Originally Posted by
JIBBBY
Stiffer penalties always work!!! I'd like to see an automatic death sentence for each 1st degree murder charge found guilty and the death carried out immediately with no appeals.. Gang shootings would certainly go down over night, violent crimes as well.
Everyone in jail now for a proven guilty 1st degree murder charge should all be taken out as well. Jails would be freed up in no time.. If you kill an innocent person in cold blood for robbery or greed you should have no right to live yourself, bottom line!!!
I'm a firm believe in that. That would be equal justice.. Our laws are soft in the States and more innocent people unfortunately will die for it.
That's a good solution in a vacuum, but how many of the people found guilty for murder (or any lesser crime, for that matter) are actually guilty? I think it's the majority, but majority isn't close enough when it comes to the death penalty. Read a newspaper for a year straight and see how many people across the country are released from prison because of scientific advances (usually concerning DNA) that weren't available when they were tried. If a man is found guilty and convicted of murder, we should give him a life sentence. If something happens years later that shows that he may have been wrongly convicted, we can at least attempt to make amends for taking away his freedom, but if we kill him and it is later discovered that is guilt is doubtful, we cannot fix that. Death penalty may seem fair as a concept, but as long as cops, attorneys, judges, and juries are all human beings, the possibility of error (whether innocent mistakes or malfeasance) is entirely too strong.