>>> Yes, they would. They consider capital punishment inhumane. As does every other civilized country on the planet AFAIK apart from our own. Like it or not, we are perceived as barbarians for this reason alone in many parts of the world.
>>>
>>>I look at it this way - the fact that I've never killed my idiot neighbors is proof enough that the death penalty deters. <s>
>>>
>>>In some cases, I value how other civilized nations perceive us....but not when it comes to the death penalty. IMO, some of these perceptions are because other countries that also use the death penalty have stricter and more harsh governments - and so there's some guilt-by-assocation going on.
>>>
>>>When someone commits pre-meditated murder, they are acting out on their complete disregard for a human life...be it Hussein, or the guy who walked into a mini-mart here in Allentown a little while back and shot a clerk to death. Those who kill in this fashion effectively surrender their right to life, and should be put to death.
>>>
>>>I'm not totally opposed to life in a cell, but there are two problems. First, some escape. Second, some kill while in prison, either other prisoners or people who work in prisons.
>>>
>>>I am not joking when I say that we've gone backwards by trying to make the process as 'painless' as possible. Personally, I think a few hangings in this country might be a good idea. So if someone from another country tells me that our death penalty is barbaric, I'll look them in the eye and say, 'damn right it is...as well it should be'. Punishment for taking a life shouldn't be pretty.
>>>
>>>Kevin
>>
>>Kevin
>>
>>Just out of interest, there's the debate in the US about, what is it - "cruel and unusual" punishment, and recently I think an execution (was it in CA?) was stopped because lethal injection was perceived to be too slow and caused suffering to the executee. The US has tried the electric chair (horror of the condemned sizzling and jerking too long while still alive), gas chamber (choking too long - suffering), and lethal injection. Why not go back to hanging - a quick drop, snap neck - ende?
>>
>>I must say I'm ambivalent about capital punishment. When I hear of some of the attrocities, esp. perpetrated against children, I rage that hanging's too good for them, and they should get the same treatment as meted out to there victims. But I'd only advocate death when there's absolutely no doubt that they did it (e.g. someone seen committing the murder, totally irrefutable proof, etc.). Crimes of passion, or examples where a battered wife, say, cold-bloodedly offs her husband who's been systematically brutalising, torturing her for years, should be treated differently, and I'm not even necessarily saying that such examples should be punished at all. I don't know - they'd have to present each case individually to me to decide (in my own morality) which deserved topping and which not, but that's just MY opinion, just as it would be up to a judge's personal opinions what to do.
>>
>>It's such a tricky subject; what do you do to, say, a crack addict who kills to get money for his next fix? Is he in control of his own actions or is the cold turkey? How do you discern whether someone's nutsoid (and so not held culpable for his actions) or "inherently evil"? If proved evil, can he help it, as, like the scorpion, it's "in my nature"? Just as you can't blame a grizzly bear for ripping your chest out to get at your "pickernick basket". i.e. has he got the sociopathic gene?
>>
>>The more I think of it the more it confuses me.
>>
>
>Here in Illinois there were so many cases where someone was sentenced to death -- and in many cases executed -- and it turned out later, from DNA evidence or the confession of another, that the governor put a moratorium on executions.

Well here's an example of my "totally irrefutable proof" only the opposite: I'd say DNA evo could prove the perp culpable, then leave his "epithelials" on the inside of the noose.

>Overzealous prosecutors who clearly cared more about their conviction records than guilt or innocence were a big part of the problem. So Gov. Ryan, who in most regards was a typically sleazy Illinois pol, said we're not going to do this any more unless we can get this situation straightened out. The moratorium has been in effect for several years now.