Death penalty... Part 2

[killler 2]

http://news.yahoo.com/mississippi-man-executed-killing-four-children-001530364.html

killler....

[normiss 897]

Fail.

Insufficient answer options.

[Shotgun 1]

Actually, even though guilt may have been clearly established in this case, this story brings up another argument against the death penalty: when the victims or victims' families are against it. In this case, the murderer was a part of the family, the surviving victims had forgiven him, and they did not want him executed. So now we've further traumatized the victims by killing yet another member of their family.

Of course, that could be argued the other way as well: cases where the victims or victims' families want the death penalty, but can't have it.

Though for some reason I am slightly more swayed by the first argument than the second. (Err on the side of life?) And also I'm not really sure if the victims should have any say in what the punishment should be anyway.

[rehmwa 2]

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Of course, that could be argued the other way as well: cases where the victims or victims' families want the death penalty, but can't have it.

Exactly - you can't have it one way or the other

the victim's and victim's families should not have a say in punishment at all in terms of law, nor should the affect on the victims (or any other stranger defined any way other than all of society) be a concern in terms of applying justice. they would not be objective in terms of protection of society. Criminals should be punished based on their actions, not to placate the victims or any definition of victim.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[killler 2]

The death penalty is not and should not be based on what the victim wants.... The death penalty is there for a judge and jury to deal with the very worst, evil killers... People so sick that the jury feels that the only thing to do is remove their life....

Killler...

[Shotgun 1]

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The death penalty is not and should not be based on what the victim wants....

I don't know about "is not," but I tend to agree with "should not."

In the case I was on, during the penalty phase, they brought the victim's family out to testify about what a great person the victim was. And they made it pretty clear that the victim's family wanted the death penalty. So the family was definitely given the chance to influence the jury and have a say in what the punishment should be.

I was somewhat annoyed by this aspect of the trial. For one thing, the defendant did not even know the person who he killed, so I didn't see how it made any difference if the victim was an upstanding citizen or a homeless alcoholic. The crime that the defendant had committed did not change either way. But I also didn't find it appropriate for the family to be trying to sway us towards the death penalty; we weren't there for the purpose of getting revenge for the family.

And actually, the story you posted is a pretty good example of the death penalty not being used for revenge.