• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Texas carries out its 500th execution since 1982

Henrin said:
The crime appears to be existing and the punishment for such a crime is death. You could say that if this is the crime then there is nothing wrong with the state of Texas killing anyone as all they are doing is carrying out the sentence that the mother of those individuals didn't carry out. Just doing a little bit of tying up those loose ends.

Seriously though, your argument appears to work for the state of Texas if they kill someone that was innocent.
Click to expand...

Glad you chimed in, Henrin. Your post...well, wouldn't expect anything different from you. I responded, hope your happy. That said...bye Henrin.
 
nota bene said:
Why do you wonder?
Click to expand...

because we know it has happened ... it doesn't bother you that we have executed innocent people? and if an innocent person gets executed no doubt it's someone who didn't have resources to mount a good defense ... You don't care if we execute someone who is innocent?
 
Removable Mind said:
Glad you chimed in, Henrin. Your post...well, wouldn't expect anything different from you. I responded, hope your happy. That said...bye Henrin.
Click to expand...

Did you know that many people that are for the death penalty are also pro-second amendment? Is it interesting how they can be for the people defending themselves against tyranny of the government if need be, but also in support of the government having the power to kill them if need be. Interesting logic, ain't it? Then again, people always offer interesting logic. For example, these same people are for growing military might which makes rebellion naturally harder.
 
Henrin said:
Did you know that many people that are for the death penalty are also pro-second amendment? Is it interesting how they can be for the people defending themselves against tyranny of the government if need be, but also in support of the government having the power to kill them if need be. Interesting logic, ain't it? Then again, people of always offer interesting logic. For example, these same people are for growing military might which makes rebellion naturally harder.
Click to expand...

Goodnight, Henrin...we're done.
 
windowdressing said:
because we know it has happened ... it doesn't bother you that we have executed innocent people? and if an innocent person gets executed no doubt it's someone who didn't have resources to mount a good defense ... You don't care if we execute someone who is innocent?
Click to expand...

I care very much. I oppose the death penalty entirely. The difference between you and me is that I didn't have to ask a rhetorical question.
 
Removable Mind said:
There's been like 800 plus more who have been executed in Texas going back to the early 1800's. So Texas loves killing people...so much that the state government is hell bent on trying to stop abortions in Texas. You may have noticed that my last sentence made no sense at all. When it comes to death...Texas government has selective ethics.

You can shoot, stab, electrocute...give lethal injections, hang people...but oh don't think about abortion.
Click to expand...

Why don't you leave if you don't like it here. I think we would get along just fin without you. :2wave:
 
greyhat said:
That's not the point; the point is that capital punishment doesn't punish anyone.
Click to expand...

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. Gen. 9:6 KJV
 
I wonder how many of them were actually innocent. 12 inmates who were convicted and sentenced to death in Texas were later found to be innocent and released. Can anyone really feel certain that none of those 500 were innocent, too?
 
windowdressing said:
I wonder how many of them were innocent ...
Click to expand...

To be honest, not many. But even one innocent executed is too many. If the death penalty were foolproof, I would be the first to pull the switch on the bastard. However, I am still haunted by the execution of a man who was convicted of setting fire to his house, killing his wife and children. After he was executed, he was proven innocent of the crime, and the expert witness the prosecution had used against him was no expert. In fact, he was incompetent.

There is also another important aspect to the death penalty. In the words stated by one condemned man, in his final statement before his execution, "Capital punishment, if you ain't got the capital, you get the punishment".
 
nota bene said:
I care very much. I oppose the death penalty entirely. The difference between you and me is that I didn't have to ask a rhetorical question.
Click to expand...

I doubt that that is the only difference between us, let alone an important one.
 
danarhea said:
To be honest, not many. But even one innocent executed is too many. If the death penalty were foolproof, I would be the first to pull the switch on the bastard. However, I am still haunted by the execution of a man who was convicted of setting fire to his house, killing his wife and children. After he was executed, he was proven innocent of the crime, and the expert witness the prosecution had used against him was no expert. In fact, he was incompetent.

There is also another important aspect to the death penalty. In the words stated by one condemned man, in his final statement before his execution, "Capital punishment, if you ain't got the capital, you get the punishment".
Click to expand...

even if it was fool proof I'm opposed ... doesn't make sense to show how much we abhor the taking of a human life by taking a human life we don't have to take ...
 
windowdressing said:
even if it was fool proof I'm opposed ... doesn't make sense to show how much we abhor the taking of a human life by taking a human life we don't have to take ...
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree with you, but might agree with you from an economic standpoint. It costs more to execute a person than it does to imprison him for life. Some might say that we should move the process along, so that it costs less, but that would be horrible in that more innocent people would end up being executed as a result. The condemned need to have every appeal and process available to them, in order to have a chance to reverse a decision that is permanent. Better yet, with no death penalty, we don't have to worry about executing the wrong person, so I am pretty much on your side in regard to this issue.
 
