Gig Harbor AP Language reads Dead Man Walking discussion
Period 4: Chapters 4 and 5: Question 1
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Well, I'm against the death penalty so I wouldn't think it was a just punishment, not just because it was a loved one of mine. I feel like the death penalty is just an easy way out because if they're sentenced to life in prison they have to live with what they did for the rest of their lives. When they're executed, another life is just lost and that does not solve a thing.
If a close friend or family member of mine was executed to the death penalty I could never see that as a just punishment. I could only see that as something cruel. Death should never be seen as just. I would not see the death penatly as cruel just because someone I loved was punished by it but instead because another life has just been lost. What did that solve? Did that give the victims fmaily closure? No, revenge can never solve any problem but instead will only give you more grief. Factors that contribute to my decision is my religion and also what I believe justice really is.
In some sense, it would be hard to find it to be just; simply because the person is very close to me. However, I believe in the eye-for-an-eye rule. Therefore, I could only find it just if a close family member or friend of mine had killed someone. But then from that arises another factor, was this killing accidental? I would never be able to find it just if my friend or family member was executed for accidentally hitting someone who jumped in front of their car, while going the speed limit and sober because they cannot control that. They can, however, control premeditated murder. Which means they thought about killing someone, had the intention to end that person's life, and followed through with it. Therefore, the only way I would be able to find it just is if the crime was premeditated murder. Thus achieving an eye-for-an-eye.
As one who is not really scared of death, I find it hard to see the death penalty as a punishment in general. It being a family member or friend, I don't think I could see it as a fair punishment/alternative to life, just because they are close and I value them more than unknown people. Obviously being so close creates a bias, but that's life.Generally I am OKAY with the death penalty, with many exceptions. Personally I think it is much smarter for the government to kill dangerous criminals rather than use millions of tax payer money to secure them. Other times, I think it's unnecessary because life in prison seems ten times more punishment than being killed.
We always refer to killing animals as "putting them out of their misery". Why is it not that way for humans (especially if you do not believe in heaven/hell)? I really do not consider death a punishment.
So there are really two criteria for deciding whether or not to kill a murderer: Is it for getting rid of them and keeping society safe? OR is it for punishment?
If it is for keeping society safe, I am for it, if it's punishment, I am against it because of my belief that death is not punishment.
In the case of it being a friend or family member, almost anyone would be automatically against it, because they are close to the person, and don't want to lose them. Asking if it is just if it is your friend or family is like asking if it's fair to get a friend out of timeout because he's your friend.
When the person being killed is friend or family, you will feel it as unjust, but that comes with being close to them, and does not mean that the death penalty is unjust for the rest of the community/legal system.
probably a little repetitive... but it IS a very complicated subject.
I find the irony of the last sentence of your post and the fact that you somehow accidentally triple-posted hilarious. Ha ha.
ahha oops. that was cuz i did it at school on a laptop and the reception was shaky.
For me, it would be really hard to see a family member or close friend executed because of the death penalty simply because they would be really dear to my heart. I don't think I could call it a just punishment because I know that my emotions would get in the way. No matter how harsh of a crime they would have committed, I just don't think that I could watch them die. If the roles were reveresed however, and someone had killed a person close to me then I would see the death penalty as a just punishment. I'm undecided on whether or not I think it's a just punishment.
No, I would not be able to see it as a just punishment, regardless if it was a close friend or a complete stranger. I believe that the death penalty is almost always wrong. The only case where it wouldn't be would be if the society did not have the means to protect its citizens any other way, or if a person's imprisonment was leading others to hurt society outside of prison. In the United States, though the justice system may be flawed, we do have the means to protect society effectively through imprisonment. So I believe it is almost always wrong in the US.Furthermore, I do not believe in revenge or "an eye for an eye", so in my opinion, capital punishment is just a discarded life and is not actually a solution to a problem. I know I would have a hard time feeling better after someone was executed who may have hurt me personally, despite my pain. In fact, I would probably feel worse.
I would not be able to see the death penalty as a just punishment regardless of whether if was a close family or friend or just another inmate. I would surely feel more likely to act upon my opinion however, if it was a close family member or friend who was being sentenced to death. Not only do I think this is a cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional, but I also think there is no gain by executing people. It doesn't deter crime any more than life sentences do, it costs more money, and most importantly, the racial and socio-economic bias runs high in a capital case. Killing an inmate doesn't solve anything - it just creates a perpetual cycle of violence. The death penalty is not the answer in any case, whether it be a close friend or family member, or a complete stranger.
I would not be able to see it is a just penalty, especially since it is a close family member. Like Susan said whether or not it is a close friend or a complete stranger, it still is cruel and unusual punishment. It really doesn't solve anything. All it does is cause another unnecessary death.
The only way I could see the death penalty being just, when concerning a family member, is if they truly did something horrible. I will not condone essentially "bad behavior" whether it is family or not. However, it would be completley devastating! When reading this book I am constantly thinking how lucky I am that this kind of situation has not effected my life.I think my main reason for feeling this way is becuase many families have lost people to the death penalty and I wouldn't want any different treatment than they were given. I don't think the death penalty is fair or sometimes even completely sane, but unfortunately it is a part of our country. The only way I could see the death penalty being just on a family member is if they truly did something worth being killed for. (Wow, I never thought I would say that...)
Even if they did something "horrible" as Lizzie stated, I still believe that the death penalty is completly unjust-even if the crime is heinous. To me, it doesn't matter who the person is, whether it may be another Adolf Hitler, or my Grandma. I believe that it is not our right to kill another-why should the government, or anyone else for that matter, be the person who decides who lives and who dies? It shouldn't. 
Remember that you have to answer 2 questions for credit for our lesson in addition to the responses required by Mrs. Gilbert.