Re: To Kill or Not to Kill, That Is the Question
In all honesty, it really isnt a big deal and far too much effort is wasted arguing about it. Does it really matter that much whether someone spends their life in prison as opposed to being killed? Personally I like the death penalty because it seems like a massive waste of time and effort keeping someone alive for 30+ years when they arent ever going to be released from jail, but compared to the 101 other things that are wrong with the current legal system its not something I can get particularly worked up about. If I was American then I'd care far more about the apparently widespread prevalence of prison rape than I would about California executing people, because that looks like a far far more serious problem.
The strongest argument for the death penalty imo is that it prevents prisoners who should never ever be released from getting out of jail due to political reasons. Look at the digusting travesty that was the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland if you need evidence that the death penalty is a nice way of sidestepping potential future problems. Of course, you need to weigh this against the possibility of executing innocent people, and so on.
Last edited by Nodrog; 9 Oct 2006 at 20:30.
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