The Question | Questions | Is The Death Penalty Wrong?

20 Jan

There is a raging debate about the death penalty and whether it should be used. Is it a deterrent? Is killing a morally acceptable solution to crime? Is the death penalty justified on grounds of retribution? Here?s one answer from a young philosopher.

Kyle

THE QUESTION of the week is: ?Is the death penalty wrong?? This week, our guest artist and philosopher is Kyle. Kyle is a passionate, sweet, adventurous, and friendly 9 year old, who lives in St. James, Long Island and Silver Beach , the Bronx . Kyle has a fabulous sense of humor. He is a 4 th grader at Mills Pond Elementary School in St. James. His teacher is Ms. Laurine.

Kyle?s favorite subjects are math and science. He loves to play all sports, especially baseball, football, and hockey. He likes to watch sports, play video games, and play with his friends, Brian, Nick, and Chris. He also enjoys riding his bike, his electric go-kart, and his scooter. In the summer, he enjoys going to Yankee games with his dad.

Kyle chose, with great enthusiasm, the question: ?Is the Death Penalty Wrong?? One of the reasons he liked this question is that he happened to have been talking about it a few days before our interview. He already had his answer all ready to go! Kyle believes that the death penalty is wrong. Kyle thinks, ?Killing a killer is killing. If anyone believes that killing is so bad that the killer should get the death penalty, then they believe killing is a very bad thing. Two wrongs don?t make a right.?

After clearly asserting his view on the death penalty, Kyle proposed an objection to his view before I even had a chance to talk. He said ?I know some people think that the death penalty scares bad people from killing, but I think there are better ways to scare people. Plus, the death penalty puts people to sleep forever. Maybe that?s not even so scary. Maybe people would be willing to risk it.? (Another philosophical question we came close to addressing is: Is death bad for the one who dies? After all, a dead person does not feel pain or suffer.)

As Kyle took his first breath, I quickly asked him what he had in mind when he said he could think of something scarier than the death penalty as a punishment. He thought life in jail forever would be worse. ?Jail should not be a nice place,? he added. ?Prisoners who kill people should work really hard in jail and their pay should be a bowl of cereal.? I mentioned that some people object to life in prison as a reasonable alternative because it is expensive for taxpayers. Kyle thought we could cut down on the cost by having minimal comforts in jail and by using the prisoners to work for the benefit of the community. For example, ?they could build playgrounds, pick up litter, shovel the sidewalks in the winter and things like that. Prisoners do not have to sit in their jail cell all day, doing nothing. All prisoners should have a job that benefits society.?

Kyle also added that some killers could possibly change. If a person changed from being a killer to being a good person, Kyle believes the person could be let out of jail (with total supervision at first.) Kyle needed more time to think about how the test would go, but he thought some good test might be designed to show if the person really became good or if the person was just pretending to be good.

I think that anyone that thinks that murdering is evil but then says that you should kill the murderer, and then they are hypocrites. I think that there are better ways on punishing other than the death penalty, like life in jail, that is a much better way of punishment and they will practically want to die.

i agree with ur coment it is a bad thing to do

I disagree with you Ashley i do agree with the death penalty. The only thing wronge with the life sentance is that once there out they might do it again. Sometimes we need to use the death penalty to clean up our streets. Now whats wronge with the death penalty is that some of the time our justice system is WRONG. They have executed a LOT of people that are innocent. For example Chris Masters, thank god he wasent executed, but what if he was we would all fell bad think about that.

The death penalty is a good thing. It cost us taxes payers around 50000 dollars a year to keep an inmate alive that is on death roll. This money goes towards health care and entertainment. Why should they be deserving of these benefits when more than a fourth of our country don’t make 50000 and can’t afford health care. Why spend our tax money on theses low lives when we can buy a bullet for 25cents or use lethal injection which cost 100 dollars.

Religiously speaking, murder of any kid is not right. And are we really the ones to judge who lives and who dies? I think that is God’s job. If I was murdered, I would show my murder mercy if that was possible. Unfortunately for me, my parents support the death penalty…

To remark on the religious comments, within two chapters of the ten commandments, the Bible says that he who kills surely deserves to die.

Ya, but does it say they SHOULD die? nope, it says htey desrve, to. the bible also says that evryone should be given a 2nd chance

The same God you speak of banishes those who sin into eternal damnation. If He confides in this belief of one’s ability to change and our deservance for a second chance; why are we to suffer eternally for a ‘mistake’.

