fatbrit

I'd rather wank over a picture of a latex-clad nun. Harms nobody, provides plenty of personal satisfaction

ImHere

Actually i was talking metaphorically as in the collective public satisfaction not the satisfaction of individuals watching the event...but whatever floats yer boat as they say

snowbunny

You don't actually get to watch unless you're a witness. Personally, I think everyone who mandates the death penalty ought to be made to watch an execution to see if they would still favour it.

However, with the appetite for watching death (eg the beheading of hostages) on the rise, surveys have shown that people would pay good money to watch an execution.

As to the legal question -- lawyers would simply abandon criminal law. The US justice system is heavily biased towards the party with the most money for legal fees and other positive propaganda (think OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson). In a death penalty case, the money is completely on the government, and many district attorneys run their campaigns based on number or rate of death sentences they've managed to attain. Add in the fact that the Fifth Circuit US Appeals court upheld the death sentence of a man whose court-appointed attorney *slept in court* ..... how much faith do you have that any sentence handed out by the current system is going to be accurate and fair?

ImHere

As I said above, I was talking metaphorically about watching.....

And I think everyone should have to know whats it like to have to tell parents their child has been killed by some scumbag......like I have.

anotherlimey

No one should watch an execution unless they are a required witness. Otherwise we'll end up with pay-per-view executions on Showtime; we would have gone full circle back to medieval times.

-tom

Rete

I'm for it and I will sit or stand and watch the execution if required and allowed.

For example, you want people like these to continue to live?

Chris Simmons was 17 in 1993 when he and a friend were robbing a St. Louis home and the 46 yo victim woke up and recognized them. The two tied up the woman,drove her to a bridge and threw her off

or

Mauro Barrazza who at 17 killed a 73 yo woman in 1989 by attacking her with hedge clipper and stomping on her. Then had sex with her dead body.

or

Kevin Hughes who at 16 kidnapped a 9 yo girl, rapped and strangled her.

Where is the justice for the lives these people lost. For their families who loved them who must live day in and day out knowing the pain and suffering that their beloved family member had to endure before finally dying. Why should their killers be allowed to live with relatively safe and secured lives at our expense? They are given shelter, food, clothing, a monthly allowance, recreational time, medical and dental care while their victims' families live with the mental anguish in the knowledge of the way their loved one died.
You really think people like this deserve to live. That they can be rehabilitated? I don't and I will gladly be there to watch them executed for their crimes.

A teenager knows right from wrong. The magic age of 18 does not automatically give them a conscience and morality.

snowbunny

Discussing whether to give anyone the death penalty probably belongs in "Take It Outside."

With regards to people under 18: I do support a unified majority age. "Children" of 16 must pay taxes on their earned income (eg parents didn't invest for them) and can drive solo and they can get hunting licences. At 17, with parental approval, they can marry and join the armed forces.

But they must wait til 18 to vote, and 21 to drink!

Surely if a 16-year-old must pay taxes, can work jobs with some responsibilty, and can be sentenced to death, s/he has both the right and the judgement to vote! We did have a bill introduced in Texas to allow 14-year-olds to vote. It went nowhere, but I agreed with it based upon these principles.

I cannot imagine losing a child, or pretend to know how I'd feel towards a killer if my child were murdered. I am sorry that you have had to deliver that worst of news. It is every parent's nightmare.