Death penalty - for or against?
Death penalty - for or against?
#1Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/29/24 at 6:14pm
Last week Alabama carried out its first, and America's first, nitrogen gas execution. How is this allowed?
The victim, Kenneth Smith, said in his last words that "Alabama caused humanity to take a step backwards".
Th US Supreme Court rejected a stay of execution. Sonia Sotomayor dissented. "Once the nitrogen is flowing into his mask, his executioners will not intervene, and not remove the mask, even if Smith vomits into it and chokes on his own vomit", she said. Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also dissented.
Kenneth Smith was already tortured on a gurney 14 months ago after an attempt at lethal injection went wrong. A report by five Alabama newspeople who witnessed the execution said Smith "shook and writhed" for at least two minutes and then proceeded to breathe heavily for several minutes after that.
"Justice has been served" declared Alabama state atttorney Steve Marshall.
Has it?
Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$
#2Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/29/24 at 6:16pm
RIP Elizabeth Sennett, Smith's victim in 1988
Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$
#3Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/29/24 at 6:31pm
I oppose the death penalty for two reasons: (1) Killing in cold blood, as opposed to direct self-defense, is never justified. (2) I don't trust the State to make decisions about life and death.
#4Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/29/24 at 7:32pm
I feel the same. I can’t understand how 27 states still allow it. Supposedly “Christian” and “pro life” states mostly.
I do confess to wondering if I’d feel the same way if somebody I loved became a victim of murder. My resolve would certainly be tested
Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$
#5Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/29/24 at 7:36pm
“Fun” fact.
We all know that Louis and Marie Antoinette were beheaded after the French Revolution.
Did you know that France continued to use the literal guillotine right up until the 1970s? Shocking. Still, they finally learned. Hopefully we will too.
Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$
Zeppie2022
Broadway Star Joined: 7/12/22
#6Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/30/24 at 9:22am
It is a very hard moral decision. Do we have the right to take another person's life? My first instinct would be to say no but then I think the murderer did not care about the lives of his/her victims. Should there be reciprocal justice to a murder? (eye for an eye) Is life imprisonment a greater punishment than the death penalty? Some people will argue that it is, I am not very sure it is but would listen to the argument. Can the process of carrying out the death penalty be improved, heck yes. Prisoners can stay on "death row" way too long and as mentioned in another post, the execution of a death penalty has been botched. My other concern is what if the person is convicted and did not commit the crime, you can't reverse taking a person's life. Yes, with the science we have today (DNA) this is less likely to happen but nobody is perfect.
I will say I am against it and for life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Although, if I ever lost a loved one due to murder my opinion could possibly change in a heartbeat.
#7Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/30/24 at 11:52am
Jay Lerner-Z said: "I do confess to wondering if I’d feel the same way if somebody I loved became a victim of murder. My resolve would certainly be tested"
While I agree with this and Zeppie's similar comment, it doesn't make me question my current stance at all. If someone close to me were murdered, I would not be in a state where I was capable of forming a reasoned, objective opinion about the death penalty. I'm pretty sure that someone who had recently suffered such a tragic loss would also be excluded from serving as a juror on a murder trial for a similar reason: their decisions would be driven too much by emotion and too little by evidence and reason.
#8Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 1/30/24 at 4:31pm
Very true.
Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$
Pauly3
Featured Actor Joined: 12/12/11
#10Death penalty - for or against?
Posted: 2/10/24 at 2:08pm
kdogg36 said: "...their decisions would be driven too much by emotion and too little by evidence and reason."
If only most people understood this sentiment about themselves - and cared or could be bothered to value evidence over emotion. Or value evidence over repeated assertions.
