Poll: Should prisoner executions be televised?

[mrwitch]

Insanity is a very tricky thing.   You have to look at it on a case by case bases.  

It's true, in some cases it can be determined that a person committing murder did not know what he/she were doing.  But those are rare instances.

How about Jeffery Dahmer?  Would you consider him insane?  It was all premeditated, he brought men to his apartment with the intention to kill.  You could say it was his upbringing, or a genetic defect,  but how many others can you say that about, who do not commit murder?  

Can it be determined if a person knew what he/she was doing?  Did he/she know right from wrong?  

If the answer is yes, then I have no problem with the death penalty.  

If the answer is no, that person was so insane he/she didn't know right from wrong, then I'd say the death penalty is over the top.  

The problem with society, is that people are so hell bent on retribution, and tiral lawyers have over-used the insanity defence, that people in general don't usually buy into it.  

But it has to be taken on a case by case bases.  

Humans are capable of the most hedious deeds.  Insanity not withstanding.

[Big Mac]

Insanity is rather rare. I think ever since we as a species have learned more and more about psychology, more people have found a crutch to go on. There are truly insane people who have no idea of the consequences of their actions. They are, however, a small minority and most people know right from wrong by being raised with it generally. I think the death penalty has applications for certain cases. A guy who goes out, rapes and kills a bunch of people in a senseless act should be executed. I believe that it should be limited to where we have DEFINITE proof he or she did it. Say a video or DNA evidence linking them to it.

[mrwitch]

I'd say the only people who have a legitimate plea for insanity.  Are theists, claiming to act on the will of god.  

God made me do it.

[Byrath]

After watching the poor quality camera-phone video of Saddam Hussein’s hanging, and feeling very little sympathy for the man...

I certainly cannot agree with all of Saddam's actions, yet it is quite easy now to understand why he ruled with the 'iron fist'. Three groups of people who hate each other all lumped into one country which was created by the western world. He did what he thought was necessary to prevent the chaos that we see in Iraq today. The vast majority of Iraqi's were far better off under Saddam than they are now, or will be for a long time. All my opinion, of course.

I began to wonder if public executions or televised executions would be a good thing. Would it be a deterrent to crime? Would it cause states and nations to repeal their death penalty laws? What effect, if any, would televised executions have on society?

Deterrent, no. Cause to repeal, no. Effect on society? It may cause a small  number of people to change their stance on the death penalty, most changing to being against it.

Do prisoners have any expectation of privacy after they are convicted and sentenced to death? Is it ever right to take another person’s life? What if a prisoner is executed and new evidence comes to light exonerating them? Who should be punished?

Expectation of privacy. I would say yes. The supposed purpose of our legal system is to protect innocent people from the harmful actions of criminals, not to humiliate criminals by showing them urinating and defecating on themselves.
Is it ever right? I'm torn on this question. Part of me says absolutely, if someone is absolutely proven guilty of a horrendous crime, they should be put to death. Part of me says that being locked up for life is actually a harsher punishment, is oddly enough, cheaper for the taxpayers, and allows somewhat for the correction of any mistakes made in prosecution.
The number of cases in which we can be 100% sure of a persons guilt are VERY small, therefore I'm leaning towards the position of abolishing the death penalty... why keep it available if its virtually never going to be used?
What if. If it can be proven that the police or prosecutors intentionally provided false evidence, bring the hammer down on them, hard. Few things are worse than the state ruining (or taking) the lives of innocent people.

[Simoli]

I voted Yes, and already I see I'm in the minority (I'm used to that by now ).  The criteria of who should be executed is something that would be beyond me, but a good start would be with repeat offenders of severe crimes.  Seems to me that if the event were broadcasted in a way that people realize that this is punishment for a crime, there may be a chance of some detterence for those future offenders.

And a byproduct would be the saved $30k/person/year in tax dollars giving the criminal a plush imprisoned life.

Wow, my first post and I decide on a difficult subject like this.

[Byrath]

Executions cost far more than life sentences. Check it: Economics of Capital Punishment

Most people who commit crimes worthy of the death penalty are bat-shit crazy. In my humble opinion, no deterrent is going to work on people like that. If anything, watching an execution might give a few sickos a hard-on to go do some killin' of their own.

[SteveS]

I just added to the votes with a "no" vote.  I'll try to explain:

First, we have the death penalty itself.  I've got two problems with the death penalty:

1) If exculpatory evidence ever comes to light, you can't release people you've executed.

2) Even if someone deserves the sentence, I personally wouldn't want to be the one to throw the switch.  So how do I ask someone else to?

Having said that, I believe there are in fact cases where it's beyond improbable that you have the wrong person, and they richly deserve the sentence.  I can live with my problem 2) above, because I'm sure you could find someone willing to throw the switch (they do now, right?  Isn't this creepy?).

Having said that, it seems disturbingly voyeuristic to put the execution on TV.  I'm envisioning crowds chanting "off with his head" around the guillotine platform or something.  At some point, this goes beyond the concerns of the condemned and makes me worry if the society is losing it's humanity.  Wanting him punished with death, okay.  Putting it on TV, prime time with advertising rights and commercials?  Or pay per view?  Yuck.

[klepto]

im against it definately. if its on the internet then the people that want to see it can, but say if its on CNN and your watching the news or flipping channels and see another human being be killed? i mean think of the children. if a father is sitting down watching television and a 4 year old is playing with his toys and happens to look up and see, say saddam hussein's death, itd cause some psychological problems in the future and possibly have another columbine incindent. no televised deaths.

[brainshmain]

They shouldn't execute people at all, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, Texas and Islam exist, so that isn't an option.