Reply to Martin Blank,

Reliously speaking, the Bible says that murder is wrong. But reliously speaking, the Bible also says if someone takes someones eye out, then it should be done to them as well. If someone kills another person, it should be done to them as well. The death penalty the RIGHT thing to do. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.. (Exodus 21:23-25) Do unto others as you would have done to you. Before you say RELIOUSLY SPEAKING.. can you please read the Bible first? Thanks.

If you confide in the justice of the death penalty, then you are promoting the death of a person’s life. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. According to the bible, you deserve equal punishment. It’s a vicious cycle.

actually, derick, death sentences cost as much, if not more. There is the cost of appeals, to make sure innocent people don’t get executed. besides, they have to be kept in high-security prisons, which also cost a lot. This process makes it months, even years, perhaps even like 25 years before they die. so…yeah. whereas, Kyle is right, we could still make prisoners useful to society: work programs. those work. dead people can’t really do anything. sometimes state money has to be used for, like, their cremation, because no one claims the body

i think you are wrong. even though you have to pay taxes, it really shouldnt be a lot of money. after all, it is prison, not a lucksury hotel. crimmminals should get the worst treatment possible. plus, who are we to decide who lives and who dies? if someone killed my sister, i would not want them to have the death penalty, but live a long miserable life in jail thinking about and regreting everything they have done wrong. and who knows they might even change

i think that killing is wrong. i do agree. but if ur just going to repeat the same crime pretty much, you are giving them a way out of there sentence. why not make them really serve their sentence. EXample: NO PROBATION. 100 YEARS IN PRISON. WORKING.

i think the death penalty is wrong, don’t get me wrong but on the other hand if their staying in prison for the rest of their lives who’s paying for that (that’s right we are) it’s tax payers dollars that are being wasted on keeping these criminals alive and giving them food and a roof over their heads. being in prison is probably the wrost thing ever but it’s still not that bad compared to what they did to someone to be put in there. hell they’re living better than some poor people who haven’t done a terrible thing like that in their life. so who’s to really say what they think should happen to criminals? i know it’s definitly not us!!

your all right but tanya your right on I was in prison for a crime I did not do I eat better in prison then out of it. So in a nut shell we mess up and it will not be fix any time soon.

The death penalty can actually be up to four times as much as life in prison.

for sure and hundred percent I gree with Kyle’s opinons and Tanya as well. killing someone and sit down in jail is worthless or killing the killer is not a good idea they have to be punish hardly,...I have gone for 4 days without food, three days without water never done anywthing wrong,i was a refugee I resh my life to find something to eat in a different country, compare to someone who kill people and they eat and sit down,....I wish I had time to write more, sorry readers I have to go.

My name is Erin and I am a Sophmore in High School one of my assignments is to write 5pg paper about my opinion on the death penalty. I have already wrote a 5pg paper about the what is death penalty. then I will be having to present a power point. I chose this topic because it was very interesting and its something that people dont think about everyday. I would have to agree with Kyle. he has some very good points. Lyfe in Jail would not seem so pretty. Having to worry about the violence and hate in prison, or just sitting in your cell for 24 hours not being able to see your family. Now thats suffering. on the Fact side, It does cost the tax payers (which is us) thousands of dollars just to feed these killers. So why Feed them? Why are we paying for their dinner and showers?

I agree with you its so crazy i found this website because im doin a persusive essay and i can realy use you as an example thanx kyle

it’s interesting how people say it’s the money. you are not personally paying ”$50,000” a year to house these people. you have no idea how much you’re spending on other wasteful things, so why focus on this? because someone told you to. someone running for office or in office as justification for having the death penalty. the reality, with the appeals process, it can take just as long, if not longer to actually get the person executed. this is of course excluding the possibility of innocence. to deprive someone of life when they’re innocent is a crime in itself. beyond that, it’s simply evil. “be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

The Death Penalty is wrong! Who are we to judge. Only God can judge us.

This is a puzzling remark, Sophia. You say it is wrong, but then say we cannot judge this issue. Aren’t you judging by saying it is wrong?

Maybe you are saying that we cannot judge one another and by endorsing the death penalty, we force ourselves to judge one another. But, we do judge one another all the time. Aren’t we competent to judge some things? Isn’t it good that we judge people on what is right and wrong? What if we did not do so?

Maybe I am misunderstanding you. I hope you will write back so I can understand your idea better. Thanks!

