Are you for or against capital punishment?

[Ramo]

No because:
1. Our criminal justice system is far from perfect. Killing prisoners off prevents the possibility freeing an innocent person.
2. Someone in prison for life isn't going to hurt the general public (hurting other prisoners is another question entirely, which brings up other reform quesions... ), and such a person isn't given a chance at rehabilitation if the offence warrants it, and the death penalty certainly isn't deterring any crimes, so the only conceivable justification for the death penalty is revenge - a damn idiotic way to run a justice system.

[KrazyHorse]

Oh, ok, so the murders can have that right

That's sort of silly. Osweld never said that. That's why we put murderers in jail...

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Osweld

Besides, it's not a very civilised practice and it's no better then the crimes that it punishes.

Err, really? Would you rather have someone you love killed by a depraved murderer and not have any chance to get their affairs in order or say goodbye to their loved ones or otherwise prepare for their own often painful death, or would you rather they had the chance to defend themselves, to prepare themselves in every way etc. before they are put to death after due process in a physically painless manner?

That said, the death penalty should only be used in cases of treason and desertion under fire etc. It's just too costly and the chances of screwing up are way too likely for it to be useful in most capital cases. At least someone who is found to be innocent while serving a life sentence can be released to live the rest of their life as they will.

[KrazyHorse]

I wouldn't apply it to desertion under fire unless the country was fighting a real war...

[rmsharpe]

Against. Death penalty is too humane.

Forced labor and martial law.

[KrazyHorse]

[Kramerman]

Originally posted by Frogger

Oh, ok, so the murders can have that right

That's sort of silly. Osweld never said that. That's why we put murderers in jail...

I meant that if someone thinks they can take your life, then I would love for the government to have the right to take theirs.

Just put yourself in a position that you new you were going to be murdered, and there was nothing you could do about it. You new who, where, when, and how, but by some force you were made to go through with it. Wouldnt you die a more pleasan death with the knowledge that the scum bag bastard that killed you would be put to death instead of living in the motel they call the prison system? Jail is tough, but it aint exactly punishment for a crime on the scale of murder. You get three meals a day, a roof over your head, excersie, reading material, many US prisons now allow inmates internet access! On top of the fact that the prison system is a forum of thugs to share their ideas and experiences. One murderer maybe in their for life, but he would be given tha life to spread his ideas to those inmates that would be getting out. Thats why death row inmates should be isolated from others, if they arent already, and then put to death.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Frogger
I wouldn't apply it to desertion under fire unless the country was fighting a real war...

I wouldn't apply it in just any case either, but if someone ditched out of duty and the result was that others died because of that, or in the place of the deserter, then I think it would be prudent to put the death penalty on the table.

[Giancarlo]

I guess my response wasn't good enough... well Zulu, I must say you outsmarted me. But I am still for the death penalty take it or leave it. Best way to go for murderers and terrorists is a bullet in the brain... nah too humane... the electric chair is punishment.

[Ramo]

Why should traitors or desserters (if they were responsible for the death of others indirectly, I don't think it warrants anything more than criminal negligence) be subject ot the death penalty, while, say, serial killers shouldn't be?

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Kramerman
Wouldnt you die a more pleasan death with the knowledge that the scum bag bastard that killed you would be put to death instead of living in the motel they call the prison system?

Let's get this straight: I'm still dead either way? Then no.

many US prisons now allow inmates internet access!

Yup. You never know who you're talking to online...

On top of the fact that the prison system is a forum of thugs to share their ideas and experiences. One murderer maybe in their for life, but he would be given tha life to spread his ideas to those inmates that would be getting out. Thats why death row inmates should be isolated from others, if they arent already, and then put to death

This is just plain stupid. Murderers will tell other criminals how to murder?

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Ramo
Why should traitors or desserters (if they were responsible for the death of others indirectly, I don't think it warrants anything more than criminal negligence) be subject ot the death penalty, while, say, serial killers shouldn't be?

Because those who desert in the heat of battle are usually doing so out of a sense of self-preservation. Their motives are usually more rational than those of civilian murderers. Sikander's applying the old maxim that your troops need to be more afraid of you than they are of the enemy.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Sikander


I wouldn't apply it in just any case either, but if someone ditched out of duty and the result was that others died because of that, or in the place of the deserter, then I think it would be prudent to put the death penalty on the table.

What I mean is that if the country can afford to go without applying the death penalty in desertion cases, it should do so.

If we're fighting a 21st century version of WWI, say, then I see the necessity. If it's a relative cakewalk like all military confrontations NATO countries have been involved in in the last 30 years, then I don't.

[Ramo]

Then again, I don't believe in an authoritarian army.

[KrazyHorse]

I know that individual cases in the two types of war might be very similar, but the overall urgency of victory is not the same.