Hellobee Boards

No, I don't support it in any case. I would love to see it abolished.

I don't support it at all.

The death penalty bothers me, but in this case I am not disappointed in that being his sentence.

State sanctioned murder does not sit right with me. I would have a very hard time as a jurist voting for death. However, I feel absolutely nothing for this murderer.

I don't have strong feelings either way honestly. This is the kind of case that I lean toward supporting it.

I don't support it, partly because by justifying killing I'll be living in the same worldview as Dylann Roof, and I want better than that!

@mrbee: no, i don't. not in principle and certainly not in practice.

Good question. I am against it in theory and in practice, but I'm not upset about his sentence.

@Mrs. Cotton Candy: Wouldn't it cost more to keep him in prison for the rest of his life? I'm sure appeals are expensive, but he could live 70 more years, right? I have mixed feelings about the death penalty, I was just surprised by your comment.

I’m against the death penalty because of the way the justice system applies it unevenly to poor and minority individuals and because more than 150 people have been exonerated while on death row just in the last 40 years. That is straight up fucked up and unconscionable.

In the abstract I don’t have a moral issue with the death penalty in extreme clear-cut cases like this, but since that doesn’t work in reality, I think all states (and the federal government) should end the practice.

In this case specifically, I don’t care whether he lives or dies and I hope everyone forgets about him and his small mind and small heart. I also think this (i.e., death) is what he wants, and just for that alone I think we shouldn’t give it to him.

@oscarthegoon: Yeah, it definitely seems like it should be the opposite, but it's not.

I also think he should waste away in prison, particularly as he would rather be put to death.

I am 100 percent against the death penalty. It does not save any money, not that I think it's appropriate to place a monetary value on human lives, however depraved they are... It has not been proven to be an effective crime deterrent...Way too many people are eventually released from death row after they're discovered to be innocent. Though really one is too many. We've certainly executed innocent people, there is no way around that....All that aside, a moral and developed society should not be in the business of taking lives.

Also, some good reading on criminal justice issues if you're interested -- the New Yorker article on Cameron Todd Willingham (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/07/trial-by-fire) and the book Just Mercy. There's obviously a lot more, but those in particular have been interesting to me.

ETA: Ok, one more, this is also very interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/can-forgiveness-play-a-role-in-criminal-justice.html