Taking a person’s life away is taking a person’s life away. Whether its life in prison or its lethal injection. (note i’m talking about major criminals that are beyond a doubt guilty of the crime, which may be hard to sell.) If we are saying God should judge these people and not us then why are we even locking them up and taking there lives from them? Who are we to judge right? I think those opposed to the death penalty AND only those opposed should pay for the expenses of these criminals. Even 10 cents a year is too much for me to pay for them. And another thing.. injecting someone with a large dose of AIR will kill them just as dead. Why do we use Sodium thiopental and pay for that too?

I do not feel that the death penalty is wrong. I believe that a person should get what they deserve. I fully support the saying “an eye for an eye”. If that person killed or sexually assaulted another person, I think it is only fair that they should lose their life for destroying the life of another person. Some people may say that the death penalty is inhumane, but I see it this way. By killing one, you save many. Though, taking someone’s life is in a way inhumane. I feel it is more inhumane to let that person live and let them continue to destroy the lives of others.

I think its funny that you all are saying that you don’t want to pay for these people to sit in jail, and they should be killed, when it actually cost more to impose the death penalty. In California, he system costs 137 million per year, with the recommended reform it would be over 230 million, without the death penalty it would only be 11.5 million. Its about 63.3 million dollars we would spend on ‘life without parole’ inmates in california. That sounds a little better than 230+ million. People on death row are often secluded and have their own security guards, plus the cost of the lawyers, judge, jurors, all on supreme court level, well, it adds up. But no, go ahead and justify your wanting to kill criminals because you don’t want to pay for them.

Yeah I kinda have mixed emotions about the death penalty. Some say that part of your tax money goes to them while they sit in jail. Or you can you can just kill them while there on death row and it’ll be cheaper on us none killers. Also did you know that a lot of innocent people get killed while on death row. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hi my name is sara and I have got a debate to present on execution. And my team is we dont agree with these. And I agree with Sophia. Who are we to judge on humans life. God created us and let him decide on what to do with the person. We all know that when you some wrong we wont always left alone. one way or another God will punish us and give us what we deserve so let him decide. And we are sending them to prison inorder to prevent them from killing more. And I know people say that what if they escape so its better to kill them because ther is no escape from that. but they are wrong ” What if they escape?” shall not even be a question cause the solution is to secure the place highly that is easy. So I really think that execution is wrong.

I believe the death penalty is right thing. If someone murdered an innocent life, I feel the only way they could be punished is with there life. The person that was killed and did not ask to die. Nothing can replace that life lost.How could you punish someone by just letting them sit in prison and then go free? I think it is also okay when it comes to someone that was a serial killer.

i think kyle is absolutely right. i was going to write a speech on death penality being wrong and i had views similar to kyle but to most of the sites i refer to they supported death penalty. People who kill are killers and they should be puished for their acts but people who kill the killers are also killers as well. Punishments for killers should not be easy. Criminals should pay for their crime, not die easily. human have only one life to live in and its responsibilty of the other human to lead the humans in wrong path.

i agree with the death penalty. when you have people that receive several life sentences and have no chance of getting out, whats the point in keeping them in jail? i don’t mean to sound cynical but its a waste of tax dollars. the people who are imprisoned are having better lives that the thousands of homeless people in America.

if we say “an eye for an eye” then should executionist be executed as well

i like that abe, but i found an awesome quote from this guy names gandhi. i know he is hindu, but the meaning is all the same-”an eye for a eye ends up making the whole world blind” i love that

No,

In this case “an eye” would refer to the eye of the accused and “for an eye” to the eye of the victim.

Only one eye for one eye.

The ‘eye’ that the executer wants to grab is already gone towards the victim.

Of course, you might be thinking that the accused has two eyes so the executer is taking one as well. If this is true, then the spiral of killing will never stop, unless the executer only has one eye.

To recap. Victim looses eye to accused. One is taken back from the accused for the victim, leaving the accused with still one eye. The executer takes the other eye of the accused and one must now be taken from the executer. Luckily, he only has one eye, so it ends there.

Tally: victim(-1eye) – accused(-2eye) – executer(-1eye)

The accused is punished too severly!

The Death penalty is needed because there needs to be an example made to people who commit crimes that they can not and will not get away with killing someone and walking away “scot free” or spending the rest of their likes in an institution paid by our tax dollars.
its ridiculous if you cant return a man or women back into society without them hurting or killing ppl there should be something done. And Death Penalty is something.

