MaddieGreenwell
New member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2012
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Kentucky
- Gender
- Female
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
If the death penalty were a deterrent, then why do we have less crime in modern America than was present in more brutal cultures in the past, and in current brutal cultures around the world? Their punishments are harsher, yet we have less crime.
Every study shows that severity of punishment is not a deterrent against crime, especially not crimes like murder.
And we shouldn't kill anyone if there is any doubt? Well let me tell you, there is ALWAYS doubt. It is impossible to know for sure. Eyewitness testimony is the most unreliable form of evidence. DNA evidence is not nearly so cut and dry like on TV. In most cases, including murder cases, it is unavailable to determine anything. Ever fingerprinting, often portrayed as infallible, is actually pretty much guesswork. Even the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard only shows us that someone probably perpetrated the crime. It is not "beyond all doubt."
No innocent person should be executed. Ever. And the only way to ensure that we do not is never to kill anyone. Any other course guarantees that we will kill an innocent person. Any other course makes us murderers.
If an axe murderer killed all of your loved ones and there was complete evidence (whether infallible or not), I find it very hard to believe that you would be satisfied with them still being allowed to live and breathe on the same Earth you do. In many DP cases, the proof is either absolutely there, or the criminal has plead guilty.
Whether or not studies can prove that the DP is a crime deterrent, it is basically common sense that if there wasn't capital punishment, extreme crimes would go up. Because people would know that if they killed someone, the worst that could happen is just being stuck in a jail cell the rest of their life. What kind of study could PROVE that the death penalty does or doesn't cut down on crimes such as murders? People, even murderers and rapists, are afraid of death. Common sense