The Death Penalty. What do you think?

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<p>Even though I consider myself a liberal, I have always supported the death penalty. Until now. I do not know what happened, but the other day I woke up and realized I was trying to carry too much baggage with it. And I flipped.</p>

<p>Connecticut is poised to eliminate the death penalty. Fewer and fewer executions are being carried out around the nation. Capital punishment has turned out to be a tremendously expensive endeavor (see lower link).</p>

<p>[Capital</a> Punishment - News - Times Topics - The New York Times](<a href=“Capital Punishment - The New York Times”>Capital Punishment - The New York Times)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/07/us/fighting-to-repeal-california-execution-law-they-championed.html?_r=1&hpw[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/07/us/fighting-to-repeal-california-execution-law-they-championed.html?_r=1&hpw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I am not a fan.</p>

<p>On indivdual cases it is difficult to argue against.</p>

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<p>Had 911 happened in CT, would you let those 4 instigators go without death penalty?</p>

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<p>To me it’s a bit like the argument for/against torture. It is easy to imagine situations where it is appropriate, situations where even I would be willing to carry it out. But once you allow it, it is too easy for it to be misapplied which I find unacceptable, even if it was one in a million.</p>

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<p>The fundamental flaw with the death penalty is that it is an irreversible punishment in an imperfect world.</p>

<p>Prosecutors lie, defense attorneys fall asleep, cops fabricate evidence, eyewitnesses make mistaken identifications. We know it happens, period. If you sentence someone to death and discover that the person is innocent… you can’t dig someone out of a grave and restore their life. We can’t undo it.</p>

<p>Life without parole serves the same purpose - that person is never going to walk the streets again. And if you discover, 20 years later, that he/she is the victim of a cheating DA and racist cops… you can open the cell door and restore their freedom.</p>

<p>There are far, far too many examples of innocent men and women being put on Death Row for me to feel remotely comfortable that we can fairly and accurately carry out an irreversible punishment. We are not gods, we are humans - we screw up. The price of screwing up a death penalty case is an innocent life.</p>

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<p>Well said, polarscribe.</p>

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<p>In California , the death penalty is really at this point a fantasy. First off my statstical info is just from my memory, so don’t quote me!
We have not executed anyone in years…flaw in the execution system. We have over 1000 (give or take) inmates on death row. Each inmate spends over 25 years on DR before execution. And the cost to house a DR inmate is astronomical…something like 3 or 4 times the cost of a regular prisoner.
Bottom line, California cannot afford the death penalty. The appeals process is long, one reason because there are not enough DP lawyers? Cases just take forever.
I do feel pretty confident that after at least 25 years and multiple appeals, the people who are executed are guilty. But, once again…it’s all about the $. We can’t afford the current system, so I also think life in prison would be the better option.
I hate to think how many college scholarships could be given, in liue of paying for an existence on DR.
Texas seems to be more efficient (or not depending on your point of view)regarding DR!</p>

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<p>look into Project Innocence and it is hard to justify…too many mistakes…</p>

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