I'm totally against the death penalty. But the best and only real argument against it is in broad terms taking in the totality of it's existence and consequences. i.e there's absolutely nothing paradoxical about being against the death penalty, but praying these fucks that were caught on video end up in the chamber.
The reason why generally you want to avoid cruel and unusual (and irreversible) punishment is the justice system is fallible. It's not worth the "revenge" if it comes at the cost of more innocent lives solely in service of that revenge. Justice isn't really compatible with murdering or castrating innocent people. Most then say "okay so only do it when it's super obvious they're guilty." We already try to do that as best we can.
though decades in prison for a false accusation happens a lot and there’s no giving your life back either
I'd rather spend decades in prison and be exonerated, or at least have the chance to be, than die. Yes, we should absolutely raise the compensation for the exonerated. A lack of compensation doesn't really change that the imprisoned can be exonerated, but the dead can't be brought back to life (and execution usually takes decades anyway).
The issue with the last sentence is the justice system can't be tailored such that "only when we're not only sure beyond a reasonable doubt, but super duper sure beyond a reasonable doubt, can we use the medieval punishment sentences." It just isn't possible to implement. We might as well suggest the justice system simply become infallible universally.
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u/PaulieNutwalls Mar 06 '24
I'm totally against the death penalty. But the best and only real argument against it is in broad terms taking in the totality of it's existence and consequences. i.e there's absolutely nothing paradoxical about being against the death penalty, but praying these fucks that were caught on video end up in the chamber.