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Originally Posted by pgardn
GR.
After I saw a show how different families deal with the death of a convicted killer that had taken their loved one... I sorta got mixed up. A number of people cannot handle the fact that the killer lives, and go into serious depression, and a number of them actually commit suicide. The families that got their justice, came out very satisfied and went back to living a normal life. However, some families got no satisfaction whatsoever from the execution. In fact some felt worse, even though they wanted the killer executed.
So I focused more on the real victims, the living victims. And came out very confused.
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That sounds like a fascinating show; I wish I'd seen it.
I guess one's position depends on what one's agenda with punishment for violent crimes is. I don't see the value in the death penalty, except in a very few, select cases, where I think society is safer with someone executed. I'm not a big believer in it as a deterrent and if it's for vengeance, I think it would be far more horrendous punishment to lock someone up in solitary confinement, with no access to the outdoors or to other people, including family, no books, no TV, no entertainment of any kind, for the rest of their lives. Which is horrifically cruel punishment and would probably drive them batsh*t crazy in a few years, if it took that long. I don't think death is the worst thing that can happen to a person (which doesn't make me any less reluctant to face it before I have to, mind you!). So I don't see what its use as punishment is in most cases, if the intent is to "even the score" or whatever.
Another sobering thought is that people get wrongly convicted of crimes and sentences to life in prison, also, but when someone gets sentenced to life in prison, as opposed to the death penalty, it's very hard to get the case appealed, so there are currently innocent people languishing in prison for the rest of their lives for things they didn't do. But because they didn't get the death penalty, we as a society, feel free to forget about them. Talk about cruelty...
Anyway, my deep thoughts (ha ha ha) on the death penalty. As I said, in some cases, I think it's necessary-- what finally convinced me was reading about Kenneth Allen McDuff, whose death sentence was commuted to life in 1969, but was still paroled 17 years later due to prison overcrowding and as soon as he got out, started killing again (he was executed in 1998). So in very, very rare circumstances, I think it's best for society's safety to remove someone permanently. If this man had been excuted the first time, some Texas women would still be alive today. So, in rare cases, I don't see how anyone could argue against it.