Support NeoGAF

[phosphor112]

I never understood why death penalties are given to cases that are hard to close up... yet those guys that kill 5... 10.. more with witnesses?... they usually live for decades before they are killed.

Also, fucking Texas.

 

[Thug Waffle]

Not sure how bad food connects someone emotionally to an innocent death but whatever gets the word out there I guess.

Look deeper, maybe? Consider the fact that these men were given bad food before they were executed for something they didn't do. Haven't you noticed that, in most films, people's last meals are noticeable more decadent than these? It's a cultural shield. Seeing that these guys are fed shit for a last meal before being murdered = the point.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Ah, food shaming in the first reply. Good work.

"Food shaming?"

Calling out shitty food is now somehow offensive?

 

[morningbus]

"Food shaming?"

Calling out shitty food is now somehow offensive?

I dunno man, it's what the person wanted right before being needlessly killed for a crime they didn't commit.

As a food snob myself, I say we let them fucking have this one.

 

[Trey]

I dunno man, it's what the person wanted right before being needlessly killed for a crime they didn't commit.

As a food snob myself, I say we let them fucking have this one.

I'm sure he or she is referring to the quality of the last meals.

They do look like middle school lunches.

 

[morningbus]

I'm sure he or she is referring to the quality of the last meals.

They do look like middle school lunches.

These photos are restagings of the person's last meal, so blame the photographer for the anemic looking burrito.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

Honestly. If someone committed a horrible crime, and there is objective evidence proving it. Such as the guy in Norway or the guy who shot up the movie theater in Colorado. They should be executed within 7 days of capture.

Stop wasting tax payers money housing, feeding and providing defense for these people.

There are things more important than your stupid money.

 

[Vilam]

Sad stories, but the death penalty is still an appropriate punishment for some and shouldn't be abolished.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Sad stories, but the death penalty is still an appropriate punishment for some and shouldn't be abolished.

"Yeah sure some innocent people were killed but that's okay because some people we just have to kill."

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Sad stories, but the death penalty is still an appropriate punishment for some and shouldn't be abolished.

I believe that too, but I still think it needs to be abolished or become harder to sentence.

Critical mistakes of the courts and law enforcement cost years of innocent peoples lives and I dont feel right supporting that we might kill them.
8

Im fine with killing heinous criminals, but I want abslute proof that the suspect truly did the crime.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Question: Why are people okay with killing criminals who have done very bad things? How bad does the crime have to be for you to want to kill them?

 

[UrbanRats]

Sad stories, but the death penalty is still an appropriate punishment for some and shouldn't be abolished.

I don't like the idea of killing even guilty people, but it'll never exist a mathematically "exact" way to determine what's right and wrong, so whoever can keep their own opinion in this regard.
But as long as you're not able to guarantee 100% culpability, death penalty is just an imbecile practice.

Question: Why are people okay with killing criminals who have done very bad things? How bad does the crime have to be for you to want to kill them?

Yeah, it all varies from person to person in the end.
When you talk about "punishment" you're mostly talking about personal satisfaction, and that can only be completely subjective.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Sad stories, but the death penalty is still an appropriate punishment for some and shouldn't be abolished.

It is an appropriate punishment for some. However, determining guilt is an undecidable problem. That is, it is impossible to create a justice system that will always lead to a correct verdict. That means it is also impossible to create a justice system that will only put the right people to death, because it implies that it is also impossible to come up with a way to 100% of the time accurately sort convictions into 2 groups: false convictions and correct convictions.


If you care at all about ensuring that no one is wrongfully executed, you can not support the death penalty

 

[UrbanRats]

It is an appropriate punishment for some. However, determining guilt is an undecidable problem. That is, it is impossible to create a justice system that will always lead to a correct verdict. That means it is also impossible to create a justice system that will only put the right people to death.


If you care at all about ensuring that no one is wrongfully executed, you can not support the death penalty

Well, if you focus on fixing individuals (or at worse, keeping them away from harming society) instead of "punishing", it's a strategy with longer legs i think.

 

[shira]

If I had to go I would want to be tasting fugu at its max potency.

Last sushi before you go.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I'm sure he or she is referring to the quality of the last meals.

They do look like middle school lunches.

Yes, and the quality of the meal is supposed to make you think about how this is the last comfort an innocent man received before being executed for something they didn't do. You're supposed to reflect on the economic status of a person who couldn't defend themselves and their mindset in their final moments, not stop at 'ew gross food.'

