Death Penalty Debate at UT Austin [Part 1/9]

[Chelsea4President]

I would love to see someone like Alan Keyes starring in a Reality Show where a man (without being clued in) is falsely accused and convicted to be executed. I would love to see his ractions during the ordeal, and how he feels about the issue of capital punishment after he sees what it's like to be railroaded and murdered by a flawed system.

The death penalty is a sign of barbarism. It can not exist within the laws of a free democratic society. We've evolved from such primitive ideas.

[Pizuzuzimmer]

Arguing that death penalty should be opposed b/c it is inseparable from racial and class politics is a non-argument, unless you are also arguing that all criminal justice should be disbanded and we should just give up the idea of punishing any crime, since the death penalty is no different than any other element of punishment in this regard.

[rhov233]

Why do you say there is simply no option when there obviously is? Life imprisonment.

A large number of people have been released from death row, since DNA-testing became available. If science didn't discover these techniques, at this time, would you take a needle for "justice"? Some of the innocents waiting for that needle, used to believe in death penalty too, as you do.

I recommend you watch the IMDB "Top 8" movie of all time, "12 Angry Men", from 1957.

[azzpeneez]

Gig 'em Aggs! Whoop!

[thesparitan]

no logical, rational person can support the death penalty other then for these reasons.

religion, revenge, comfort to the family. i cannot think of another reason that is reasonable to support such a terrible penatly.

[ithejuggernaut]

@thesparitan:

Causality or no causality, people are afraid of death, and death penalty will dissuade at least a small portion of those hardened criminals from committing such heinous crimes.

[SDS3AAPH]

you rally think some thug who murders senselessly is going to be deterred from committing such violent acts becasue of the death pently? lol

[rhov233]

@ithejuggernaut pffff. bullshit

[ithejuggernaut]

@rhov233 :

Come back with a real piece of argument, and not arrogant sneers.

[rhov233]

@ithejuggernaut Your argument was as good as mine. You have no data to back up your claims.

[ithejuggernaut]

@rhov233 :

Actually, I do. But I'm sure that even after presenting that to you, you will somehow only try to aggravate the discussion into a cuss-fest. And I am not the least bit interested in fighting.

[rhov233]

@ithejuggernaut I apologize for the cuss. I really do. It's an emotional topic. I'll discuss with subjective views so we are on terms. There is nothing decent about killing other human beings, when there is a clear alternative. You know innocent people have been put to death with the current system. Everyone does. My question to you is, if you dare to answer. How do you undo the killing of an innocent person?

[ithejuggernaut]

@rhov233:

I agree that there is nothing decent about killing. It is most harsh; a final solution. Innocents have been put to death unfairly, and that is a deeply regrettable fact, and no effort must be spared to ensure that it does not happen so in the future, but like there are innocents, there are guilty, too. And there are some people who are far more than guilty; they are outright cruel and sadistic. (..contd)

[ithejuggernaut]

@rhov233 :

(..contd)

There are mentally unstable people, people who cannot function smoothly in a society, and should they commit a crime, capital punishment for them is ill advised; they are simply unable to distinguish from right and wrong. But then there are some people deliberately cruel, whose very existence threatens the harmony of our society. While a life term might offset the risk they pose, it sometimes seems too little a punishment for their crimes. (..contd)

[ithejuggernaut]

@rhov233 :

(..contd)

Even in such cases, execution should be avoided to the maximum extent, but sometimes there is simply no other option. A person who kills ten of his fellow human beings fails to acknowledge the value of the gift of life, and the only punishment that he comprehends is the deprivation of the very gift he has robbed off his fellow beings. It might seem pointless in killing him, but it dissuades similarly perverse individuals from committing such crimes.

[rhov233]

@ithejuggernaut Why do you say there is simply no option when there obviously is? Life imprisonment.

A large number of people have been released from death row, since DNA-testing became available. If science didn't discover these techniques, at this time, would you take a needle for "justice"? Some of the innocents waiting for that needle, used to believe in death penalty too, as you do.

I recommend you watch the IMDB "Top 8" movie of all time, "12 Angry Men", from 1957.

[rhov233]

@ithejuggernaut Death penalty permitted: Afghanistan AntiguaandBarbuda Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belize Botswana Burundi Cameroon Chad China(People'sRepublic) Comoros Congo(DemocraticRepublic) Cuba Dominica Egypt EquatorialGuinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Ghana Guatemala Guinea Guyana India Indonesia Iran Iraq Jamaica Japan Jordan Korea,North Korea,South Kuwait

[rhov233]

@rhov233 ...and Laos Lebanon Lesotho Libya Malawi Malaysia Mongolia Nigeria Oman Pakistan PalestinianAuthority Qatar St.KittsandNevis St.Lucia St.VincentandtheGrenadines SaudiArabia SierraLeone Singapore Somalia Sudan Swaziland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand TrinidadandTobago Uganda UnitedArabEmirates UnitedStates Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabw

[madbullowns]

why does one side have 2 people, other side 3 people, really fair debate.

