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Death Penalty For White Colloar Crimes

Death Penalty For White Collar Crimes

  • Yes

    Votes: 5 9.6%

  • No

    Votes: 47 90.4%
  • Total voters
    52
  • Poll closed .
Treason is a "white collar crime"... so yes.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
Would you support the death penalty for white collar crimes?
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you would have to be more specific . . . .

Id be open to putting it on the table in some cases for sure

handful of guys steal millions or billions and 100s or 1000s of people lose thier life savings, homes etc?

yep id be fine with it on the table
 
Dobsdot00 said:
Would you support the death penalty for white collar crimes?
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Nope.The death penalty should only be used for 1st degree murder, treason, desertion in a time of war and maybe some extreme rare circumstances like if someone knowingly infected the public with a dangerous or crippling disease or some other similar situation.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
Would you support the death penalty for white collar crimes?
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No, there is no real reason to expand the use of the death penalty to other crimes when we have too much question on the effectiveness of the punishment where it is used now.
 
OrphanSlug said:
No, there is no real reason to expand the use of the death penalty to other crimes when we have too much question on the effectiveness of the punishment where it is used now.
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I agree that there is no reason to expand the use of the death penalty, but I could definitely see it happening. I can definitely see the Republican controlled Congress expanding it to crimes that don't result in someone's death such as tax evasion or fraud. The US is becoming more conservative each year, so it could happen.
 
The Republican controlled Congress will make petty theft a capital crime.
 
It's hard to vote since I don't know whether this is meant to include all, most, some, or only a few white collar crimes--and if any of the latter, which are to be included as punishable by death isn't spelled out.

I would echo some of the sentiments expressed by others in this thread, and expand on them a little bit. It seems to me we misuse the death penalty. I've got no problem with it in theory, but the evidence is that we use it unfairly (dark-skinned people much more likely to get it than light-skinned, for instance). I also think we tend to use it in the wrong crimes. A case of murder where someone just snaps and kills a few people shouldn't be eligible for the death penalty, IMO, unless it turns out they'd done it on multiple occasions. The only murderers who should get the death penalty, IMO, are those who have committed particularly heinous crimes of the Ed Gein/Dennis Rader/David Ray Parker variety, against whom we have really incontrovertible evidence.

On the other hand, people like Jeff Skilling or Dennis Kozlowski who basically run scams which destroy the lives of thousands of people for the purpose of enriching themselves beyond the dreams of avarice should be executed. The reason is quite simple: the death penalty doesn't deter murderers, because murderers are usually insane. The death penalty absolutely would deter white collar criminals who try to get away with wrecking an economy for their personal benefit.
 
ashurbanipal said:
It's hard to vote since I don't know whether this is meant to include all, most, some, or only a few white collar crimes--and if any of the latter, which are to be included as punishable by death isn't spelled out.

I would echo some of the sentiments expressed by others in this thread, and expand on them a little bit. It seems to me we misuse the death penalty. I've got no problem with it in theory, but the evidence is that we use it unfairly (dark-skinned people much more likely to get it than light-skinned, for instance). I also think we tend to use it in the wrong crimes. A case of murder where someone just snaps and kills a few people shouldn't be eligible for the death penalty, IMO, unless it turns out they'd done it on multiple occasions. The only murderers who should get the death penalty, IMO, are those who have committed particularly heinous crimes of the Ed Gein/Dennis Rader/David Ray Parker variety, against whom we have really incontrovertible evidence.

On the other hand, people like Jeff Skilling or Dennis Kozlowski who basically run scams which destroy the lives of thousands of people for the purpose of enriching themselves beyond the dreams of avarice should be executed. The reason is quite simple: the death penalty doesn't deter murderers, because murderers are usually insane. The death penalty absolutely would deter white collar criminals who try to get away with wrecking an economy for their personal benefit.
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I could definitely see the Republican controlled Congress making fraud and tax evasion a capital crime.
 
I could see the Republican controlled Congress making divorce a capital crime.
 
I think it's only a matter of time before the US executes someone for a white collar crime or a crime such as petty theft. Especially with a Republican controlled Congress and Senate. The Republicans will make shoplifting a capital offense.
 
Death Penalty For White Collar Crimes
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no, but i do support jailing those who ruin our economy (and the global economy) by large scale gambling on risky financial products. if corporations are people, the people running them should be accountable. if i built a rickety skyscraper in my backyard and it collapsed on my neighbors' houses, i'd be whisked off to jail immediately. yet some banker can crash the entire economy and negatively affect billions of people, and he might not even face a single legal consequence. that needs to change. if there was a consequence like that, i bet our economic cycles would be a lot less volatile.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
I could see the Republican controlled Congress making divorce a capital crime.
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Considering Newt Gingrich would be first on the chopping block, I couldn't.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
I think it's only a matter of time before the US executes someone for a white collar crime or a crime such as petty theft. Especially with a Republican controlled Congress and Senate. The Republicans will make shoplifting a capital offense.
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Wut?.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
Republicans almost always support the death penalty. Duh!
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Produce your source for that claim. We'll wait. Probably for nothing since you won't be able to find a credible source.
 
