How would you like to get free food, television, and exercise equipment every day? You would not have to pay for any bills, transportation, taxes, or clothes. Sounds pretty good, I know. Well believe it or not there are over two million people in the U.S. alone living this way, and every last one happens to be a criminal. The amount of people in jail has escalated to one in every 142 American residents by mid-year, 2002. The taxes that are taken from the paychecks of innocent members of the work force are what the government uses to pay for the shelter and care of these convicted felons. This confuses me, especially since some of these people are actually killers. Why do law obeying citizens have to pay, literally, for the lives of those imprisoned?
There is always such controversy over what punishment should be put into effect for criminals, especially murderers, usually between life in jail, or death penalty. I am not one to encourage “playing God,” but why should money be taken from people who work hard for it just to support prisoners? I vote death penalty because in all honesty there is no reason to keep them around. Some may argue that living in jail forces them to live with the guilt and without freedoms and their loved ones. However, what about the criminals who do not have a family and are glad they killed whoever they did? Sentencing the death penalty takes them off the hands of the U.S. government and frees up prisons for the next inevitable felon.
Question: Should convicts be given less privileges and/or considered more for the death penalty?
Hey. I have really mixed opinions on this. While I don't support the death penalty, I understand the logic behind this. You do have a very good argument. I guess the question I'd have to ask myself is "if someone hurt or violated one of my loved ones, would I want them to die or live forever in the confines of a jail cell?" When you're attacked on a personal level, I'm sure you'd want to see the attacker die. I'm lucky to have never experienced this. I just don't see how killing someone for killing another is justifiable... two wrongs don't make a right, ya know?
ReplyDeleteIt is true that two wrongs don't make a right... sometimes. I think that if I was attacked on a personal level I would want that person to die too. I'm not in support of the death penalty as much as I am against the luxuries that jails provide. Is there a "happy medium" to keep people like us from paying for the inmates' food and such?
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really well put Bethanie! I have no idea if there's a happy medium. I definitely see what you're saying about inmates being pampered... I mean, they get to go to school for free, wear warm clothes, eat three meals a day... I'm sure there have been homeless people purposefully commit a crime just to be put in jail and have a place to sleep at night. I think as far as a happy medium goes, maybe justice systems should revoke some of the luxuries they're affording to criminals. They don't need pool tables and TVs. They don't need decorations or state-of-the-art exercise equipment. Maybe taking these things away would lessen the load we as taxpayers bear while also increasing the punishment factor.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the death penalty should be used. If people have life sentences without perole, there is no point in paying for them if they are never going to get out. They should be executed.. It sounds harsh but I don't want to pay for a criminal for the rest of his life I think it's stupid.
ReplyDeleteAs harsh as it sounds I think that we should use the death penalty more often. Lessoning luxuries doesn’t make their life in prison too much worse. Chances are that the food and shelter are luxuries enough to keep the convicts happy in jail. Some of these convicts would be struggling out on the streets, to get a meal. Shouldn’t their life be as bad as what they made their victim’s?
ReplyDeleteYes, David, i think so too.
ReplyDeletethis is really good and makes me stop and think. I dont really know alot about the ins and out of the death penalty. However my girlfriends mom is a lawyer and she told me that the hardest thing was seeing the familys of the criminals say goodbye to their brother sister father mother before they were killed. like i said before i dont know enough about the death penalty and the jail system but i def feel that they need to find the happy medium you talked about and fast!
ReplyDeleteWhat about the falsely accused? What then for those persons who couldn't afford lawyers, or were in the wrong place at the wrong time? What of passion crimes, persons being harassed, molested, or repeatedly raped by the person they end up murdering?
ReplyDeleteWe could never claim that we are worthy enough to forsake another being to death. As science becomes more involved in the penal system we can hope that the wealthy states implement the correct actions while judging criminals. History shows that there definitely is a serious threat of judgment when the human element is involved. Passion and peer pressure drive people in powerful positions to make bad decisions that can claim lives. So long as the human element exists in the penal system there will always be the possibility of corruption.
I am for punishment, people fear hell because of the eternal punishment said to be administered. I play a game call Strong Hold. In this game the criminals go before the judge to confess their crime, are placed in a holding cell until the executioner is ready to administer the punishment. They are then placed in the middle of town in the most public location and tortured. Take it back to the medieval times, a good flogging now and then.
As for prison life being a vacation. Perhaps a vacation in Mogadishu would be its equal, only 11 people were murdered yesterday. Over a million of the city’s residents have reportedly been displaced, with tens of thousands fleeing the "city of death" altogether.
Deviant or not, people still have rights, dehumanization is not the answer.