 

[WanderingWind]

I'm totally fine with killing some people. Some people simply do not deserve to draw breath.

But, we can't really ever be sure about most of the criminals, can we? The arson case in particular was probably an open-and-shut case based on what they thought they knew about the science behind the crime. Yet, that same evidence would be laughed at today based on what we know. It's chilling to try to place yourself in the shoes of a man who has lost his entire family, is then accused, tried, convicted and sentenced to die by an uncaring, unfeeling court system assured in its own rightness.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Those that "feel" that people should be killed, where are you from?
I'm kinda getting the feeling that most people feel that bad people should be killed because they are born in a country with capital punishment.

Over in Norway a couple of years ago, when a terrorist massacred children and adults, the most common sentiment heard was not "death to the terrorist" but rather a desire to have him locked up behind bars. Well, a lot of Gaffers did shout for him being killed, but I reckon they were mostly americans

 

[paile]

I'd ask for lamb and baked potatoes.

I love a good lamb roast.

 

[Walshicus]

Those that "feel" that people should be killed, where are you from?
I'm kinda getting the feeling that most people feel that bad people should be killed because they are born in a country with capital punishment.

Over in Norway a couple of years ago, when a terrorist massacred children and adults, the most common sentiment heard was not "death to the terrorist" but rather a desire to have him locked up behind bars. Well, a lot of Gaffers did shout for him being killed, but I reckon they were mostly americans

Exactly, and I think it's a sad indictment of the effect that the American cult of violence has on the subject.

 

[davepoobond]

Not sure how bad food connects someone emotionally to an innocent death but whatever gets the word out there I guess.

because trying to be healthy when you are going to die in 10 minutes is ultimately the stupidest thing.


i feel we should keep the death penalty for cases where things are very bad -- talking like multiple murders. but at the same time its not really even used so it ends up costing more money because it takes forever for it to be used.

I would rather 100 guilty men go free than 1 innocent is made to suffer.

that's pretty dumb. those guilty men would just kill more people than you just "saved"

 

[perfectchaos007]

If I had to go I would want to be tasting fugu at its max potency.

Last sushi before you go.

I wonder how many people died before some lucky man found the one sliver of a section of that blowfish that wouldn't kill you.

 

[way more]

I thought this thread was about the meals so i'm ignoring all that challenges my world view and commentating on that.


Those don't look so bad. I recall from a article someone has to volunteer for the cooking job of death row since the executions take place so late. Those meals look fitting and done with as much care as they can spend.

A shame they can't get a beer with the meal, even a non-alcoholic.


Edit: I have realized those meal pictures are probably recreated. A shame, I would like to see what kind of steaks they are served.

 

[Monocle]

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

Honestly. If someone committed a horrible crime, and there is objective evidence proving it. Such as the guy in Norway or the guy who shot up the movie theater in Colorado. They should be executed within 7 days of capture.

Stop wasting tax payers money housing, feeding and providing defense for these people.

This is more than dangerously stupid. You've managed to make it onto the short list of authentically evil sentiments expressed on GAF. Sit yourself down and reexamine your value system very carefully, because at the moment it's grotesquely distorted.

 

[perfectchaos007]

I thought this thread was about the meals so i'm ignoring all that challenges my world view and commentating on that.


Those don't look so bad. I recall from a article someone has to volunteer for the cooking job of death row since the executions take place so late. Those meals look fitting and done with as much care as they can spend.

A shame they can't get a beer with the meal, even a non-alcoholic.

Why is that? Would alcohol in the blood affect the legal injection, or do they just want to make sure the inmate is fully sober when he dies, on principal?

I would be a total dick with my order though. Yeah I'll take a beer battered fish filet with a side of vodka sauce. Chicken Marsala with Jack Daniels BBQ, and Baileys Pie. Can I have O'Douls with that? No? Okay just give me an A&W Root beer.

 

[davepoobond]

Why is that? Would alcohol in the blood affect the legal injection, or do they just want to make sure the inmate is fully sober when he dies, on principal?

you cant execute someone who is not fully ("legally") cognizant and aware of their surroundings. such as someone who is mentally ill, etc.

 

[perfectchaos007]

you cant execute someone who is not fully ("legally") cognizant and aware of their surroundings. such as someone who is mentally ill, etc.