Along with a majority of the comments i have read, i am also doing a high school paper, a persuasive essay in that matter of fact. I was very intrueged [i think i spelled that wrong] to hear what Kyle, a 9 year-old boy, had to say about the death penalty. He has beautiful points but can a boy trully know the value of justice? So far i supose he has learned in turn from his parents the difference between right and wrong… but a boy so young has most likely has no clue what it is like to lose a loved one to someones mindless, selfish, wronfull acts. Why should they get the pleasure of life if we cannot have the pleasure of the life lost?

is it right to kill some inoccent people to get to the bad people think of all the inocent people convicted if they were in jail we could let them out but we cant un-kill them

I dont think the death penalty is right, killing people, humans shouldnt be the ones to choose! only God thats why when we die he decides if we go to heaven or hell!

like cole, i am also doing a persasive essay, on the death penalty, infact. being a christian teen, i believe that the death penalty is wrong. god should be the one to choose wheither one lives or dies, and he also says to give people a second chance. i have also been doing some reserch, and it costs $90,ooo a year to house crimminals. and yet, it takes $63.3 million to kill only 670 in california, so tax payers should be interested in that. plus, 3/4 of the people killed in a death penalty prove to be innocent, so it reallly isnt helpful at all.

I think the death penalty is ver wrong!!! I say it is not our choice to take a life it is Gods choice, and if you kill them arent you the same as them, because they killed someone and you are killing them so you both are murdering!!! Two wrongs do not make a right!!!

for one thing all i can say is wow he is one smart kid and another thing i think i would have to adree with kyle the death penalty is bad and instead they should make the bad people do work for our society so things coulf posibly get better for our economy and they could change and become good people instead of all of the killers havin to die or sit in jail and be lazy all day they could be helping. and to that i say that the death penalty is bad and kyle way to go youll do great in the world when your older. your one smart cookie!!!!

the little boy knows what he is talking about he is a very smart little boy and diserves to have his own opinion THE DEATH PENALTY IS WRONG and should not be given to anybody.TWO WRONGS DONT MAKE A RIGHT YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT THAT BEFORE JUDGEING SOMEBODY.thank you for your time by.

I also have a debate going in my high school English class. My team is going against the death penalty and at first I thought we would lose because I couldn’t think of why these horrible criminals deserve to live. But after reading Kyle’s piece and many of these comments I have changed my way of thinking. Killing a killer is wrong because that’s why they are getting murdered. So how does that make it right for the executioner? The executioner is also a killer, so does he deserve the death penalty? There are better alternatives other than the death penalty.

Yes, it only incites fear in people, and fear is a debilitating emotion, it causes more problems than it solves and it doesn’t prevent anything.

It seems like a good argument to say the executioner becomes the same thing that the person being executed is, a murderer. However, if you view the executioner as a punisher rather than a murderer I don’t see a problem. Seems some people forget that prison is not all about rehabilitation, but perhaps even more so about punishment. If someone offered me life in prison with no chance of parole or death, I would chose life in prison in a heartbeat. I’d like to think anyone would because we only got one go at this whole “life” thing. With that in mind, I see life as a very precious thing and if someone intentionally takes another persons life, theirs should be forfeit. I think that is the real essence of “eye for an eye”. The cycle ends with the criminal’s life.

God does say in the Bible that it is wrong to kill, but you need to think on both sides. Imagine that a cerial killer is on the loose, and has killed numerous people. The death penalty may seem like the better option, than to leave him to starve in a cell, or to go out and kill other people again. The death penalty Might be the right thing to do, but the Bible does say do unto others as you would have them Do unto you, which does not mean that if someone does something to you, you can do it back, but you have to understand that it is wrong to kill, and the death penalty is killing, which is basicaly saying you believe it is right to kill someone, but not for them to kill. it is a very intresting subject to think on before you can just say I believe this, if you know what I mean. God will forgive you if you come to a time in your life that you have done something wrong, and need Gods help to contenue life. I hope you enjoyed what I have to say, and May GOD Bless!

i agree that we have no power or the right to decide who dies and what makes them get the death penalty. But its isn’t like we just pick random people out from the street and be like hey you are going on the death penalty. If you kill someone then you deserve the maxium penalty that there is. When you are in jail there is always the possiblity of getting out. no matter what people say about how secure prisons are you can always get out. When you are dead you can’t come back from the dead of kill anyone again

In a perfect judiciary, Capital Punishment is acceptable. However, by nature, a judiciary involving Humans is imperfect. Therefore, Capital Punishment is unacceptable. “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

its not about religion, its about right and wrong. You cant make a wrong right by doing a wrong. And for those who think it costs us a lot of money to put these dangerous killers in jail.. it costs just as must to kill them. The months of trials and trying to come to the final decision actually ends up costing MORE than if they were sentenced to life imprisonment. I agree with the comment above and especially like his last sentence.