Post by Hood on May 12, 2006 0:26:05 GMT -5
volatile topic, i know. No answer is gonna please everyone, nor solve every situation.
Here's some items to weigh in the balance:
Prison was supposed to be about rehabilitation through punishment, not just about punishment. If you were a criminal, a few years of 'punishment' was supposed to teach you to change. Of course, the entire system is screwed up, to the point that now people coming out of prison can very possibly be worse than before. Rehabilitation is now a footnote.
Given the costs involved, the growing number of overcrowded prisons, and the increasing of crime, I honestly believe (and wait a second after I say this, keep reading) that all prisoners sentenced to life in prison should instead get the death penalty. If a criminal is so violent, so dangerous, that the courts feel he cannot be rehabilitated, why in the world would you spend top dollar to keep them around another 60 years?
Now here's why I said to keep reading: Every death penalty case allows many years for 'new evidence' to arise. They don't execute you that same week. If you're innocent, and evidence out there exists, it's most likely going to surface in the next 5-10 years.
YES, it's true, thanks to advances in technology, a handful of people on death row have been found innocent 40+ years later, when DNA testing became possible. But to keep many thousands of 'lifers' around on the off chance one of them was innocent is not how our justice system is designed. First you are given a trial, with months to years to prepare. Then, if found guilty, you are still given years to come up with new evidence. That is MORE than reasonable for a justice system.
Yes, a few innocent people will be executed, and perhaps 30 years from now new evidence will surface to exonerate them. But that is hardly different from the current situation. For all we know, every person so far sent to the chair was innocent, correct? For all we know, 90% of the people in prison are innocent. It is impossible to protect every innocent person no matter what you do. I'm just saying the current system goes too far in the other direction. Keeping thousands of guilty 'lifers' alive rewards them, and punishes us.
Such lifers get free (albeit rough) room and board, and better services than our kids get in public schools. Many have access to fully-stocked libraries, movies and entertainment, etc, while a good number of innocent people in our community are denied such because of lack of funding to community programs.
Innocent people across this country suffer every day when violent criminals are paroled early due to overcrowding. Innocent people suffer every day when the government can't afford decent emergency shelters because so much funding has to go to keeping people alive so we can 'punish' them some more.
Terrorists want to die, who cares? Kill them, let them imagine they are going to get 40 virgins. They've got new volunteers right and left to replace them, so 'martyring' them in that fashion won't change anything. You're not allowed to violate their religious rights, otherwise I'd say force them to do something that would make them beleive they are no longer going to heaven. THAT would be the ultimate punishment, for those of you who want that.
Don't keep them around at the expense of others, though. Kids not having enough books in a classroom is a travesty that outweighs our need to punish people.
Yeah yeah, my entire argument is basically money-based. If money was no object, then build prisons at will. Make huge ones and stock them full.
But the truth is, if someone in a violent rage kills his wife and kids, it costs a LOT to feed him, provide medical care, recreation, training, guarding, etc for the next 60 YEARS! Instead, give him the death penalty, a 5-10 year waiting period, and then get him off our payroll. A handful of innocent will die when they shouldn't have, but many thousands die every day across this country for all sorts of reasons, and this should NOT take priority over those other dangers.
Sorry, i'm not trying to be callous, just realistic. Life in prison means the person will die in prison, period. Why make them wait 60 years for it at the expense of the innocent in the community?
Here's some items to weigh in the balance:
Prison was supposed to be about rehabilitation through punishment, not just about punishment. If you were a criminal, a few years of 'punishment' was supposed to teach you to change. Of course, the entire system is screwed up, to the point that now people coming out of prison can very possibly be worse than before. Rehabilitation is now a footnote.
Given the costs involved, the growing number of overcrowded prisons, and the increasing of crime, I honestly believe (and wait a second after I say this, keep reading) that all prisoners sentenced to life in prison should instead get the death penalty. If a criminal is so violent, so dangerous, that the courts feel he cannot be rehabilitated, why in the world would you spend top dollar to keep them around another 60 years?
Now here's why I said to keep reading: Every death penalty case allows many years for 'new evidence' to arise. They don't execute you that same week. If you're innocent, and evidence out there exists, it's most likely going to surface in the next 5-10 years.
YES, it's true, thanks to advances in technology, a handful of people on death row have been found innocent 40+ years later, when DNA testing became possible. But to keep many thousands of 'lifers' around on the off chance one of them was innocent is not how our justice system is designed. First you are given a trial, with months to years to prepare. Then, if found guilty, you are still given years to come up with new evidence. That is MORE than reasonable for a justice system.
Yes, a few innocent people will be executed, and perhaps 30 years from now new evidence will surface to exonerate them. But that is hardly different from the current situation. For all we know, every person so far sent to the chair was innocent, correct? For all we know, 90% of the people in prison are innocent. It is impossible to protect every innocent person no matter what you do. I'm just saying the current system goes too far in the other direction. Keeping thousands of guilty 'lifers' alive rewards them, and punishes us.
Such lifers get free (albeit rough) room and board, and better services than our kids get in public schools. Many have access to fully-stocked libraries, movies and entertainment, etc, while a good number of innocent people in our community are denied such because of lack of funding to community programs.
Innocent people across this country suffer every day when violent criminals are paroled early due to overcrowding. Innocent people suffer every day when the government can't afford decent emergency shelters because so much funding has to go to keeping people alive so we can 'punish' them some more.
Terrorists want to die, who cares? Kill them, let them imagine they are going to get 40 virgins. They've got new volunteers right and left to replace them, so 'martyring' them in that fashion won't change anything. You're not allowed to violate their religious rights, otherwise I'd say force them to do something that would make them beleive they are no longer going to heaven. THAT would be the ultimate punishment, for those of you who want that.
Don't keep them around at the expense of others, though. Kids not having enough books in a classroom is a travesty that outweighs our need to punish people.
Yeah yeah, my entire argument is basically money-based. If money was no object, then build prisons at will. Make huge ones and stock them full.
But the truth is, if someone in a violent rage kills his wife and kids, it costs a LOT to feed him, provide medical care, recreation, training, guarding, etc for the next 60 YEARS! Instead, give him the death penalty, a 5-10 year waiting period, and then get him off our payroll. A handful of innocent will die when they shouldn't have, but many thousands die every day across this country for all sorts of reasons, and this should NOT take priority over those other dangers.
Sorry, i'm not trying to be callous, just realistic. Life in prison means the person will die in prison, period. Why make them wait 60 years for it at the expense of the innocent in the community?
"There's no shortage of stupid people in this world" ![nc]DEVIL Avatar](http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/2992/devil8ey.gif)
![nc]MJOLINIR Avatar](http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2227/dtclavatarmjoljz3.gif){kind=avatar}
![nc]Dread Avatar](http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i14/phonebookman/LP.gif)
![nc]JNRDUKE Avatar](http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5567/sweetbrightavay0hz.png)
![nc]BlueTang Avatar](http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/7d13f266ff.jpg)
