Teresa Lewis

If someone is crazy enough to actually consider hiring someone to off someone, I doubt a newspaper headline is going to really deter them all that much.

lol, ya think

Does anybody think that the threat of punishment (through our justice system) up to and including death for a crime you might commit is.....NOT a deterrant?

Well by what I see for some people its not. Our system is way too soft.

Well by what I see for some people its not. Our system is way too soft.

I would concede there are those that cannot be brought back to sanity by any means known. You got your serial killers, mental defectives......Democrats
But for the rest, the threat of punishment keeps all of us from doing all kinds of unlawful stuff.

The death penalty is not a good deterrent...the numbers just don't support any claim that it is. If you want to deter people from committing heinous crimes combat poverty and invest more in education.

Some people just deserve to be murked...we just need to admit that to ourselves so we can stop pretending the death penalty is about justice and as means to deter others...it's pure unadulterated eye-poking revenge.

I would concede there are those that cannot be brought back to sanity by any means known. You got your serial killers, mental defectives......Democrats
But for the rest, the threat of punishment keeps all of us from doing all kinds of unlawful stuff.

I don't know if I agree with that. I think the vast majority of people don't do unlawful stuff because we know it's wrong -- you know, the Golden Rule. I wouldn't steal from someone not because I might get locked up, but because I wouldn't want anyone stealing from me.

I guess it all depends upon your outlook of human nature. I think most people are generally good.

I don't know if I agree with that. I think the vast majority of people don't do unlawful stuff because we know it's wrong -- you know, the Golden Rule. I wouldn't steal from someone not because I might get locked up, but because I wouldn't want anyone stealing from me.

I guess it all depends upon your outlook of human nature. I think most people are generally good.
I should have been more specific. Most of society would, as you say tow the line because that is what "they should do". I really refer to those who are so inclined to livin' on the edge and the only reason they don't go all in is fear of doin' time or worse.
I think it is demonstrated on the occasions that we have rioting in the states in this place or that. It is generally accompanied by looting as the chance of getting caught and punished greatly reduced.

The death penalty is not a good deterrent...the numbers just don't support any claim that it is. If you want to deter people from committing heinous crimes combat poverty and invest more in education.

Some people just deserve to be murked...we just need to admit that to ourselves so we can stop pretending the death penalty is about justice and as means to deter others...it's pure unadulterated eye-poking revenge.

I don't think we use the death penalty enough to know if its a deterrent. I mean whats the chance of someone getting executed?

I think the history of the world is scattered with loads of evidence that humans in general do anything and everything up to and including what they are ALLOWED to do. I find the notion that society in general is not deterred by lawful punishment to be silly. Of course it does. Humans are animals. We all fight for self survival..self interest. Every single thing we do is in our own self-interest. Without clear lines defined by laws and enforced through deterrents people in general would abuse the rights of others. Maybe A person could act with others in mind but give me a hundred people and most of them would go crazy.

Note: this is not a pontification on the deterrence offered by the death penalty...I generally agree it doesn't deter anything at all. The rate of deterrence is probably very variable and defined by the nature of the potential crime and the nature of the potential punishment. I bet we'd have a lot less people speeding if we killed them for it.

I don't think we use the death penalty enough to know if its a deterrent. I mean whats the chance of someone getting executed?

Wow...your solution to the issue is to kill more people..so we can see if it works.

We use capital punishment in only the rarest of cases where there are aggravating circumstances. In general these crimes are either profound crimes of emotion or mental instability. It's hard to argue that people with impaired thinking or emotions can act with any level of reason. Numerous studies have shown this.

I think the history of the world is scattered with loads of evidence that humans in general do anything and everything up to and including what they are ALLOWED to do. I find the notion that society in general is not deterred by lawful punishment to be silly. Of course it does. Humans are animals. We all fight for self survival..self interest. Every single thing we do is in our own self-interest. Without clear lines defined by laws and enforced through deterrents people in general would abuse the rights of others. Maybe A person could act with others in mind but give me a hundred people and most of them would go crazy.

Note: this is not a pontification on the deterrence offered by the death penalty...I generally agree it doesn't deter anything at all. The rate of deterrence is probably very variable and defined by the nature of the potential crime and the nature of the potential punishment. I bet we'd have a lot less people speeding if we killed them for it.

I do alot of stuff that has nothing to do with my self interest. I think kids learning right from wrong from their parent is a bigger deterrent then any laws.