NationStates Jolt Archive

the us generally only executes murders, but talk to a prison guard and he is likely to tell you murders are often the model prisoners, its the habitual property criminals and the gang members who cause problems in jail. murders had an extremely bad moment or period in their lives where they did something horrible. but many times aside from the one extremely aberrant act they are decent law abiding individuals. they are the ones who can be rehabilitated.

the career criminal, the habitual offender, the member of criminal syndicates, they are the ones who have little chance of redemption, these are the true scum of the earth, and these are the people society would genuinely be better without.

we kill murders out of a sense of vengence inspired justice, but if we really look at who do the most damage to the fabric of society we would see that it is the habitual offender who often commits hundreds of crimes for each one he is convicted of.

i'm not saying we should set murders free, and certainly multiple murderers and murderer who killed in pursuit of a career of other crime should be excluded. also many young property criminals can be shown the error of their ways, but there is a reason in older societies even up until the turn of the 20th century often treated the thief and the robber as harshly or more so than the crime of passion murderer.

I really don't believe in taking another human's life as punishment - it's too vengeful for my tastes.

"An eye for an eye will make the world blind"
-Gandhi

Agreed, Superpower. Also how can the state possibly condemn the taking of human life when the state itself takes human lives?

Talk about hypocritical.

"in the land of the blind, a one eyed man is...

likely to get his eye poked out by an angry mob, if he brags to his neighbors"


- me(okay sorta stolen from roger zelazny's creatures of light and darkness)

Why do people commit crime?

Hmm...we lump the drug addict with the man who drunkenly killed his girlfriend with the gang member who stole a car.

All three, vastly different people, with different outlooks on life and views on what they did.

Yet we send em all to the slammer with nary a second thought.


Maybe we ought to look at the purpose of jail again.

A) Deterrence

B) Vengeance

C) Isolation

D) Rehabilitation


That may give us the best answers to dealing with these issues.

I really don't believe in taking another human's life as punishment - it's too vengeful for my tastes.

"An eye for an eye will make the world blind"
-Gandhi

I agree...up to a point. I dislike the death penalty because it's not cruel enough. I mean, a painless(or quick painful death) is far too easy a solution. Better to take away their freedom and cage them like animals for the rest of their lives.

Of course, I can think of even worse... *cackles wickedly* ...but if you ask me, Life can be far crueler than Death. *nod*

Agreed, Superpower. Also how can the state possibly condemn the taking of human life when the state itself takes human lives?

Talk about hypocritical.

a state at its most elemental is a monopoly of the legitimate use of violence.

I agree...up to a point. I dislike the death penalty because it's not cruel enough. I mean, a painless(or quick painful death) is far too easy a solution. Better to take away their freedom and cage them like animals for the rest of their lives.

Of course, I can think of even worse... *cackles wickedly* ...but if you ask me, Life can be far crueler than Death. *nod*

Sure, pile them in naked human pyramids, attach electrodes to their genitals, pull them along on leashes, that's the way! :D

Why don't we just torture them all to death!!! :D

YES! Rip out their fingernails and make them eat their own shit! :D

Unless there is absolute, undeniable proof that a prisoner commited the crime for which they are being charged, how could the death penalty be a good idea?

The death penalty isn't used for all murderers it is used for those that did terrible murders like multiple or those that killed cops, torture. U know, the works. Who do you want to kill? Robbers? Arsenists?

Nationalist Valhalla I would imagine that as your nation has quite a white supremacist style name that you would be happy with the demographic of execution victims in the US. After all, they are mostly black aren't they?

Nationalist Valhalla I would imagine that as your nation has quite a white supremacist style name that you would be happy with the demographic of execution victims in the US. After all, they are mostly black aren't they?
Valhalla is the Viking afterlife, if I'm not mistaking. Unless i'm totally wrong, I think that was a bit uncalled for. I don't see anything white supremecist about it.

The death penalty isn't used for all murderers it is used for those that did terrible murders like multiple or those that killed cops, torture. U know, the works. Who do you want to kill? Robbers? Arsenists?


Maybe we should first stop to think WHY we're killing criminals. :confused:

I think that we should have the death penalty, and we are killing the right criminals. Murderers took another person's life, so it's only fair that we should do the just thing and take their life. We consider the gang members the scum of the earth just because some of them are really stupid, and they speak their minds, so we can see their actual personality. A lot of murderers are normally more intelligent, and they are smart enough to hide their real personality. The other thing is, is that you think they will stop, but why would they, cause they get to play God. Of course some people would stop but we wouldn't know who would, so we should just kill all of them.

My other point is that we should go back to firing squads and hangings, cause they cost less. The government has to get the money for lethal injections and the electric chair from our taxes, but they could use that money in a more useful place. Why do we even care about how the criminals died, cause in the end, dead is dead. It doesen't matter how we get there.

I think that we should have the death penalty, and we are killing the right criminals. Murderers took another person's life, so it's only fair that we should do the just thing and take their life. We consider the gang members the scum of the earth just because some of them are really stupid, and they speak their minds, so we can see their actual personality. A lot of murderers are normally more intelligent, and they are smart enough to hide their real personality. The other thing is, is that you think they will stop, but why would they, cause they get to play God. Of course some people would stop but we wouldn't know who would, so we should just kill all of them.

My other point is that we should go back to firing squads and hangings, cause they cost less. The government has to get the money from lethal injections and the electric chair from our taxes, but they could use that money in a more useful place. Why do we even care about how the criminals died, cause in the end, dead is dead. It doesen't matter how we get there.


At first, I thought you were mocking the death penalty...you've only made a mockery of yourself.

The death penalty isn't used for all murderers it is used for those that did terrible murders like multiple or those that killed cops, torture.


Explain to me why killing a cop is any worse than killing someone with a different job, would you?

Valhalla is the Viking afterlife, if I'm not mistaking. Unless i'm totally wrong, I think that was a bit uncalled for. I don't see anything white supremecist about it.
well actually this puppet is supposed to be sort of a moderate white supremacist/national socialist. actually you really can play an extreme one without getting deleted, for racial slurs if nothing else.

Nationalist Valhalla I would imagine that as your nation has quite a white supremacist style name that you would be happy with the demographic of execution victims in the US. After all, they are mostly black aren't they?

actually ridding the world of the scum of the white race is probably more important for a white supremacist than the scum of other races. after all we are interesting in preserving and strengthening out race. ridding others of their trash is only in our interest in so much as they threaten whites. black on black violence is for the leaders of the black race to deal with... ect...

black on black violence is for the leaders of the black race to deal with... ect...

Do the black race, qua black race, actually have leaders, and are they necessarilly members of the black race themselves?

The only death penalty I will ever support is the sort carried out by the would-be victim, on the would-be killer, at the time of the would-be crime.

Do the black race, qua black race, actually have leaders, and are they necessarilly members of the black race themselves?

well of course they are often high yellows and such, but sure the black race have leaders.

The only death penalty I will ever support is the sort carried out by the would-be victim, on the would-be killer, at the time of the would-be crime.

Self defense, the only justifiable form of violence.

Explain to me why killing a cop is any worse than killing someone with a different job, would you?
Not that I agree with the reasoning, but supposedly police represent a good force in society and someone who is willing to kill a police officer is more of a threat to the citizenry than someone who isn't.

As a note the US does not limit the death penalty to murderers as far as the law is concerned (I don't know of anyone given the death penaty without at least conspiring to kill someone, but the penalty is availible), major drug dealers can get the death penalty without killing anyone, not mention espionage and treason carrying the death penalty without reguring murder. Note that several crimes can pull in the death penalty even if no one actually dies, if killing someone was the intent.