Nathan Pralle

Nathan Pralle - www.nathanpralle.com

Kickass Phone Rates from 3U

PLACES TO GO:

Back to Beliefs

The Death Penalty

A method of ultimate punishment that is no longer effective. I, personally, believe in the power of the State to bring punishment upon its citizens, including death. This is a State power, an organized mandate from the masses (and hence excludes me from vigilantism or such). There are three reasons why I feel that it should be stopped:

I believe that if you cannot do it yourself, you should not support it. I could not pull the trigger/give the injection/pull the lever/etc, so I believe that I should not support such a penalty. Now, a lot of people might say, "Well, I could never be a doctor, but I support them." That's an invalid argument, as there is a big difference between ability and will. I do not have the ability to be a doctor, but if I could, I would. On the other hand, I have the ability to execute a person, but don't have the will to do so. Hence, if I am not willing and able to effect the punishment myself, then I should not support it.
With the death penalty, there's no chance of changing your mind. True, with lifelong imprisonment, you don't have the ability to give back the years that were spent in the jail to the person wrongly accused, but at least you can give them back as much life as you are able. With the death penalty, they're gone, and that's it. If you find out a year later that you were wrong, you can't take it back.
I believe the dealth penalty as currently implemented in the United States is ineffective and pointless, so it might as well be stopped.

First of all, the legal process is too drawn out. It distances the act of the crime from the punishment of the perpetrator. As many people know, it does no good to try and hit a dog two days after he has dug up the flower garden...the dog will not associate the punishment with the crime. Likewise, the psychosocial human being cannot associate the punishment with the crime if it is years after; the punishment becomes more pointless as time drags on.

Secondly, the actual punishment is so benign as to be sterile. In the past, death was brought about by violent and sudden means -- beheadings, hangings, firing squads, draw-and-quarter, burning at the stake, and so forth. What do we have now? They strap the person to a gurney and give them drugs till they fall asleep and their heart stops. Many a potential criminal, I suspect, looks at that procedure and decides, "Well, if I have to go, that's not so bad." It isn't a deterrent unless the person is scared of it. Having your body scored into quarters by a sharp knife and then torn limb-from-limb by horses right in the middle of the town square is a bit scarier than getting an overdose of narcotics.

I hear you naysayers out there: "How barbaric!" Wait. You're talking about killing people for crimes. You're already performing an act that is considered barbaric, so you might as well make it effective. Otherwise, outlaw the whole business instead of this pointless fascade.

You want effective punishment? How about locking a murder up in a cell for life, while 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year a video of the family and friends of the victim crying and mourning plays over and over on a TV in his cell with full sound. If that isn't punishment, I don't know what is.