Redditor _ramgab_ wanted to discuss one of the world's most controversial topics. They asked:
"How do you feel about the death penalty?"
I'm not sure how I feel. It seems like a situation that has to happen to you somehow, to truly know how you'd feel.
Bad System
"There are people who deserve to die, but we can't trust our system to make good choices." ~ EarthExile
"The main problem but not the only one. If someone is executed for a crime they didn't commit the file is closed and whoever did commit it is free to continue."
"We got rid of the death penalty here in the UK for this very reason. A man called Timothy Evans was hanged for killing his wife. The man who actually killed her, their landlord John Reginald Christie went on to kill many more." ~ NiceOneCenturion
Doesn’t make sense...
"I personally think it should only be used for serial killers or mass killers because they’re just going to be going on and keep doing it. Pickton, Clifford Olson, Ted Bundy deserve it. In Canada Pickton is close to getting out after 25 years. So Canada’s most notorious serial killer will walk free? Doesn’t make sense. You can’t rehabilitate that." ~ jenh6
you killed an innocent...
"Some people undoubtedly deserve death. But how do you make sure you have REALLY got the right person? Judicial mistakes happen, and are more common than we like to admit. Lock someone up, and if there is a mistake you can correct it. Kill him and you are a murderer - you killed an innocent. That is why I am against the death penalty."
"EDIT: Some cases you can be pretty certain. You go to the guy's house, there's bodies buried in the cellar, body parts in the fridge, you know the whole works? Yeah I don't even care if he's mad, some things you shouldn't get away from - and if he's mad, its the sort of mad we don't need to recover."
"Other than this level of certainty? Even outright signed confessions have proven to have been extracted by guile (even going as far as saying "this will help us get the true guilty person!") from the innocent and weak-willed." ~ Tuga_Lissabon
Anders
"So let's take a person like Anders Breivik from Norway who slaughtered more than 70 kids on an island. There is zero doubt he did it. He deserves death, not a cozy cell for ending so many lives and ruining many more. That's where I'm for the death penalty. There is zero doubt he did it. They caught him there, with the guns. The plans. The manifesto." ~ Zonyxe
Gandalf
“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” ~ Not_Zorns_Not_Lemma
"Lord of the Rings. Gandalf to Frodo on why Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum when he had the chance." ~ Helophora
Good points. Some people are truly heinous and need to be put down. But giving other humans that power of life and death, feels extreme.
John Knows...
"Against. Even the tiny chance of an innocent being sent to death is too much. Also the people that do the injection are not trained. Sometimes a few tries before they do correct and they die. There was a John Oliver episode about it that was eye opening." ~ Masfoodplease
"Therefore it’s not a great argument when we can pinpoint a crime to an exact individual nowadays. Back then it was based mostly of circumstantial evidence but now we can detect the perpetrator with something as small as a strand of hair. That’s why not a single person on that list was convicted after 2005." ~ ___And_Memes_For_All
No Trust
"I don't think the government should have the authority to kill people." ~ DaveSW777
"I barely trust the government to get my identification correct let alone have someone’s life in their hand. They fuck up things on a granular level constantly. Should they really have the power to kill?" ~ ArchiveSQ
Switched
"No. It is better to not kill the guilty than to kill one innocent person by mistake." ~ Plastic-Eagle5966
"I’ve switched over to this side as I’ve gotten older. I used to be on the side of 'if the evidence is there and it’s damning enough, then the convicted should die.' But that first proposition, “if the evidence is there,”... if I’ve learned anything in the past 4 years especially, it’s that we can’t seem to collectively agree on reality in general. So no, seeing as we can’t, as a society, agree on reality, the death penalty should absolutely not be a thing. One innocent person put to death is too much." ~ ThatsMyQuant
Worst of it All...
"Some people definitely deserve to die, but that doesn’t mean anyone else deserves to kill them. Also, it’s kind of a get out of jail free card. I’d take death over life in prison any day (although it usually takes decades for the state to get around to executing people on death row for some reason, so it’s sorta the worst of both worlds)." ~ bananafishandblow
So many sides to one coin. This topic feels like it's never going to find resolution. Which is so often the case when death is involved.
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