Most of the justifications for the death penalty have proved ineffective insofar as a deterrence is concerned, have merely fed the appetite for vengeance, are uneconomic and provide a solution for which there is no remedy if a legal mistake is discovered. In general, the death penalty has provided small utility for society and encouraged cruelty and thoughtlessness in society. Looked at logically, people who have been determined to have committed a crime against society so horrendous as to deserve to be killed are an unused resource for activities which might benefit society by putting their lives at risk for social benefit, risks which could not morally be imposed on normal people. There are many medical experiments which are not made because it might result in severe risks for the patient. People normally condemned to death might repay their debt to society by participating in medical experiments that would be considered too risky for the average person.This is a dangerous social proposal as it is a slippery slope as exemplified by the German Nazi concentration camp experiments on Jews and Gypsies which merely satisfied the idle medical curiosity of the doctors involved so the legal restraints on this type of use of condemned people must be very carefully supervised.
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I actually agree with most of this, but I would have to disagree that the death penalty should be entirely eliminated. Some crimes are so heinous that the death penalty is clearly justified (serial killers, mass murderers).Short of opening up an escape-proof prison colony similar to Devils Island, I don't know of any way to be certain that they are permanently isolated from civilized society.
However, if you must do away with the death penalty, some other solutions might include:
Surgically implanted GPS transponders, or ID chips such as used presently to identify pets. The GPS transponders could help locate an escaped killer; these could also be used within a prison itself for tracking the movements of individual prisoners.
Other forms of ID chips could alert sensitive businesses or concerned individuals of the proximity of a convicted, paroled killer (other uses might include implanting chips is other criminals; for example, criminals convicted of armed robbery could have chips that set off alarms in business vulnerable to robberies). This could replace easily-defeated ankle monitors.
Tattoo the criminal's crime on his forehead, along with a prison ID number. This could include a barcode...
Any purely technical method of isolating a person from society and persecuting him/her for the rest of existence would surely harden the resolve for revenge on society and technical solutions would most probably lead to technical countersolutions and so on ad infinitum. Hopelessness can easily lead to suicide bombing and other forms of frightful mass murder.
Perhaps there is little deterrence gained from having a death penalty. I'm guessing that someone willing to die for their actions has a mind set that precludes thinking of death as being a bad alternative in the first place.
However, studies have shown that people who undergo the full extent of the death penalty have a 0% rate of recidivism . . .
Both comments so far have totally missed the point of the suggestion. It was to make use of someone who otherwise was relegated to the garbage pile. There was no indication that the prisoner should be returned to society.
As it stands now not all states have the death penalty and the ones that do try to find the most humane way possible to put someone to death. They want an anasetheologist at the leathal injection to insure a prisoner is not in pain when he/she is put to death. Getting something like this past the human rights people would be a nightmare. There would have to be new laws past that voided any basic human (or animal) rights at the execution. Then instead of pulling the switch you go into the experiment program. That or it could be voluntary. Give the person a choice. Do you want the needle or well...the needles?
The concept of human rights of a prisonr being executed is one of the more surreal ideas I have encountered.
I think this is a good idea, though it probably can't be implemented due to the "cruel and unusual punishment" rule. Too bad.
As you have mentioned yourself,
1.What if an unsuccessfull and negative experiment has taken place on a person who has been later found <NOT GUILTY>.
2. What if a monster has undergone a successfull experiment for immortality? This may happen, as scientists are trying for that you know.
My suggestion is that as long as we have this fear of finding him <NOT GUILTY> we should do 2 things:-
A. Not executing a death penalty on any one, no matter how horrifying their crimes have been.Abolish it from the earth.
B. Instead we can brain wash them ( like terrorists do) by somehow convincing that instead of being hanged, they are being given a chance to become martyrs or heros and send them all to countries like Afganistan and Iraq and use them for determined risky operations with only two simple choices <DO OR DIE>. If unsuccessfull, you have lost one criminal and if successfull, possibly they change.
The problem with sending them to Iraq or Afganistan is that it gives them too many opportunities to escape. Also, the regular soldiers would probably have a hard time trusting them. I wouldn't want the regular troops to have to rely on them when their lives are on the line.
Death penalties should only be handed out in cases where guilt is absolutely certain. If there's any doubt at all, they should get life. You might think that if there's a doubt they shouldn't be convicted, but this isn't how the system works.
I'm whole-heartedly against the death penalty. I really cannot see why America is persisting in this arcane method of punishment?
100's of years have passed since this has been "acceptable" in the vast majority of the world. Other methods, incarceration and such, do work and have been employed with success almost everywhere!
You simply cannot kill someone because they have killed someone, what obvious example are you setting by doing so. An eye for an eye for an eye.... it just goes on.
Incarcerate the individual so they can do no more harm and educate them as to why/how they have done this wrong. Fair enough, if the crime warrants it lock them away for all their life. But don't kill them, as not only is it an easy way out, but as I said, it is setting an example to the population, making it seem that killing someone because they have wronged you is OK!
I would rather see people on death row sent to perform dangerous military missions in the war on terror.
Your opinions on the death penalty are common, but not proven.
While I strongly oppose the death penalty and have done so for the past 50 years, the idea of performing medical experiments on condemned people is repugnant and not an improvement over the many problems associated with the death penalty.
There should be no death penalty. Period. Whenever a person dies, they take all of the knowledge they have with them; shielding accomplices.
Whenever a mass murderer dies, the trail goes cold for missing persons.
Whenever a person dies for mutilating a specific individual, they can in no way repay that family for their losses.
I do not want to PUNISH criminals, I want them to be ethically put to work to provide useful recompense for deeds done.
Southern states still fraudulently incarcerate people and indirectly force them into basic slave labor. Yes, this is still being done today. Fayette County, Alabama creates laws and business conditions that promote ADHD victims to commit crimes. They are then imprisoned and rented out.
The concept of renting prisoners out isn't bad, it is bad that the wrong people are going to prison because of corrupt county administration. An ethical control system needs to be put in place so that the right people are put in jail. And those who are mentally handicapped are provided treatment and training to lead productive lives.
It used to be that mental institutions housed thousands of patients, now they only house the extremely impaired, or those that are willing to pay for their own stay. I will bet that over half of all inmates have some form of untreated ADHD.
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We need to deal with the seed of the problems of the criminal system, not its symptoms.
yeah there's an idea. we should probably reserect Hitler while we're at that; maybe i can design some hideous torture devices for you too!
Um, your logic that prevention hasn't worked in cases where the death penalty has been given as a verdict, I would argue this: Sure, how many more people were victimized by those that were capitally punished? (My answer as a guess: zero, 'cause they're no longer alive to harm others!)
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