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MESSAGE BOARD Sentenced to death
In Sunday's Primary Source, Brian Mooney writes about how the six leading Democratic presidential candidates all support the death penalty, and the three lower-tier candidates do not. Do you support the death penalty? Why or why not?
Page 1 I've been employed by a Federal Law Enforcement Agency for the past 15 years. We deal with criminal informants everyday. I was in favor of the death penalty for years until I had this job. These informants, murders to theves, all convinced me that the death penalty is the easy way out. It is more torture to keep a person incarcerated for extended periods of time. vinc, Boston The death penalty is a complete contradiction to a nation that regards freedom as its highest value. Denial of freedom - such as life imprisonment - should be our nation's strongest form of punishment. Only for a nation that values life over liberty does denial of life constitute the most extreme from of punishment. Doug, Sudbury MA The death penalty is an archaic form of punishment that the United States should be embarrassed to still use. No other industrialized Western country uses it. In fact, while the United States pretends to police the world for human right violators, it is committing human rights violations all the time by allowing the death penalty to be used. Moreover, the death penalty is racist in its application. More former Confederate states use the death penalty than anywhere else. In those states a jury is more likely to sentence a black person to the death penalty than they are a white person. Even if the death penalty can be justified on some grounds (which it cannot), it is simply reprehensible to continue to use it when it is applied in such a racial disparate manner. Jaime, Boston As a society, we cannot administer justice even handedly or fairly. We already have seen that. There is much too much at stake to impose the ultimate sentence when we cannot impose much lighter sentences properly. Also, there is absolutely no proof that the death penalty deters crime. Thus, its only purpose is to exact revenge and I do not believe that is what the criminal justice system is meant to do. Kimberly, Somerville, MA Yes - My family and I support the death penalty. Society's current mind set is criminals (and teens) are not held accountable for their actions, which leads to widespread crimes- That needs to change! Everyone is accountable for their actions, no matter what you 'saw' on tv. Accountablity = Responsibility = Good Citizens. Steve, Middleboro I do not support the death penalty, as I do not believe it is the act of a civilized nation. I do, however, advocate longer prison terms for violent and repeat offenders. Mark, Foxboro I do not support the death penalty ... it is a form of vengeance that has no place in a civilized society. Alan, S. Egremont No. It's too easy a punishment for the real killers and a mistake for the convicted innocents. Mike, Mass. Absolutely not! If killing is wrong, it is wrong, period! How can the state be allowed to kill when it is against the law? How can the state give back a life to someone who is found later to be innocent? People have been wrongly imprisoned. The state cannot play God. Life in prison is more of a punishment....provided there is truth in sentencing! M. B., Rehoboth I lost my 19 year old son Brian to murder in 1989, and my 2 year old neice Megan was murdered in 1994. I believe that no one, not even the state has the right to take a life. People think that by putting someone to death that it brings closer to the victims family. Let me tell you that there is no closer. Closer would be having Brian and Megan back. I know I would not want anyone killed in my son Brian's name. People sometimes place a higher value on one person's life over another. For instance, when a police officer is killed or a young child there are screams to bring the dealth penalty back. What makes there lives more important than a garbage man or a poor person. Every life is just as precious as the next. Politicians use the death penalty as a tool to get re-elected. I give praise to John Slattery who was the deciding vote against the death penalty and also the other representatives who also voted against it when everone was screaming to bring it back. You just can't take the chance of putting an innocent person to death to make a statement. I also believe that murderers as well as sex offenders should have to spend the rest of their lives in prison. As far as the death penalty goes I think the organization Murder Victim Families for Reconcilliation says it best. "Why kill people, who kill people, to show that killing people is wrong." Phyllis, Saugus
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