing that made him murderer.there are too many variables and if you do find something that you think made him a murderer you could probably find thousands of others who experienced same thing and didn't become a murderer. to become a murderer there must be something wrong with you in your head because we all have problems in life(it is impossible to make society without problems) but we deal with them differently. if you think about that probably every person has had an experience which could made him kill someone but most of us don't, so it is not problem of society it is problem of individuals.

there are probably some cases where you could put bigger part of blame for a murder on someone else(or more of them) and not the person that did it(like some of posters said before woman who kills her husband because he was beating her for years) but even in that case there are other ways of dealing with it(people should not take justice into their own hands they should let those who are supposed to do it do it). what i definitely think is that punishments should be worse than they are maybe than people wouldn't feel the need to take justice in their own hands.

Unfortunately, we also have this part in the Constitution that says something about not subjecting people to "cruel or unsual punishment." I think starvation and torture would fall under that category.

i don't see how is idea that if you don't work you don't eat cruel or unusual(if it is then we are all being cruelly or unusually punished ) the idea is that they would have to work to survive(every one of them would work on tasks that would be given him, and would be something like watering the garden, making a meal for himself etc, if he refused then he wouldn't get food, they would all get water). i didn't say nothing about torture anywhere in my post(but that isn't a bad idea ), what i meant when i said they should suffer is that they should lack privileges that normal person have but still have to work to live, and they would be aware of it whole time which should be enough for anyone to suffer. if someone killed himself(by starvation or any other way he thought of) he would still suffer because just thinking about killing yourself isn't pleasant, and i would make sure they don't have any tools or things with which they could easily kill themselves so death itself would be very unpleasant so they would suffer the most before it all ends. living like that for whole time you are in prison, is i think proper punishment for someone who killed someone else.

[csp4.0 1]

only murderers who had a fair trial and still was guilty then they should be killed, but not by lethal injection or electric chair or even getting hanged, they should be STONED yes STONED to death, because they deserve it

[heavensounds 0]

In my opinion noone has the right to take others life! If your life is threatend, you can act in self defense and even kill your attacker but that is the only situation in which murder is ok. Even killing in revenge is not ok as that makes you the same as the one who did you harm or even worse. So what to do with criminals who have killed 10 people for example. If they are to be killed, someone has to do it and by killing he creates a karmic bondage to this killer and is also forced to kill another human being! That is not OK and should not be requested from anyone. So this leaves the question open...I think that the best thing to do is to use an island somewhere in the see COMPLETELY guarded. On that island I'd put each and every killer who should be there till the rest of his life with other people like him - killers. So we'd have an island full of psychopats and other heavy killers which would then have to work together if they wanted to survive, because all they'd get would be a showel and seeds so they could grow their own food. That's it and the only money you need is for the guards to be there, transportation and to find an island like that! Please bare in mind, that i am talking about serial "heavy" killers, not someone who in affect killed his "love triangle" opponent;) They should go to normal prisons till the rest of their lives without any excuse!

[Archangel_Baw 0]

lmao I just saw this in someones siggie: An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

I'm inclined to agree. honestly, I believe murderers & rapists etc are newer souls who just dont know any better.

 

I also believe that in some cases, there is a REAL mental illness at play. This is not to excuse the behavior at all, but killing them or torturing them is also a form of murder and cruelty and makes you become the very thing you judge.

[Shimizu 0]

I think that we should kill murderers, they have no reason to live, they have no respect for others lives and so they should be killed themselves. It is morrally wrong what they do and so morrality should not apply to them