Death Penalty

You all know the traditional pro- and con- death penalty arguments. I don't think we ought to enforce a death penalty - our most severe punishment ought to be life in solitary prison with no chance of parole.

I also think we're moving towards this - death row prisoners will be moved into the worst sort of prison, where they're in a cell almost all day, and have no contact with anyone else, ever, forever.

However, once we do that, do you think we should, or could offer them the option of suicide?

You've been imprisoned for life - you spend 23 hours a day in a little concrete cell, you have an hour a day to walk around in open air, and you never see anyone, because all of the prison functions are done through remote control.

If you're guilty, then why would you want to continue that sort of existence?

Maybe you think that these criminals deserve that sort of torturous existence - I don't know, perhaps, but if their suicide gets them out of the way, and it saves us the cost of imprisoning them, then why should the state be in the business of causing pain to these people?

The deterrent effect of a life like that - knowing that you're going to have to spend the rest of your life in the worst sort of living hell, might actually benefit the rest of us.

Anyways, what do you think?

I don't think that prisoners, more specifically, those who are on death row for murder, should be able to end their lives at will when they took the life of someone else. I'm all for finding a way to lower costs though. But this method is simply too kind to the prisoner.

Why do you have two threads devoted to this...? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

I don't want to pay for murderers to live. If we're going to keep them around, let's at least force them to work to make up for the cost.

This thread is specifically about whether we ought to allow permanently imprisoned prisoners to commit suicide (and what your thoughts on the death penalty are).

The other was just supposed to be a poll asking what option you'd choose if you were forced (and allowed) to make a choice.

Well, they're almost the same thing...well, sorta, anyway. Eh, whatever! :)

No, prisoners should not be allowed to kill themselves. They should pay for their crime, not be allowed to take the easy way out.

The death penalty? Hmm...I have nothing against it, but I prefer life with no parole, and a harsher prison system. No TV, etc. Put the muthas on a chain gang.

I think that if prisoners decide to take the "easy" way out thay should have the same thing done to them that they did to the victim...eye for an eye

I think the option should only be given to them after a good decade or so of solitary confinement, if at all. And while it's an interesting approach, I firmly believe it will never happen.

I say show people getting the chair on national television once a month. They can call it Poor Guy It's Firday or something like that. It would be an excellent deterant to crime.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Dolemite
Well, they're almost the same thing...well, sorta, anyway. Eh, whatever! :)

No, prisoners should not be allowed to kill themselves. They should pay for their crime, not be allowed to take the easy way out.

The death penalty? Hmm...I have nothing against it, but I prefer life with no parole, and a harsher prison system. No TV, etc. Put the muthas on a chain gang.

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Taking care of prisoners costs alot of money. Money we don't have, and money that can be better spent elsewhere. A prisoner in jail doesn't affect your daily life in the least bit, except for the fact that he's eating up valuable resources, which I've already stated too many times. Is it such a bad thing if he kills himself and saves us a bunch of money, all the while ridding the world of his sinning soul?

It doesn't make sense to leave a guy rotting in prison, costing us a ton of money, especially when he wants to die. It may bring you joy and happiness to know that he's sitting in jail paying for his crimes, but isn't he paying for his crimes if he dies also?