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The real problem with the death penalty as implemented is the error rate. It's unacceptably high and errors made in the system can't be reversed, because the people who have been harmed by the error are dead. In theory I can agree that certain crimes perhaps should be punishable by death, but the justice system as it exists is too imprecise to dole that extreme punishment out with 100% accuracy. If we agree executing innocent people is wrong, the most moral thing to do under the constraints of the rule of law is to not execute anyone. It's preferable to keep 99 murderers alive in prison than to execute 100 people and have one be innocent. If you agree killing innocent people is wrong and should be avoided it's really the only option. Whether or not the death penalty would be moral in a system where we could have 100% surety of guilt before choosing the punishment is a whole other discussion I'm not qualified to have, but whether or not executing innocent people is bad is easy to decide: yes, it is bad. Also murderers have pretty low recidivism rates, based on what I know about it. Most of the time murders are committed by people who are just pissed off at one person, not eager to murder any person they see. If you want to argue public safety executing child molesters is probably a better tack to take.
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Feb 28, 2017 01:17
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| # ¿ May 4, 2024 08:15 |
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Again, a lot of people are arguing theory in here. In cases of absolute certainty, if guilt can ever be absolute, etc. It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. We know, in reality, that even physical evidence can be misleading, false, or fabricated. That's a known fact. Eye witness testimony is actually even less accurate. Imprisoning people is imperfect, but it's not as imperfect as the death penalty. The death penalty as implemented in the United States in 2017 is a bad tool and doesn't do the job it's advertised to do. If nothing else it should be stopped until the entire justice system is overhauled based on evidence of what actually works to deter crime and foster a more peaceful society. Then we can come back to the discussion of whether or not we ought to kill certain people.
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Feb 28, 2017 14:38
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