If we are going to hang people for stealing a few tools then maybe we should also hang people who consistently lead them into temptation.

That is as stupid as anything I have heard in my 71 years. No need to respond. This is really enough stupid for one day.

I think the death penalty needs to be less buried in bureaucracy and ritual. If we are going to kill someone lets make it raw and quick. A guillotine or bullet to the back of the head. The cost I feel is all about pretending its not what it is.

@Quarm I'm saying the exact opposite:
If we decided to put someone to death, we'd have to know for sure the intracacies of the case. Were there good reasons why the crime was committed? Was there an underlying mental illness? Perhaps it was done in the blind rage of temporary passion? Did the perp's upbringing come into plsy?
OR was it done with premeditated calculation, the criminal knowing it's wrongfulness and doing it anyway, purely for self-serving purposes without regard for the rights of others? Did this wrongdoer see himself (or herself) as more important than everybody else, and thus free to do, well, anything, whatever the consequences for those of less importance?
All kinds of considerations are to be studied.
So to just to put someone to death quickly, to disguise the immorality of putting someone to death at all, defeats the purpose: to do justice.
Of course, if the consensus is, it is inherently immoral, then it shouldn't be done at all.
Your sarcasm is unbecoming.

@Storm1752 I was refering to what we do after all due diligence to prove guilt has been established. Once we are sure the killing is just it should be brutal and quick. Someone who chooses to be an executioner should have the conviction and certainty that what he is doing is just. It should not be buried under layers of illusion attempting to shield us from what it is. Immoral? Of course it is. Its horrific. Killing should never be considered moral or right. At its best it is necessary for the safety of us. But it still is not a good thing or something that should ever be seen as routine or easy.

@Quarm A good, reasonable answer BUT if it's immoral, it shouldn't be done. Defending ourselves IS moral. I'm for giving the criminal a yummy feast laced with a tasteless, fast-acting poison.

@Storm1752 I agree in theory but then I think if progress is to be made in human conflict resolution we must face the subjective nature of morality. In war we commit mass murder quite often of civilians and call them causalities or acceptable losses. Irrelevant to the cause of the war or justification there are always innocent victims who if we are honest are murder victims. The firebombing of Tokyo and similar events were nothing less then atrocities and yet we consider WWII a clean war. (Not you specifically but that is its portrayal I think in popular lore.) My point is immorality of some kind is intrinsic to human action and the best thing we can do is mitigate it as much as possible, be honest about it and never bury it in sanitized language or ritual. We must face our demons or they will grow in the dark and in time destroy us.

@Quarm I happen to think a lot of immoral things happen in war. Hiroshima anf Nagasaki were immoral. Carpetbombing Dresden and other German cities was. Lots of things.What does thst have to do with the death penalty? Nothing.

I failed to see what good killing anyone would do?

No, in my opinion killing the criminal is far far too easy and kind, they SHOULD be made to endure imprisonment for the Term of their Natural Life with NO chance/hope of Parole or Early Release on Good Behaviour Grounds what-so-ever.

Too many people wrongly convicted. Once they are dead, there is no hope to correct the error. We are the only western culture who still has the death penalty. The death penalty must go.

So no nuance, no consideration for mental derangement, because of physical abnormalities or, say, a cruel upbringing?

@Storm1752 I just feel like some ppl are so not deserving of life and there is no rehabilitating ppl like that

@Triphid only problem is we the tax payers have to suffer, they don’t deserve to eat or breathe anymore!

@sandrarocks83 Why not 'install' them on some very remote island, particularly one where sharks congregate ALL the time, give them very basic of needs then merely let them fend for themselves.
If it were up to me I'd happily put them on the Bikini Atoll where the U.S. did ever so many Nuclear Bomb Tests. No necessity for Prison Cells, wardens, high walls, etc, there and eventually, IF the radiation doesn't kill them ever so slowly and most agonizingly, then ONLY the strongest of them will live out his/her sentence in the end.

That is nonsense

Even if true what right does the state have to kill? As by your own admission these people are acting under The compulsions of a damaged brain.

@chazwin As i have written elsewhere, too many innocent people are falsely imprisoned. Hence, no executions.
I also think every inmate should be required to work. And lots of requirements, in anticipation of life on the outside.

@Amisja I have noticed that you do not research before you spew. What I posted above is based in studies, of inmates in the US and canada, made over decades.
I am 66 years. I learn something new everyday. But on agnostic i do not post anything that i have not researched to find multiple sources, and opposing views.
Psychopathy is a brain mutation that eliminates empathy from the person's emotional responses and understandings. At this time, this cannot be changed.
To learn more about psychopathy/sociopathy, start with Doctor Hare's seminal work, "The psyoohpaths among us."

@Jacar There are serious problems with making inmates work. Both America and China use inmates as a cheap source of Labour and this has the effect of wrecking the economic prospects of the poorest in society by taking jobs from them and lowering wages on the outsife. Additionally cases have come to light cartridges are the beneficiaries of companies that uses h Labour and have a tendency to give too long sentences or convict on slight evidence. In China the prisons are filled for that reason. In the USA though thought wrong the practice is !it's common than you would imagine.

@Jacar Why make a personal attack? What do you think I do for a living?

@Amisja Not a personal attack. Just a comment about how often you respond with a few negative words. As above. Which could be construed as a personal attack on me.

@Amisja, @chazwin Letting people do nothing is not good for them, mentally and physically.
This is bad for them and for us. I have details about how this can be reasonably accomplished.

@Jacar Tell that to the priest

@Jacar You make a big mistake thinking you are older and therefore smarter than others.

Evil is a medieval religious concept with no place in the modern world. Some people think that those that believe such nonsense do not deserve to be listened to.

@chazwin "Evil" is in the behavior of those who inflict harm upon others without regret, nor remorse.

@Jacar Thank you mr. Dictionary. No evil is a religious concept, and meaningless to atheists.

But, would that not be the cost of living in a civilized society? Keeping them away from others for safety?

@Freedompath No, not to me.

@wordywalt ok, then you can wall yourself off!

@Freedompath I have a right to my reasoned perspective, as do you. I am not walling myself off, and I will not be walled off my anyone else.

@wordywalt ok..,I never attacked your opinion...I just pointed out another alternative if you feel threatened!

@Freedompath I do not feel threatened. I am just asserting that I am not walling myself off and, as you seem to assert.

@wordywalt I re-looked up the words ‘assert,’ ...verb, ‘declare’... and alternative ...adjective, ‘offering a choice’...I meant the word ‘alternative,’...I took our exchange of ideas, as just that, you do what fits you...making suggestions means to me...that we can take them or leave them!

@Freedompath okay. No need for an argument.

@wordywalt sometimes, we need arguments to clear up things! It just needs to be up-front and rational.

I think a " psychopath is by definition mentally deranged. But maybe we should kill him anyway? An interesting question might be, are there SOME psychopaths aware of their mental state and REFRAIN from criminal acts deliberately, knowing their moral compass is broken?

@Storm1752 A psychopath knows the difference between right and wrong, but does not care. All that matters to him or her is what he or she wants. A psychopath is NOT psychotic.

I think this solution sounds good. However, knowing our judges, I'm afraid that many innocent people will be convicted just to harvest the organs.