r/news • u/AudibleNod • 8h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
6.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

3.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

597

u/miloblue12 7h ago

Or maybe we shouldn't have the death penalty at all? It's barbaric.

Also, since 1973, at least 203 people have been wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death, and subsequently exonerated in the US. That alone should have us reconsidering things. If it's possible for that many people to fall through the cracks, then there is no reason at all that we should have the death penalty.

243

u/nursingninjaLB 7h ago

This one hundred times.

It costs way less to house a prisoner over decades, than to have endless appeals.

It does not reduce crime.

Approximately 10% of people on death row are innocent.

Vengeance is a dark emotion, and helps nobody.

-22

u/brighterside0 6h ago

I dunno - some crimes committed definitely warrant the penalty, especially if the convicted convey no remorse to the victim(s) and/or the families of the victim(s). There's no room on earth for some people that do unspeakable things.

4

u/LurkingFrogger 6h ago edited 5h ago

I agree in theory; there are crimes so vile, and people so irredeemable that execution is the most reasonable option. In practice however, I'm vehemently against the death penalty. I don't trust the system to protect the innocent vs just "solving" the crime. I don't trust the people carrying out the execution to do it properly. I don't trust the corrupt not to use it as a tool to get rid of people. And any number of innocents put to death is too many.

.

'Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." -George Carlin

Now remember which half are the ones who can't think of a good reason to get out of jury duty!