Well shit. If I were on death row, I would intentionally bang my head into a wall until I gave myself a concussion.

 

[way more]

Why is that? Would alcohol in the blood affect the legal injection, or do they just want to make sure the inmate is fully sober when he dies, on principal?

I would be a total dick with my order though. Yeah I'll take a beer battered fish filet with a side of vodka sauce. Chicken Marsala with Jack Daniels BBQ, and Baileys Pie. Can I have O'Douls with that? No? Okay just give me an A&W Root beer.

I assume it's just because prisons aren't allowed to serve alcohol. The same way the are smoke-free, government facilities. It's just a bureaucratic stipulation.

 

[Baby Milo]

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

damn its really crazy to read something like this

 

[A Link to the Past]

No it isn't. It is more reason why the death penalty should only be given where there is absolutely no doubt the person committed the crime. Jeffrey Dahmer is a good example.



Dahmer wasn't given the death penalty incidentally but was beaten to death by a prisoner anyway.

Trying to create boundaries for when it can be used, and when it can't, detectives and prosecutors will try and twist them as far as possible in order to make more people fit into them.

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

Honestly. If someone committed a horrible crime, and there is objective evidence proving it. Such as the guy in Norway or the guy who shot up the movie theater in Colorado. They should be executed within 7 days of capture.

Stop wasting tax payers money housing, feeding and providing defense for these people.

That's pretty bold - talking about how innocent peoples' deaths are worth it if it means we can kill our murderers while basking in the glow of your monitor. A regular badass, who if falsely convicted and sentenced to death, would absolutely say "well, at least I'm a worthy sacrifice to the system!".

 

[Devolution]

damn its really crazy to read something like this

I wonder how he'd feel if it started with him.

 

[Devolution]

I've been combing through the thread and from there on his posts just kind of disastrously spiral downwards in a toxic combination of bad spelling, worse math, misguided bravado, a streak of disregard for human life combined with typical overemphasis of the value of money, and a weird strain of anti-American racism imbedded with outdated ideas about the "horrible" crime rates here (that have been dropping for decades). It's an insane way of thinking, really.

It's quite the sight to see.

So the tldr version is modern republicanism?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_meal
You can't have anything and some not at all.

wow. ban it for everyone else, out of spite and antipathy.

 

[GManDH]

the food is for you to identify with them. fried food brings comfort to people. the government believes that there are so few mistakes to give just cause to abolish slavery.that's my 15 minutes.

 

[Vagabundo]

Considering that these were innocent people that were murdered, the state should now prosecute those responsible, from the judge on down and, if found guilty, sentence them to death.

 

[davepoobond]

Well shit. If I were on death row, I would intentionally bang my head into a wall until I gave myself a concussion.

well, that's not really going to help you. you'd just be restrained indefinitely then.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Is there any evidence that this is working?

Well, there's that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where the one planet has the death penalty for any and all crimes, no matter how trivial, and that planet has virtually no crime. But, on the other hand, that episode sucks.

Actual evidence, not really.

 

[The Adder]

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

Honestly. If someone committed a horrible crime, and there is objective evidence proving it. Such as the guy in Norway or the guy who shot up the movie theater in Colorado. They should be executed within 7 days of capture.

Stop wasting tax payers money housing, feeding and providing defense for these people.

Let's all hope you're never falsely convicted. But if you are, we'll see what tune you're singing in the end.

 

[Bagels]

Well, there's that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where the one planet has the death penalty for any and all crimes, no matter how trivial, and that planet has virtually no crime. But, on the other hand, that episode sucks.

Actual evidence, not really.

It was a rhetorical question, dammit.

But it sounds like a good TNG episode...

 

[qindarka]

I believe Singapore has the death penalty for drug sales/possession and consequently very little drug-related crime, but that's quite a different dynamic considering the nature of those crimes vs murder, among other things - mainly Singapore's status as a tiny city-state surrounded by countries with far less harsh legal penalties.

Neighbouring Malaysia and nearby Indonesia also have the death penalty for drug trafficking. You could argue that those countries don't enforce the law as well, though.

 

[Mariolee]

I would rather 100 guilty men go free than 1 innocent is made to suffer.

