Originally Posted by heikstheo

And how exactly do you know that no-one sentenced to life without parole has ever escaped? Do you have a list of all prison escapees with their original sentences? Or any other evidence to prove your assertions?

Originally Posted by CB4

keeping them locked away for a life i feel only wastes taxpayers money and cause our jails to be overcrowed.

Originally Posted by Mecowhy

Sure it's kinda inhumane, it's sort of a going back to the "barbarian times", and also - and it happens - when there is a mistake in a court - an honest person may be sentenced to death penalty and if after years somebody finds out that he was actually not guilty - well in this case you cannot give him his freedom, can you?

Originally Posted by Shiva_TD

No, I do not have a list but then I have previously challenged anyone to provide an example of someone sentenced to life without the possibility of parole ever escaping and I'm still waiting for someone to provide an example.

Originally Posted by Shiva_TD

And, if an example was provided, would that be an indictment of the justice system or would it be an indictment of the prison system? We are addressing those that must be considered the greatest threat to society so I would suggest that our prison systems should be secure to the point where this simply couldn't happen.

Originally Posted by Shiva_TD

Simply stated the death penalty is murder by the government. We can argue all we want about whether it is justified but the fact that it is premeditated murder by the government is undeniable.

We can also estalish statistically that innocent people have unquestionably been executred by the government. With well over 100 individuals on death row later having their innocense establised we can assume that some which have been executed in the past were completely innocent of the charges for which they were convicted.

We can also cite the fact that no individual sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole has ever been excaped or been paroled for their crime to endanger society. The only individuals ever released were because their innocence has been established. So protecting society by murdering someone is not a valid argument.

Personally I am opposed to the government being empowered to commit murder. There is no justification for it except revenge and the likelihood of the government murdering an innocent person is well established. And if an innocent person is murdered by the government who is to be held accountable to the family of the victim?

Originally Posted by heikstheo

Well, if you are against the death penalty on the grounds that innocent people can get convicted, your above sentence makes no sense at all. After all, there are many guilty pleas that are the result of someone running out of money to pay their lawyers or else their lawyers being too (*)(*)(*)(*)ed lazy to put up a vigorous defense of their client. Besides, when plea bargaining, the prosecutor usually takes the death penalty (or whatever else might have been the maximum sentence) off the table.

Originally Posted by Shiva_TD

Over half of those in prison today in the US, or slightly over one million people, are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes and do not present a threat to society.

If you want space in prison then release those that have never presented the threat of violence to society.

Originally Posted by heikstheo

Isn't the possibility of convicting an innocent person really an argument in favor of seeing to it courtroom procedures are revised so as to assure that innocents won't be convicted? For example, we could solve the problem of convicting innocent persons by providing that anytime someone is exonerated on appeal the prosecutors and the judges at the lower levels (before the person was exonerated) be summarily hanged. Besides, even if we "give someone their freedom back" after years in jail for a crime they didn't commit, have we really done them any favors by releasing them into a world they no longer know or understand? How do we recompense them for lost wages (and the liklihood that they'll have a (*)(*)(*)(*) difficult time getting their old job back after all these years)?

Originally Posted by Patriot911

No system is perfect. And don't put words in my mouth. I never said I was against the death penalty if innocent people can get convicted. I said it bothers me that it can happen and we need to guard against it. Learn to read.