Quote:
Originally Posted by raytri";p="
Hmm. Deterrence strikes me as the point of the whole exercise, since I'd prefer not to be murdered in the first place. Even if my killer is punished, I'm still dead.
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Deterrence is not the point of the exercise. Revenge is not the point of the exercise. The point of the exercise is to take out the societal garbage (if one wants to be cynical about it). Locking someone up for life with no chance of parole is a death sentence. No matter what way you try to look at it. It makes some feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside because they can now feign some sort of moral superiority or not acknowledge that by crushing someone's hopes, chances of freedom, deeming them unable to reform, and letting time do their dirty work that they are in fact supporting said criminal's death. But it's the same thing. You let someone rot in prison for the remainder of their life, or you get it over with and execute them.
I say again, the death penalty isn't something to play around with. But there are such serious crimes, such career criminals that society wishes to have nothing to do with them. They are deemed harmful to society, beyond reform. Why not get it over with? Execute them and open up a cell for someone whom isn't beyond reform, whom can become a working member of society. The death sentence is not a deterrent. People that are going to commit horrible, horrible crimes; those beyond reform are going to commit these crimes anyway. There is little reason for their continued consumption of oxygen if they are not going to contribute anything to society.
This, of course, is an extremely cynical view of the process, but I think that there can be truth in it. But I really hate those that say "I'm not for murder, just give them life imprisonment with no chance of parole" because that is a death sentence. They throw them in a little room, secluded from society for the remainder of their life, let them rot away with no chance of being free, letting time do the dirty work so they can have a clear conscious. Sometimes, you have to understand what the reality of a situation is. There are a lot of problems with our judicial system that need to be addressed. DBG actually (I knew it had to happen at some point) wrote a valid post. And I agree with her (*gasp*) in terms of the appeals process associated with a death sentence. At the same time, we must understand what a death sentence is. Note that it is a valid form of clean up for certain crimes. It should be used cautiously, with great discretion, but it should not be done away with.