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submitted 7 months ago by NightOwl@lemmy.ca to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 70 points 7 months ago

I think people like her deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison, but no crime, no matter how severe, deserves a death penalty.

[-] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Nah, make the rich afraid again. We can talk red rose pacifism once the ultrawealthy are out of the picture.

[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 10 points 7 months ago

But when the death penalty is available, it's not just the ultra wealthy who suffer. It's far easier for the ultra wealthy to use their resources to frame someone they don't like as a murderer or something and get that person executed. It's even easier for the state to do that if they are corrupt enough. I'd much rather not give the state the right to sentence anyone to death at any point. Make these ultra rich criminals go to prison for the rest of their lives, make it unpardonable too.

[-] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I’d much rather not give the state the right to sentence anyone to death at any point.

Not every country has a genocidal fascist regime as a government. Viet Nam is definitely not one of those.

[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 7 points 7 months ago

Can you trust it would stay that way? There is no such thing as immunity from fascism.

[-] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

That's a pretty sloppy "you're right but i'm still right" answer. Of course that's not going to happen, they're communists. It's liberal governments that end up going fascist.

[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 4 points 7 months ago

USSR collapsed and looks at Russia now. Just because they are communists now doesn't mean they won't become fascist in the future.

[-] underwire212@lemm.ee 13 points 7 months ago

I think there are certainly crimes that deserve the death penalty (think CP type crimes). Just get those people out of society tbh, but this is just my opinion.

The only problem I have is with 100% certainly. You would have to be certain, or very very close to absolute certainty, that you have the right person who committed the crime.

[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 29 points 7 months ago

If the person goes to prison for the rest of their lives, it will keep society safe from them either way. The death penalty is not making society safer.

[-] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 7 months ago

It is a deterrent. For instance, we wouldn't have insurrectionists working in the highest levels of government if we actually had effective laws and enforcement.

[-] lenz@lemmy.ml 8 points 7 months ago

It has been found that the greatest deterrent is “likelihood of getting caught”, and not the actual penalty. Think of the war on drugs. No matter how harsh they made the consequences, the drug trade continued. It’s like this: how likely are you to return a wallet you found to a lost and found if a cop was watching you, versus if you were out in the middle of the woods when you found the wallet?

It doesn’t matter if the penalty for not returning the wallet is death. If the likelihood of you getting caught is tiny enough, you will feel less terrified of playing those odds. Or at least, the average person will.

The death penalty isn’t a deterrent if you’re certain it will never apply to you.

[-] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 7 months ago

I think your logic is flawed. Obviously the death penalty is a serious deterrent. It's not going to stop everybody, but it will most certainly stop many people.

[-] lenz@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago

I disagree that the deterrence would be significant enough to justify the death penalty. But I don’t think our disagreement matters. Even assuming what you say is true, it’s not worth the lives of the innocent people who will be found guilty and executed, in my opinion. I also think it’s a bad idea to give the government the power to kill its own citizens. So even if you are correct, I have other objections that outweigh the potential deterrence factor.

[-] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 1 points 7 months ago

I'm just talking about deterrence, it was obvious that you were reaching tenuous conclusions based on your dislike of the death penalty.

[-] lenz@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

What about what I said was tenuous? Did you think I said the death penalty held no power to deter? I made no claims about that. I suggest you reread what I said, if that’s what you think.

I merely pointed out that the greatest deterrence comes from the likelihood of being caught, not from the severity of the punishment itself. This is the popular view. Here’s an article from the National Institute of Justice about it, with sources cited at the bottom: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/five-things-about-deterrence (Points 1, 4, and 5 may be of particular interest to you.)

This Wikipedia article may also interest you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deterrence_(penology)

The reason I make no claims (and disagree with you) about the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent is because there is no body of evidence supporting either view. You seem convinced that the death penalty is an effective deterrent on your instinct alone. I am uncertain how I am the one reaching tenuous conclusions here, lol.

[-] dvoraqs@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Certainty is a dangerous thing when people lie out of self interest or from coercion.

this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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