I can argue either way, though i would vastly prefer pro... Anyone want to argue against me?

Anyone?

The death penalty sucks goat balls.

The death penalty is barbaric and yet another black mark against the divided states of hypocracy.

Why should we care for a savage that kills fellow man? Why should we be labeled as savages when we protect our people by ridding the world of sick freaks that kill others with no reason?

Because a wrongfully-implemented death sentence cannot be taken back.

Then find a way to fix the courts so there is no wrongful death sentences.

Besides which, it is nothing more than an arrogants and bloodlust that drives a nation to believe it not only has the right to take life arbitrarily, but to take a righteous attitude to it as well. It is truely sickening.

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Because a wrongfully-implemented death sentence cannot be taken back.

You can't give back years spent in prison either. The justice system isn't perfect. You attack the short-commings that allow innocents to be convicted rather than give the guilty (and a few innocents) light punishment and as a result encourage crime.

Raider, capital punishment hasn't been proven to be a deterrant. Likewise, the lack of capital punishment hasn't been proven to be a stimulant, either.

The difference between years and prison and death should be obvious if the convicted person is found innocent.


[edit: Likewise, the lack of capital punishment hasn't been proven to be a stimulant of crime, either.]

Capital punishment sucks monkey balls. Its a pathetic and abhorant manifestation of pointless revenge and bloodlust. A man locked up for life can do just as much damage as a dead person, but a man locked up for life can also produce something for what he took away, and if found innocent, can be given his life back....

There we go, all you death sentence fans can burn in hell

acow, if the justice system (any justice system) were truly just, would you agree with the death penalty?

Or is it the idea of retribution that you find morally uneasy?

I disagree with the deathpenalty. I don't want to give the government the power of life and death more than I have to.

I'm sure the cons are many more, but at least here are a few:

1) You can't refund a victim (you can let prisoners go and give at least something back, but you can't revive an executee)
2) Humans have a right to life. If committing a crime can bereave a man of that right, so can a lot of other things.
3) Capital punishment is more often about revenge than justice or concern.
4) It doesn't work as a deterrent.
5) It seems to target only the poor.

Also the death penalty currently costs tax payers more than a life sentence. Another strike against it.

Well, I personally refuse to consider finance in matters of life and death, but whatever floats yer boat

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acow, if the justice system (any justice system) were truly just, would you agree with the death penalty?

Personally i think the idea of a "truly just" justice system is a bit of a misnomer and/or impossibility, but no i wouldn't. There is no reason to kill someone after the crime has already been committed and he has been captured.

Revenge i view as an archaic, primitive, and invalid train of thought. And revenge is the only working "rational" reason for a death penalty.

acow, then we're agreed. I just wanted at what seemed your real motivation.