Current Events > The Death Penalty, what's your stance?

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[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


What exactly is a right to you? Do you have a right to a license?

This gets into "paradox of tolerance" stuff.

I completely oppose the death penalty for the reasons outlined in the thread,,but I want to emphasize that it isnt awful just because innocent people are executed. It is also unconscionable because it is unfairly applied even to the guilty.

If you are a different race than white or too poor to afford good representation, you are orders of magnitude more likely to get a death sentence than a white person with money. Simple as that, and backed by years of data.

Even if you think some people deserve to die for their crimes, we are simply not wise enough to administer it fairly. We never will be.

Westernwolf4 posted...

I completely oppose the death penalty for the reasons outlined in the thread,,but I want to emphasize that it isnt awful just because innocent people are executed. It is also unconscionable because it is unfairly applied even to the guilty.

If you are a different race than white or too poor to afford good representation, you are orders of magnitude more likely to get a death sentence than a white person with money. Simple as that, and backed by years of data.

Even if you think some people deserve to die for their crimes, we are simply not wise enough to administer it fairly. We never will be.

I actually wrote a paper about sentencing disparities in regards to the death penalty. One of the interesting things I found when researching it is that it also matters who the victims are. I don't remember the stats off the top of my head but basically if you kill a white woman you're more likely to get the death penalty than if you killed a black woman and if you're a black man accused of killing a white woman you're much much more likely to get the death penalty

HotDogMayo posted...

I actually wrote a paper about sentencing disparities in regards to the death penalty. One of the interesting things I found when researching it is that it also matters who the victims are. I don't remember the stats off the top of my head but basically if you kill a white woman you're more likely to get the death penalty than if you killed a black woman and if you're a black man accused of killing a white woman you're much much more likely to get the death penalty

You are absolutely right, and I am glad you raised this.

I wrote a paper on this too. It was part of my law school thesis years and years ago. But the data on unfair application of this penalty that cant be undone once carried out just gets worse and worse.

Westernwolf4 posted...

Even if you think some people deserve to die for their crimes, we are simply not wise enough to administer it fairly. We never will be.

This is all that needs to be said.

Yet plenty of people in the world will still scream "But bad people! But justice!"

Abolish the death penalty.

The Death Penalty, what's your stance? -
Results (208 votes)

• I'm in favor of it 35.58% 74
• I'm against it because of the exorbitant costs to make it painless, effective and 0% wrong sentences 17.79% 37
• I'm against it because it's wrong 46.63% 97

Interesting results.

ForsakenHermit posted...

I apologize for my insinuations that those who had a problem with my analogy supported mass murderers getting released. I should have said that if the death penalty is off the table life without parole needs to exist to keep people too dangerous locked up forever. I suck ass at analogies and often mistake criticism of my analogy with my thoughts. That's on me and me alone and I own up to that.

And I apologize for what I said about the mod in my dispute that was way way way too far and I will not repeat it here. If they want to post it they can but I will not.

Life without parole should of course exist as an option, although I would want it to only be used in really extreme cases and have lots of oversight.

One walks up to someone and kills them because they look like they would commit a crime, many leaves you alone. Exact doesn't care. Refutation is next up

Voted second option, mostly because there's innocents who are executed, however internally I still feel like there's people it's justified for, I just can't accept it anymore at this point due to the innocent victims.

It has no place in modern society