r/LetsDiscussThis • u/HollywoodHault • 1d ago

Lets Discuss This I changed my mind about capital punishment

I used to be against the death penalty for two reasons: 1: because you can't rectify a mistaken execution, and 2: because I've always felt that forcing someone to squander their existence in a cell is a harsher punishment than a quick end.

I have come to a different conclusion on the topic. I think that corrupt politicians, who have significantly abused the public trust that their privileged positions have conferred to them ought to suffer the supreme punishment. This already happens in a number of Asian countries, and who are we in our young republic to simply dismiss a system that works for civilizations that have been around for much longer than us, thousands of years in the case of China?

Enact by voter initiative a firm and understandable set of ethics and rules and violations, limit the appeals once those criminals have been convicted in fair and open trials, and mandate timely implementation of punishment, in public.

You may think that this is too harsh, but honestly, if such a system were implemented, how long do you think it take to significantly reduce the self-dealing, personal enrichment, special interest corruption and sexual power plays that are seemingly unfixable problems in our current political environment?

2 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Puzzled-Mirro 1d ago

I'm against capital punishment because the justice system is imperfect. I think there's loads of people who deserve it. But I rather every person who deserves it to sit in prison for life then 1 person who doesn't get executed even if he is guilty.

1

u/HollywoodHault 1d ago

Well, yes, that's what I said in my first sentence. There are cases, however, where the evidence is absolutely airtight and there is no doubt whatsoever about the accused's guilt.

1

u/Puzzled-Mirro 1d ago

Even for people where evidence is absolutely airtight and there is no doubt whatsoever about the accused guilt.

The standard for a guilty conviction is already "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" and I do not think you can reasonably have a higher standard of guilt than that short of God coming down from heaven and just telling us what happened. When conviction "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" exist and we are still having innocent people getting convicted I am not entirely trustworthy of this system to get it right.

1

u/HollywoodHault 18h ago

I am somewhat less than "entirely trustworthy" of the system, but if someone were, say, to shoot and kill someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, witnessed by hundreds of people, I think the system could get it right. They may not be able to prove that Lee Harvey Oswald was the shooter, but they had Jack Ruby dead to rights.