Does capital punishment reduce crime?

[pgrmdave]

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/arti...id=12&did=1176
-an article detailing the non-deterance of capital punishment

As to the morality - it doesn't matter to me whether or not they were guilty, it is not right for us to murder.

[IrishEyes]

Originally Posted by Yvonne

It's a human right to be allowed to right your mistakes.

No, it's not.

One of the few differences between our points of view, eh friend?

I really don't know how I feel about capital punishment, as my views have changed drastically over the years. I said "maybe" it reduces crime, as it might give people pause before going that extra step, but that might delve too deeply into the criminal mind, and I'm not really qualified to do that.

I also don't know that it's immoral, as we are having a hard enough time defining morality ourselves. I think we've seen that morality ia a rather subjective thing, so to say that one thing is moral, and another is not is really incorrect, especially here at Hypography. Whether or not each of us thinks capital punishment is moral or not, it is a fact in some places, NOT just in the US.

People often cite the US as the prime example, but their are many other countries that deliver capital punishment besides this one. Of course, looking at the list ofcountries, I'm not sure it's a good thing to be among the ones listed... It seems a bit odd that most of the countries are ones that we do not agree with in many other areas. Who knows? I still can't get my mind around this one, I don't have a steady opinion on it, it just depends for me, I guess.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/080904Z.shtml discusses re-instated capital punishment in Iraq, which they believe WILL reduce violent crimes

http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng great site on death penalty from Amnesty International... shows how many countries still have the death penalty or other forms of capital punsihment, many more than I knew of...

[Stargazer]

The list of countries where they still have death penalty is interesting, and USA does stand out as one of the very few liberal democracies that still practice it. So does it work? I wonder what the guilty/innocent ratio could be.

[Fishteacher73]

I think I saw a statistic that estimated about 10% had reasonable issue against the ruling...I'll see if I can find it. It was on a site discussing Bush's run as Gov. of TX (also preiding gov. over the most executions in US history if I recall as wel).


Here is another site that states as of 2004, 117 people have been exonerated and at least 23 people have been executed that have later been found innocent of the crime.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/arti...did=412&scid=6

[Drakon1323]

I would think that you really couldnt tell if CP reduces crime because of the inefficiency of the system and the inconsistency of the sentence.
Under the assumption that CP should be used under extreme circumstances, like multiple planned murders or the such... think of the amount of people who've done that and the variation in sentences that they have recieved thru lawyers or plea bargan or other laws or loopholes, etc.
Theres no way it could be used as a deterrant when its so easily beat. Plus when you think of waiting time and appeals and red tape. Its a negligible thought in most peoples mind.
So i would say :
1. undetermined
and
2. depends on whos morality youre using.

[IrishEyes]

Theres no way it could be used as a deterrant when its so easily beat. Plus when you think of waiting time and appeals and red tape. Its a negligible thought in most peoples mind

Yes, that's something that I hadn't fully considered. Can it be viewed as a deterrant when there is always the possibility of a lawyer getting the person out of the sentence? As such, the punishment for the crime *might* be death, but only if the prosecution can convince a jury that death is warranted, in some states. Would this play into the thinking of a person considering a criminal act? Very interesting question...

[Drakon1323]

plus, alot of people die of old age waitin 4 the chair.

[Fishteacher73]

I think you brought up this idea on another thread, Irish, that in some cases that CP may actually escalate the crime. Rape can be classified as a capital crime in TX (Maybe other states too, I'm not sure). The insentive is to murder the victim/witness because that does not increase the stakes on the punishment level, but helps the criminal avoid prosecution. The problem with this logic is simply put is that it is logic. I don't think the mind of a murdering rapist operates at the same level of logic, so this argument may be invalid.

[IrishEyes]

I don't think the mind of a murdering rapist operates at the same level of logic, so this argument may be invalid.

You mean the BRAIN of a murdering rapist, right?
And would this be a person that would spend the rest of his life in prison, or could this type of person somehow be 'rehabilitated'?
And would you encourage your daughter to date him?
I guess I just don't understand why keeping criminals of violent crimes in jail for their entire lives is more ethical or moral than putting them to death. Is it *only* the fear of exectuting an innocent person? So if the person was caught on film in the act of a very violent crime, and there was no chance that the person was innocent, would CP then be ok?

[pgrmdave]

No, I don't think that we ever have the right to murder in cold blood, self-defense is different, as is a fight in which both sides are attempting to kill each other and understand that either may die, as in war. Keeping criminals alive is more ethical because it allows them to live their life without harming anybody.