Dobsdot00 said:
Republicans almost always support the death penalty. Duh!
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Find me ONE elected Republican who has EVER advocated the death penalty for shoplifting or any of the other crimes you're claiming are an inevitablity. Your entire premise is based on nonsense.
 
Mycroft said:
Fair enough...your opinion.

I'm all for the 2nd Amendment, but when one commits a criminal act while in possession of a firearm, I believe they don't deserve that Amendment's considerations.
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Either you are for the Second Amendment, or else you are not. If you are OK with allowing, in any circumstances, the legitimate exercise of the right affirmed by the Second Amendment to be treated as a crime, or even as an aggravating circumstances to an unrelated crime, then you are not for the Second Amendment.
 
Bob Blaylock said:
Either you are for the Second Amendment, or else you are not. If you are OK with allowing, in any circumstances, the legitimate exercise of the right affirmed by the Second Amendment to be treated as a crime, or even as an aggravating circumstances to an unrelated crime, then you are not for the Second Amendment.
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Ummm...

So...let me get this straight. A person commits a crime while in possession of a firearm and you contend that person is just exercising his 2nd Amendment right? Do you extend that contention to a person who commits a crime by speaking? They are only exercising their 1st Amendment right? How about the person who yells "FIRE" in a theater? Are they only exercising their right...even though they have deliberately caused injury or maybe death? Or...maybe it's different if a person robs a bank while indicating he has a gun in his pocket. Maybe HE'S just exercising his right?
 
Re: Death Penalty For White Collar Crimes

Mycroft said:
Ummm...

So...let me get this straight. A person commits a crime while in possession of a firearm and you contend that person is just exercising his 2nd Amendment right? Do you extend that contention to a person who commits a crime by speaking? They are only exercising their 1st Amendment right? How about the person who yells "FIRE" in a theater? Are they only exercising their right...even though they have deliberately caused injury or maybe death? Or...maybe it's different if a person robs a bank while indicating he has a gun in his pocket. Maybe HE'S just exercising his right?
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Do you really not see the difference here, between someone who may be exercising a legitimate Constitutional right, as an irrelevant aside to a crime he may be committing, and someone who commits a crime by doing something that would otherwise be a Constitutional right?

Every free American has a right to keep and bear arms. This right does not include any “right” to use one's arms to harm or threaten another person unjustly.

Every free American has a right to free speech. This right does not include any “right” to speak in a manner which unjustly causes harm to others.

I cannot agree with criminalizing the legitimate exercise of a right, even when the person exercising that right may also be committing a crime, to which his exercise of that right is not directly relevant. Now if someone uses his exercise of a right, directly to commit a crime, then that's another thing entirely; but you seem to be willfully missing this important distinction.
 
Re: Death Penalty For White Collar Crimes

Bob Blaylock said:
Do you really not see the difference here, between someone who may be exercising a legitimate Constitutional right, as an irrelevant aside to a crime he may be committing, and someone who commits a crime by doing something that would otherwise be a Constitutional right?

Every free American has a right to keep and bear arms. This right does not include any “right” to use one's arms to harm or threaten another person unjustly.

Every free American has a right to free speech. This right does not include any “right” to speak in a manner which unjustly causes harm to others.

I cannot agree with criminalizing the legitimate exercise of a right, even when the person exercising that right may also be committing a crime, to which his exercise of that right is not directly relevant. Now if someone uses his exercise of a right, directly to commit a crime, then that's another thing entirely; but you seem to be willfully missing this important distinction.
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If a person is in possession of a firearm while committing a crime, there is, if not a deliberate intention of using that firearm, a heightened possibility of using that firearm...a possibility that would have been eliminated by NOT having a firearm in possession. It is a distinct choice made by the person committing the crime and, in my opinion, merits the death penalty.

Your 2nd Amendment right ends when you chose to commit a crime while in possession of a firearm.
 
Re: Death Penalty For White Collar Crimes

Mycroft said:
If a person is in possession of a firearm while committing a crime, there is, if not a deliberate intention of using that firearm, a heightened possibility of using that firearm...a possibility that would have been eliminated by NOT having a firearm in possession. It is a distinct choice made by the person committing the crime and, in my opinion, merits the death penalty.

Your 2nd Amendment right ends when you chose to commit a crime while in possession of a firearm.
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I don't agree that it does. A right doesn't end until that right directly steps on someone else's rights. Your right to carry an arm ends when you use that arm to violate someone else's rights, not one moment before.

Otherwise, you're setting up a precedent under which any right can be abridged on the mere presumption that one might use that right to violate someone else's right.
 
Since minorities are more likely to commit white collar crimes, I wonder if those who voted yes are aware of the disparate racial impact of execution?

Although I support the death penalty, I dont for anything but murder.
 
US Conservative said:
Since minorities are more likely to commit white collar crimes, I wonder if those who voted yes are aware of the disparate racial impact of execution?

Although I support the death penalty, I dont for anything but murder.
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Really!?

Don't think so.

What minority was Bernie Madoff?

Cripe.
 
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