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This poll addresses capital punishment both in the states that have it and in the federal government.
This poll addresses capital punishment both in the states that have it and in the federal government.
I would eliminate the death penalty in it's entirety. Nobody, government official or citizen, should have the legal right to murder someone unless directly in self-defense. There's no need to become the very thing we claim to fight against. "You killed someone, and that's not okay, thus your punishment is that I will kill you." Makes no sense!
I do think we need better trained cops, public defenders and forensic techs. The judicial systems needs to move a way from a conviction based entity and more towards a innocence based investigative entity.
ensure it is used only when there is no doubt of guilt....
I would eliminate the death penalty in it's entirety. Nobody, government official or citizen, should have the legal right to murder someone unless directly in self-defense. There's no need to become the very thing we claim to fight against. "You killed someone, and that's not okay, thus your punishment is that I will kill you." Makes no sense!
These. Couldn't have said it better.While I do believe some people should be killed for their crimes, I don't believe it's the government's job at any level to carry out the act. There is now evidence that the death penalty has been applied to innocent people in various states. That alone is enough for me to think that the government should only be allowed to hand out life sentences without the possibility of parole. If the inmates asks to be executed, then the government can grant it but outside of that, I don't believe it should have laws that allow the death penalty.
This poll addresses capital punishment both in the states that have it and in the federal government.
I vote "modify"
First, find a way to ensure 99.99% guilt then actually enforce it. As it stands there is no deterrent and has become useless. Instead, redundant 'new' laws are made that usually only affect the innocent for what they "might" do.
99.99% guilt allows for innocent people to be executed once in a while.
If I said 100%, some one would say "you can't be 100%" (ie kills 99.9% of germs). Thank you sue-nation.
Maybe speaking about guilt in terms of percentages is ridiculous to begin with. What percentage of guilt does someone found guilty due to circumstantial evidence have? 100%. What happens when the verdict is overturned because the evidence is later found to be erroneous, falsified or flat out irrelevant? 0%. Guilt is a black and white word, not something which has degrees. You can't be 40% responsible for a charge. You can't be 75% guilty of a crime. You are either found guilty or not guilty of the charges brought against you. 99.99% guilty is nonsense.
Ugh. Clicked on modify it when I meant to choose eliminate it (as a penalty).
So, have it but never ever use it?? There is never, and I do mean never, zero doubt about a person's guilt. There is always at least a slight chance that your conviction is wrong. Yet another reason why the death penalty is a bad idea. It is especially bad in this corrupted system of "guilty before proven innocent", but it is generally a bad idea in all systems.
I agree that too many capital cases get convictions just on circumstantial evidence. I also agree that there have been several instances of states executing the wrong person.
Both are totally unacceptable, but the system could still be modified to eliminate those possibilities.
First, if the prosecution plans to seek the death penalty, they must be held to a higher standard of proof. Guilt beyond a "reasonable doubt" is not enough; it should be guilt without a shadow of a doubt. For instance, the killer would likely have to confess, and to provide details that only the person who committed the crime could know.
I can't see too many confessions except for a few extreme 'suicide by cop' kinda thing
Let's not forget that many who are tried and convicted of murder who get life sentences continue to kill inside prison.
And some of them have been executed for it.