This nonsense about money spent on prisoners or "the luxury life they lead" is just that, nonsense. The desire for capital punishment stems from nothing but a bloodthirsty desire for revenge. To see violence for violence. It's pathetic. Disgusting and pathetic. That you would let one innocent (or in your case 10) people be murdered makes you no better than the people you want to see executed. You are advocating for a system that is literally murdering innocent people, just like the murderers you claim to loathe.

You are practically a living breathing example of Nietzsche's "abyss" comment.

Is not capital punishment also used as a scare tactic into fighting against any urges to murder someone, or else you yourself will lose your own life? Although somewhat of a simple tactic, I think it might be effective in many cases.

 

[SneakyStephan]

damn its really crazy to read something like this

It's best to pretend it's a troll or something.
If I treated post like that as genuine I'd be banned before you can say 'wut'.
I just move on and secretly hope he steps on some legos.

 

[Cipherr]

I will take 10 mistakes for 990 pieces of shit being killed.

Some Barbaric shit here man.

damn its really crazy to read something like this

Especially because you can be 100% sure that if 3 of those 10 were his closest and most loved family members, he would be crying bloody fucking murder.

 

[iapetus]

Let's all hope you're never falsely convicted. But if you are, we'll see what tune you're singing in the end.

If he's falsely convicted he'll commit suicide because it's more economical than wasting money feeding and housing him and going through all those expensive appeals.

 

[PaulExcellent]

Damn.

 

[Timedog]

If it's not even cost-effective...if you don't have have THAT as an argument for how the death penalty betters society--then what exactly is the point?

 

[Trickster]

I have no idea how anyone could have any appetite so shortly before certain death. Especially if you know you're innocent, jesus.

Also, reading about the circumstances of the people in the op, it seems absolutely insane that they got convicted, let alone placed on deathrow. Such big fucking flaws in their cases, and they still get convicted, shit is messed up.

 

[AbsolutBro]

you cant execute someone who is not fully ("legally") cognizant and aware of their surroundings. such as someone who is mentally ill, etc.

Technically. And yet Texas... Texas executed a man whose IQ was 61. They actually redefined what it meant to be mentally retarded, just to they could execute mentally retarded people.

There was another man whose name I wish I could remember. He got pie with his last meal, but opted to not eat it. He told guards he wanted to save it for later. A man who could not even understand the concept of "last meal" was executed.

Is not capital punishment also used as a scare tactic into fighting against any urges to murder someone, or else you yourself will lose your own life? Although somewhat of a simple tactic, I think it might be effective in many cases.

The exact opposite actually: it is completely ineffective. It is widely accepted that the death penalty does nothing to deter criminals.

Generally the murderers: 1. think that they won't get caught or 2. don't think about the consequences at all.

 

[Vermillion]

Let me jump in for a bit - I don't support the death penalty in its current form, and even one innocent life is too much of a cost, I think. The way that I do the moral math in my head is that getting rid of a person with no value to society is essentially an economic decision of sorts. So losing one innocent as the cost for a million guilty people is an unacceptable trade made to basically lift an economic burden.

On the other hand, I'm not entirely with the "no murder, ever" crowd, because in the case of people like mass murderers, they don't fit any of the criteria for my reasoning as to why killing is bad. They don't have any remorse, they won't become better people, they have no value for the lives of others, etc. In this case, we're not trading a worthwhile, redeemable life for economic reasons - we're just making a pure economic decision. Removing that person from society is therefore quick and has no negative repercussions. It's the monsters we don't want, and we don't want to foot the bill until they die a natural death. So we expedite it, and nothing of value is lost.

Of course, this doesn't work for the death penalty for a variety of reasons, including the lack of omniscience and the system being a form of state-sanctioned revenge. It's not meant to simply remove the cancers from society for its betterment - rather, it's used to represent the rage of the people. That's one of its most significant problems, I think.

Some people, however, simply deserve to die on the basis of being evil and hampering society. I don't lament the loss of life for those who don't care about it. But again, I'm not omniscient, so who can really know?

TL;DR: Some people deserve to die, but we can't know who those people are for sure. So while I don't think no one should ever be killed, I don't think that we have the capacity to know who the people that deserve to die are in most cases that are given the death penalty. Furthermore, the death penalty is more of a system built on revenge rather than utility. It is for these reasons that I don't support the death penalty. That, and even one innocent life is too high a cost.

 

[Dead Man]

If he's falsely convicted he'll commit suicide because it's more economical than wasting money feeding and housing him and going through all those expensive appeals.

ROFL.