[Aluenvey]

He means the only industrialized western nation.

[degree7]

If all murderers should be executed, then let us have all the politicians put to death as well!

[DeathPenaltyShow]

Does it come down to a matter of faith? Is the death penalty right or wrong?

[kamjc]

I'm kinda of intimidated.

[professionallynasty]

"More than 70 procent in the US is pro-death penalty."

I wonder how many in Iran are pro-death penalty? Probably EVEN MORE!!!!

Guess America isn't "#1" when it comes to *that* are they?

:)

[cjla1987]

What? You think just because you do not support the death penalty you are Enlightened?lol I get a kick when Europeans say, "ohhh...no... we are not like Americans that support the death penalty, no, no, we are Enlightened".... Yeah, and that is why they fucken give a few years in prison to terrorists and that is why murderers are released very soon from prison in europe..ohh wow..they are enlightened.

[Malecaust666]

We have a much higher crime and murder rate than PLENTY of European countries, fuckhead

[LightOfTruth777]

antideathpenalty pussies won because there were more idiots than normal people in the crowd. More than 70 procent in the US is pro-death penalty. lol losers. xD

[burntrubber11]

The U.S. Is the only Industrialized Nation in the world that still implaments the death penalty.

[dsutari]

I don't believe for a second any individual wants an outright ban of the death penalty, only a stricter process to determine what justifies receiving it.

Did Timothy Mcveigh not deserve death after the premeditated murders of 168 men, women, and children? Should war criminals simply spend life in prison after killing thousands or even millions?

[lonerook860]

To label him as deserving of death and then to kill him is simply to mirror his own evils, and no progess is made. Imprisonment without the possibility of suicide is enough. The real question is how to stop these people becoming this way; endorsing a national character of killing those who do not conform to moral laws simply feeds the discontent and criminality in a semi-civilised world.

Also, to believe in Jesus Christ and then to kill people for their sins is the peak of hypocrasy.

[Netrom07]

Why punish at all? How does that help anyone?

[albokiller23]

it helps the world to get get rid of the scum of the earth animals.

[Pa1ntballGuitarist]

life in prison does the same thing.

[lcarmstrong11]

actually, no it doesnt. capital punishment deters crime, life in prison does not (as well). and murderers still can kill prison guards. also, it is much more cost-efficient to execute a high criminal as opposed to housing him or her in a prison, factoring in all of the appeals, trials, and cost of feeding and housing said criminal

[lcarmstrong11]

@Pa1ntballGuitarist

[thesparitan]

YOU SIR are completely misinformed. It cost less for life in prison then for them to be executed, FACT. there is not one study that will disagree with that. you are completely wrong, look it up and try to prove me wrong.

second, its not a deterrent. there are three reasons why people kill

crime of passion: in the heat of the moment. Thats obvious.

For money: they dont think they will be caught. If they did they wouldnt do it.

Compulsion: they cannot control themselves.

[lcarmstrong11]

you are wrong. the federal bureau of justice cites specific examples of where it is blatantly obvious that the death penalty deters murder. for instance, when the death penalty was suspended between 1972 and 1978, murder rates were at a national all time high. when the penalty was reinstated, murder rates went down again. thats as black and white as it gets. your insufficient, ignorantly based arguments only account for a small population of murderers.

[lcarmstrong11]

@thesparitan

[thesparitan]

can you show causality? otherwise what you said doesn't hold water.

[thesparitan]

can you show causality.

dont call me ignorant again ether, or wont continue talking to you. my arguments are not based on ignorance and if they are you will have to prove that before you claim such a thing.

[lcarmstrong11]

ok, whatever you want. ill-informed is better. the death penalty is entirely constitutional, less expensive in the long term than LWOP, and VERY affectively deters murder

[thesparitan]

ok, but can you show causality? because without that your argument is wrong. how is asking for important data that would make or break your case "ill-informed". can you explain that to me as well. and what proof do you have that says it deters murders.

[lcarmstrong11]

when i said "ill informed," i was refferring to your Death Penalty economic incompetence to LWOP. it is an ill informed assumption. end of story. by the way, whichever way i present my arguement, if it is right, casuality does not matter. i already told you that the Federal Bureau of Criminal Justice did a study over the course of 50 years comparing murder rates to execution rates, and there is a negative corrolation between Executions and murders

[thesparitan]

ok very well, can i see that paper or the website where i can read it for myself.

[thesparitan]

are you still there, can i have that source please. you know the one that shows causality. that would be great, thanks : )

[comrade514]

The death penalty costs way more that LWOP. I find it hard to believe that even online there are any stastistics that claim that the death penalty is less expensive than LWOP.

[comrade514]

How do you explain that states with the death penalty have consistently higher murder rates than states without the death penalty? And just in case you say that states without the death penalty had low rates of murder prior to abolishing the death penalty, you have to explain that some states that abolished the death penalty had some of the highest murder rates per capita in the United States before abolishing the death penalty.

[mrdrillller]

hahahaha i dont understand the acsent

btw im from yourkshire