Last edited:
Removable Mind said:
There's been like 800 plus more who have been executed in Texas going back to the early 1800's. So Texas loves killing people...so much that the state government is hell bent on trying to stop abortions in Texas. You may have noticed that my last sentence made no sense at all. When it comes to death...Texas government has selective ethics.

You can shoot, stab, electrocute...give lethal injections, hang people...but oh don't think about abortion.
Click to expand...

That is better than in Illinois, California, or New York City where average citizens have to fear dying at the hands of gangs or other criminals.
 
greyhat said:
How can capital punishment be punishment if by virtue of the execution the person cannot absorb the punishment because they die? Doesn't make sense to punish someone by killing them; this may provide comfort to the families of those whose loved ones were harmed but that's vengeance- not punishment.
Click to expand...
Capitol punishment is about killing the person, not teaching them a lesson.

Did you see Goshin's thread about the difference between boys fist-fighting and self-defense? Fist-fighting is social/political, while self deference is only about stopping the person. The same is true of punishment. Rehab and probation are about correcting the criminal, capitol punishment is not. Capitol punishment is about removing a monster from the Earth.
 
Rocketman said:
That is better than in Illinois, California, or New York City where average citizens have to fear dying at the hands of gangs or other criminals.
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. Houston is on it's way to becoming the murder capital again. There have been 2 or 3 murders per day here this year, a sharp increase from last year, and even surpassing the days in the 1970's when Houston took the title from Detroit.
 
danarhea said:
I respectfully disagree with you, but might agree with you from an economic standpoint. It costs more to execute a person than it does to imprison him for life. Some might say that we should move the process along, so that it costs less, but that would be horrible in that more innocent people would end up being executed as a result. The condemned need to have every appeal and process available to them, in order to reverse a decision that is permanent. Better yet, with no death penalty, we don't have to worry about executing the wrong person, so I am pretty much on your side in regard to this issue.
Click to expand...

also it has not been shown to be a deterrent ...
 
windowdressing said:
also it has not been shown to be a deterrent ...
Click to expand...

If the death penalty was foolproof, I would be in favor of it, but not as a deterrent. It would be simple. If you kill, then you will be killed. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
It was a Republican governor in the 1990's in Illinois who did away with the death penalty. He just got out of jail for other misdeeds that were illegal. Many of us con/mod dems were against losing the death penalty but they did prove innocent people were executed and on death row. It was good politics also. Repubs held the governorship here for 26 straight years until Blago got it in 2003. He's now in jail.
Rocketman said:
That is better than in Illinois, California, or New York City where average citizens have to fear dying at the hands of gangs or other criminals.
Click to expand...
 
danarhea said:
If the death penalty was foolproof, I would be in favor of it, but not as a deterrent. It would be simple. If you kill, then you will be killed. Nothing more, nothing less.
Click to expand...

An eye for eye?
 
windowdressing said:
An eye for eye?
Click to expand...

Pretty much, but not in the biblical sense. Those who kill get killed. However, we have already seen how that works in practice. It doesn't, so I don't advocate it. It is pretty much a hypothetical to me. A good example is the Willingham execution here in Texas. He was executed for setting fire to his home, killing his wife and children. After he was executed, he was proven innocent..... Which pretty much makes those who participated in his trial and execution murderers themselves, from Rick Perry, all the way down to the man who actually threw the switch.
 
danarhea said:
Pretty much, but not in the biblical sense. Those who kill get killed. However, we have already seen how that works in practice. It doesn't, so I don't advocate it. It is pretty much a hypothetical to me. A good example is the Willingham execution here in Texas. He was executed for setting fire to his home, killing his wife and children. After he was executed, he was proven innocent..... Which pretty much makes those who participated in his trial and execution murderers themselves, from Rick Perry, all the way down to the man who actually threw the switch.
Click to expand...

we don't agree on that one point, but were we to, I'd still be hesitant because circumstances matter ... a guy who was abused his whole life by his old man and finally, with forethought, decides to kill him as opposed to someone who goes to commit a robbery and panics and shoots someone, to someone who decides to kill someone in cold blood because he was in his neighborhood .... if it was fool proof, would we make exceptions, even if in the end someone took someone's life ...
 
Not surprising when you consider that the United States is in the top 5 Countries for Executions world wide. (The others being China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia). I dunno guys, i really do understand that this is a highly emotional issue for many of you, but i personally find it repulsive. My Government abolished the death penalty in 1973 and has since passed laws ensuring it will never be reinstated so it's not an issue i'll ever have to be concerned about here.

Of all the good things that America does and she can be proud of (and there are so many), i can't imagine that being lumped in with those four Countries in relation to anything to do with Human Rights issues, would be something to be proud of.
 
Fisher said:
Because I found the statistical convergence interesting. Why are you so defensive about it?
Click to expand...
No.You were making a bull **** comparison. You stated in your first post that scumbags found guilty in a court of law and punished are akin to innocent people who were kidnapped and murdered by terrorists.



http://www.debatepolitics.com/break...th-execution-since-1982-a.html#post1061979280
Well they have passed their lynching record so I guess we should be glad they do it legally
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom