DDO Members
51% Pro
49% Con
Related Debates
- This House supports the death penalty!
- The Death Penalty is not humane.
- Captial Punishment (Death Penalty)
- The Death Penalty
- Death Penalty
- Is the Death Penalty an unjust punishment?
Related Opinions
- Is the Death Penalty Unconstitutional?100% say NO
- Does Buddhism Support the Death Penalty?50% say NO
- Is the death penalty justified in the United States?100% say YES
- Is the death penalty effective?100% say NO
- Should the death penalty be given to juveniles in Texas?50% say NO
- Is Life in Prison without Parole a Better Option Than the Death Penalty?100% say YES
Death Penalty Debate
History and Debate of Death Penalty
Criminal punishment is a huge source of controversy in the United States. Opponents often argue that innocent people are sometimes executed and that the main motive is revenge, not true justice. Those who support the death penalty debate that the punishment offers retribution for victims of murder and is more cost efficient than offering life sentences in prison. Whether or not the death penalty will remain legal in the United States has yet to be seen.
For Death Penalty
Pro51% of members
Comment: Raise the evidence standards. A lot. But for individuals in which there is no doubt that they murdered someone, raped children, participated in genocide, or other grave crimes--hang them.
Comment: Yeah, if you murder you should die, you shouldn't have the chance to kill even more people.
Comment: All states should have the death penalty for all degrees of murder. Most if not all forms of negligent homicide should receive the death penalty, e.g., drunk drivers, bar tenders who serve too many drinks to patrons who know those patrons should have been cut off hours earlier, etc. And, the age for being considered a juvenile should be lowered to 12, based on the maturity level as determined by a group of psychologists. That is, if you are 12 and murder someone, and a group of psychologists determine that you understood what you were doing, you get the death penalty, even if you are only 12. Also, the speedy trial process has to be shorted. The longest it should take with all repeals should be no more than 4 years. Also, the death penalty should be imposed on any financial criminals (e.g., bankers, mortgage company executives, CEOs, presidents, etc.) who are convicted of financial crimes equal to or greater than $500,000 (e.g., Ponzi schemes, embezzlement, consumer fraud, fraudule
Comment: If someone commits a horrible crime, they shouldn't be allowed to live anymore.
Comment: Mistakes are made in the process and it kills me to hear about stories of people being declared innocent after already being executed. But I think the death penalty is important too and really is required to make our system of justice work. There needs to be adequate deterrence toward the most vile and destructive of crimes....even though I doubt rotting in a cage is much more humane.
Comment: Depends on the crime.
Comment: I beleive that the death penalty should be legal in all the states, but it should only be used in the up-most important sitution. For example, someone who murders another person, a rapist or pedafile. People who commit crimes of this degree should be given the death penalty, if there is enough evidence to prove what they are being charged with. As for children who commit rape or murder, if it can be proven that they understood what they did and the consaquence for that crime, then the too deserve the death penalty. However, people who commit finacial crimes should not be given the death penalty,rather a prison sentence inwhich the judge sees as fit for that certain crime. Besides killing the person or persons is cheaper than sentencing them to life in prison. By sentencing some to prison;it not only takes up space in prison, but it also takes room from criminals who deserve time,not death. It's cheaper,it costs tax payers more money to keep alive killers who deserve death,than to kill.
Comment: Only if it is a cold blooded murderer whose guilt has been proven 100%,
Comment: You kill someone, we'll kill you back, lol.
Comment: "Yes they deserve to die, and I hope the burn in hell"
Against Death Penalty
Con 49% of members
Comment: I value mercy over justice.
Comment: Being a determinist, I cannot justify it.
Comment: Innocent people have been executed before. It is not an acceptable risk.
Comment: A form of legally sanctioned murder that precludes further investigation, any chance at rehabilitation, and costs us several times more to implement than just sending someone to prison for the rest of their life? No, I don't support it.
Comment: I believe that there is a morality, a justice, in executing killers but the incompetence of politicians makes me hesitant to hand them the life-and-death power of capital punishment.
Comment: WhileIamnotmorallyopposed,myproblemliesinthewaythatitisimplemented.Howaccurateisourcriteriaofevidence?Idon'tthinkbeyondareasonabledoubtisgoodenough.
Comment: If you're wrong, you just let your state murder an innocent person in your name. If that happens once (and we know it's happened repeatedly), it's happened far too often as far as I'm concerned.
Online: 12 Hours Ago Updated: 1 Month Ago Comment: The government shouldn't be given the power to put a man to death, regardless of his crimes. Besides, life imprisonment and constant public humiliation would be a worse punishment in my opinion.
Comment: It's actually cheaper to sentence someone to life than to have them executed. That's my only argument, because I don't feel like regurgitating generic ones.
Comment: getting your justice system FUNCTIONAL is the first order of business. I have witnessed first hand how pathetic human law and order is. That being said, even though it is pathetic, I think it's better than it could potentially be. Right now, any death penalty can be replaced by something much more productive and scary (scaring future offenders is a point of law and order) -- Life of hard labor.