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

This is video of the debate between the University of Texas at Austin Chapter of Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Young Conservatives of Texas on January 29, 2007

The debate was in the Oxford style, with alternating speakers from each side debating a resolution that the death penalty be abolished. Each side also had a "questioner" who asked one or two questions from the other side, designed to point to the weaknesses in the opposing side's argument. In the middle of the debate, there was a short break in which audience members made comments and asked questions.

The yays won 114 to 43 on the resolution to Abolish the Death Penalty!
Duration: 75 minutes

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[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]

@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

[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]

@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]

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.

[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.

[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:

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)

[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?