This topic is about our moral identities as a human being. Earlier today a woman was sentenced to death for a crime she did not physically commit. It brought a question to mind of how we as a society still allow the death penalty? Lest we forget that society are the true judges and executioners under this free sovereign state we call America. Just a reminder how individuals can be so ruthless to one another without a blink of an eye and pass judgement on one of many other human beings in the name of justice or honor. Lest we forget that another human has been tried for actions conducted and paid for by the American people in the form of loss, anguish and money. Only those who have killed deserve to die is the motto being preached yet who are we but mere mortal beings with no equivocal representation of each other, but that doesn't stop the evangelical actions being taken. Those feel moral superiority shrink down to the size of the very think they are trying to eradicate. A moment of true treachery to the very thing we all hold near and dear, and that is our humanity. What makes us who we are, is our whole existence. To be human is a term to show compassion, empathy, and understanding towards each other and not to pass judgement wherein it need not be. Should a suffering soul be punished further? What do you think?
The UK maybe messed up but at least our death penalty is only for high treason so trying to kill the royal family
Very true, but it means UK has a high crime rate because criminals know they are going to get away with a slap on the wrists. With all this forensic and DNA technology police now have how the hell are people STILL getting punished for crimes they havent comitted?
I assume he's talking about Kelly Renee Gissendaner. Of course she made a huge mistake. But she had young kids still. It seems cruel to have them watch their mother die. She could have been put to work in the prison system instead of killed. The state of Georgia seems unnecessarily cruel and vindictive in this matter. I think someone in the Georgia penal system was getting his sadistic rocks off watching a woman die.
We recently had a case here of a 30year old mother killing a 77 year old convicted child molester, she received 3 and a half years in prison for manslaughter
Saying she didn't 'physically' commit the crime is telling a half-truth. For anyone confused, she plotted the murder of her husband and had her lover execute it. It's pretty clear that she wasnt innocent.
Interesting topic. The hard part of this discussion is the fact that you can't have it without being judgmental. So, there's a bit of irony there. All that aside, I'm not aware of the details, but if she planned and paid for the murder, then she must be held accountable under the law. The bigger problem we have with respect to this "indirect justice" issue in America, in my opinion, is that it is only ever applied to citizens outside the corporate and political elite. If we were to hold our elected officials to the same standard, both Bush and Cheney should be dead. Probably Clinton, too. All three of them knowingly sent out troops to illegal foreign combat missions where innocent civilians are killed. Drone pilots who miss their targets or kill civilian non-combatants shouldn't be called "collateral damage" - that's homicyde.
Also, what about all the bankers and real-estate brokers who bankrupted millions of American families by giving out loans to people they knew wouldn't ever be able to pay them back? I think all of them should be in jail for theft and fraud. The elite always get a golden parachute when they get busted, while the rest of us are subjected to a barbarous criminal "justice" system. "Justice" in America isn't equal for all citizens. It is available to only the highest bidder. It has always been that way for as long as civilization has existed, and it will always be that way.
What youre saying makes sense cheese, but at the same time you have to evaluate war differently. I believe it was stalin who said something like "a single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." A personal, familial murder is different then a drone misfiring. Though not lauded, it is expected that there will be noncombantants killed. No one expects to have their wife plot their murder.
I support the death penalty... But I still don't understand why she was executed for 'plotting' a murder while the actual murderer is up for parole on a life sentence in 2023. I think someone goofed up the paperwork and rather than looking like an idiot trying to fix it, they just went through with it.
Really? How do we still allow the death penalty? The better question is why don't we put more to death? And why take so long to do it. You are found guilty and your appeals are done. You should die., not sit 20 more years taking up tax dollars being fed food and given shelter. And not by that pansy ass humane lethal injection. It should be by hanging or electric chair. That woman may have not pulled the trigger but was found guilty of planning his execution. Her finger might as well been on the trigger. She deserves to die.
And I'm sure that innocent kid having dinner with her parents in the Middle East didn't expect a hellfire missile to get shoved up her ass, either. Murder is murder. American exceptionalism is one of the reasons we are constantly targeted by terror attacks. American life is not more valuable than any other life.
Are you aware that many people - especially black people - are found innocent after their death sentence or lifelong imprisonmemt? I used to be a huge fan of the death penalty until I found this out.
The death penalty in America is somewhat of an enigma to me. From what I've heard, it's more cost effective to put a person in prison for life. Executions are very expensive. Cost aside, I DO believe that there are some acts that people can do which can result a rightful termination of life. Here are a few examples, (there are more, but I'm staying with 2 for the sake of brevity) along with reasons, of people who have forfeited their right to life. 1. Repeat offender kid diddlers Kid diddlers are a hazard to society. If they have been caught and shown "mercy", yet they continue to diddle with little kids, they need to be executed. They are beyond hope, they are a hazard to the youth around them, and the repeat actions show that the damage they cause will continue for as long as they are able. 2. Murders (in certain cases) I won't quote "an eye for an eye" as we don't live in an Old Testament society, and such justice is silly. I will, however, say that if the murder is terrible enough, then yes, an execution is warranted. Specifically, an ex excursion is warranted if it's requested by the victims family. In the case of murder, several terrible things happen. First off, a person has lost his/her life. That means everything he/she was or ever will be has been taken from them. This cannot be undone. Secondly, the death leaves a hole in the lives of the family who lost their loved one. That family will want closure, and if they feel that execution of the person who killed their son/daughter/husband/wife will bring them their closure, that is their right. The death penalty doesn't make a society civilized or uncivilized. What determines weather a person or society is civilized or not is HOW they approach the death penalty and HOW they apply it. If executions are done as a public show, or if the public delights in seeing them, or if death sentences are handed out lightly, then yes, the society in question is not civilized. I can points fingers at societies who do this, but there is no need, we know who they are. Now, of there is a society like America, who executed with reluctance, and does so privately, and has a populous who is disturbed by it, then I would classify that society as civilized. If people are bothered by the death penalty, that's a good thing. Congratulations! You're a decent person. That doesn't, however, mean that there aren't some people in this society who have, through their terrible actions, forfeited their right to life. Holding that view doesn't make a person or society uncivilized. Delighting in that view, however, does.
Actually, that kid should expect it as a possibility. They live in a dangerous place. Exceptionalism is true but that doesn't change the casualty calculations of a war. 'Murder is murder' is a gross oversimplification made for children who can't process actual issues.
Was I suppose to get all warm and fuzzy cuz you said "especially black people"? I stated that death penalty come after their appeals. With forensics and technology now days. That number is a lot less. The people you are saying found innocent was those in prison many years ago.