Do you approve the death penalty if yes why if no why?

Yes but only if there is no chance they did not do it.

No. It’s not an effective way to prevent or reduce crime, it costs a whole lot more than alternatives, and most disturbing of all, it risks executions of innocent people.

The system can make tragic and irreversible mistakes. Last month, we found out about Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in Texas for starting the fire that killed his children. Modern forensics has shown that the fire was accidental. There wasn’t even a crime. Over 130 people wrongfully convicted people sentenced to death have been exonerated. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. If someone is convicted and later found innocent you can release him from prison, but not from the grave.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. Homicide rates have consistently been higher in states and regions with the death penalty than in those without it. The most recent FBI data shows that homicide rates are below the national average in all 14 states without the death penalty.

Life without parole, on the books in 49 states (all except Alaska), also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is not a picnic. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.

Lots of people are surprised to hear about the high costs of the death penalty and the reasons for that. The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. The high costs of the death penalty are for the complicated legal process, and the largest costs come at the beginning, for the pre trial process and for the trial itself. The point is to avoid executing innocent people.

Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

Families of murder victims aren’t unanimous about the death penalty. But even families who have supported the death penalty in principal have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute more innocent people

I do not agree with it. There is no way of knowing if the system is 100 percent right in such a conviction. I just read a news release of a man that spent 14 years in prison, and was freed on DVA evidence. There is also the Texas case where a man was put to death, and years later DNA evidence cleared him. Do I believe in an eye-for-an-eye, yes I do. But, I want it 100 percent for sure - until then - I do not agree. Too many mistakes are being made. Corrupt evidence, false testimony, self serving cops, insufficient counsel, etc., etc.

I disagree with the government implementing the death penalty for most of the usual reasons. Namely, there has yet to be presented a persuasive and solvent argument *for* killing people as an act of criminal justice. It's ineffective as a deterrent, it's more expensive than a life sentence, it complicates extradition with many countries, it implies that revenge and justice have anything to do with each other. The death penalty simply serves no purpose.

Yes.

As harsh as this may sound... some people deserve to die.

Not only do I support the death penalty... I think it should be expanded to include people who sexually molest children.

Scary thing.... I went to this website.... http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/Search.j...

There are over 30 child predators within a five mile radius of my house... I have two kids.

I can't fathom why we allow these people to breath oxygen and continue to live among us !

Knowing how the justice system treats these people.... if anyone ever molested my children, i'll take justice into my own hands for sure....without a shred of regret.

I think there is an inalienable right to life. When someone else takes life, why should they be able to keep their right to life?

Ted Bundy, the infamous serial killer, killed about 30+ women, yet he lived quite comfortably for a while in jail. He even got married and fathered a child. In his last days he pleaded for his life. Why should he have been allowed to live? He wasn't and it was the right thing to do.

YEP...if they get the death penalty then they deserve it. I am sick of people committing horrendous crimes and are treated better than the homeless and people that DESERVE IT!

It cost too much money to keep scum and evil alive...what is the purpose? It does not deserve a second thought...just get rid of them.

This country is so wishy washy though...they save marsh mice and smelt and killers and rapists and illegals...and let GOOD people do without. It is ridiculous!

There are some incredibly evil beings out there who are committing the most horrible crimes imaginable against the weakest and least of us. A just society demands that the only true justice for these acts is a forfeit of their own lives; and nothing less can really be called justice.

I do not disapprove of the death pentaly, what I do disapprove of is how many times they can appeal it making it more expensive to kill someone then it does to keep them in jail for life.

If someone is proven guilty without reasonable doubt then they should be put to death. Like Ted Bundy, that guy was seriously twisted, he put so many people though pain...and suffering...and someone like that really doesn't deserve to live. A life for a life, and when someone is that sick and twisted then they dont' even deserve to live in prison.

I don't approve of the death penalty because innocent people get executed. Even if it's only one innocent person, that's too many for me. Add in the fact that it's cheaper to keep people in jail for life than execute them, due to the obviously necessary appeals process, and I'm definitely against it.

Yes, people who commit certain infamous crimes deserve to die. There is no purpose served by keeping them in prison for years, and they are too dangerous to release upon society.