I’m fine with the parkland shooter not getting death. I’m against death penalty in general for one, and that kid had a super fucked up life. Obviously you can point to racial disparities in the use of the death penalty and be right, but I still think the right thing happened in this specific case.
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Yeah, fuck the death penalty. I mean, sure, of all people, one could argue this person deserves it (and there’s no question that he was the murderer), but it’s a barbaric practice. Plus, even if I was cool with putting him to death, I’d rather let him live than take the risk that an innocent person is executed elsewhere.
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I understand the impulse from people that want someone like the Parkland shooter killed, but if I ask myself the simple but tough question “What would killing this person achieve?” it’s pretty hard to rationally support the death penalty. The “best” answer I’ve ever heard is that killing Very Bad People at least saves the state the cost of housing them for life in prison, but even that cold calculus breaks down on inspection because it turns out the inevitable repeated appeals in capital punishment cases costs the state even more than throwing them in a cell and waiting.
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“The death penalty is revenge, not justice.”
I agree with this.
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Tbf zero judgment from me on the parents of victims pissed off this kid won’t be murdered.
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Not to mention he’ll be living the rest of his life in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections knowing the only way out is in a pine box. It sounds more punishing than the death penalty. In addition to the violence, the dehumanization and the isolation there isn’t even air conditioning. Anyone who has experienced the oppressiveness of a Florida Summer knows going without AC can be a fate worse than death.
That’s a flaw in the appeals process. There shouldn’t be endless appeals in cases as obvious as this where the defense just keeps throwing things at the wall to see if something will stick.
Another reason to execute people like him is to make sure they absolutely never get to kill again (cf. Ted Bundy or Winston Moseley).
I also do not find it barbaric at all. If life is really so precious then killing a lot of people in cold-blood justifies even extreme penalties like death. It shows that we absolutely do not tolerate mass murderers in our midst.
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It doesn’t deter anyone though so not sure what the point of showing that is.
It didn’t say it would deter anyone but it has strong symbolic value, especially to the grieving relatives and friends. We, as a society, show them that what happened to their loved one was a heinous act that deserves the maximum possible penalty.
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Saw like 10 new posts in the last hour and thought for sure there was some kind of new 8+ dead shooting.
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I think your position is reasonable, I just don’t personally find it compelling. Like the risks of someone like the Parkland shooter being able to kill again after being put in prison for life reads to me instinctively as a pretty small risk. Ditto on the deterrent effect - is there evidence that death penalties deter murderers? I am not aware of any but I admittedly am not an expert.
On the other hand the costs of capital punishment feel crystal clear to me. For example, a legal system that permits the death penalty will eventually kill someone that was wrongly convicted, and there’s no going back on that.
Obviously there are arguments on both sides and I don’t think someone is nuts or a bad person for supporting some version of capital punishment. But it’s not for me.
There probably was.
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This is reasonable, but it’s also just kind of polite ways of saying “revenge”.
I am okay with calling it revenge.
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Don’t worry, in USA #1 there probably has been a recent 8+ dead shooting.
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I’m sure there is if you look enough. Not too many days go bumy without a mass shooting.
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That would be like one post max.
I’m anti-death penalty in general, but I absolutely think certain people deserve to die for their crimes. So I’m perfectly fine giving this guy death even though I would be in favor of a total ban.
Anti due to the mistakes, not for any other moral reason. If there is zero and I mean zero doubt they did it then ok. I’d also give anybody serving life wo parole the option to off themselves after say 10 years and they have to affirm 2-3 years in a row before getting the ok.
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Mistakes and in practice is it applied unfairly. Also the appeals process is so costly it may be cheaper to put someone in prison for life (I think I read this a while ago, but not 100% sure it’s true).
I’m also for this. In that spot, I’d likely choose death.
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