ANSWERS: 19
  • I would oppose because it's our moral integrity to abolish death penalty. In the 21st century the death penalty takes away a part of our human nature. It is an immoral issue in our century. The desire to kill, the desire to want someone to kill, is a cruel instinct in itself. The government should be in the business of protecting its people, not killing people. Murdering people is no way close in protecting us, it demeans everyone.
  • I am a US citizen and am answering from my perspective as an American. While I would not oppose televised executions because of the First Amendment (free speech, free press), I don't think it is a good idea. I don't see that it serves any purpose whatsoever. If the intent is sensationalism, that certainly would be accomplished. The condemned person would be getting the fame theat he or she may very well crave. If the intent is to dissuade people from committing capital crimes, there is no evidence that execution accomplishes that at all. Considering the risk that the person being executed may be innocent, the intent could easily backfire. My position is that I would turn off the TV, I would write the sponsors to register my disgust, and I would not purchase the sponsors' products.
  • I am strictly against the death penalty. The reason is that someone innocent could be killed.
  • They no longer execute people in my country. As it is, my mind is at odds over the death penalty, on one side, I acknowledge that there are some evil people out there who are obviously guilty and have committed incredibly heinous crimes that should warrant execution. However, on the other hand, I am against the death penalty because there's always the chance that that person might be innocent. Repeat offending criminals - such as serial killers, rapists, pedophiles etc - should be studied to provide a greater understanding of how their mind works and thus a greater chance that this knowledge can be used to catch another offender - if, assuming there's not a queue on death row, they're all executed, we have no chance of gaining that knowledge. And also because they might be withholding information about where someone's loved one is buried. Once executed that information is gone forever (of course, some toerags never tell anyway). Would I oppose televised executions? Probably. If I had the cold hard facts before me that that person was a cold-hearted, guilty murderer I might change my mind and watch and be sickened (plus the media would drag the killer's grieving family into the fray which would probably add to my misgivings about watching the execution). A lot of people might watch because they're curious. However, I'm sure such an execution would have a huge political backlash and actually lead to more trouble than it's worth. Then you have this idea that watching a person die could either a) stop someone from offending because they are aware of the dire penalties or b) cause some nutter to watch it over and over again and then go on a rampage - perhaps because they're idolising the executed prisoner or simply because they've just learnt how cool it is to have that power over another human being.
  • This reminds me of the Romans throwing Christians to the lions. It wasn't justice, it was entertainment. When death enters the entertainment medium, we have diminished our standards to an alarming degree, and sacrificed a portion of our humanity.
  • Think it would make for a good TV, guarantee the ratings would be thru roof... Feed the natural human curiosity.
  • I am ambivalent on this issue. I agree with others who have noted that the chance of killing an innocent person is reason enough to oppose the death penalty. However, if we are going to have our government kill people in our name, maybe we should have to watch it. I would think that genuine death (as oppposed to TV/movie/video game death) might be sufficiently grizzly and nauseating to make some people reconsider their relationship to violence. On the other hand, there's a market out there for "snuff films" and I've read that the market for pornography which combines sex with violence has grown tremendously in recent years. Maybe there are too many sick people in our society that would 'get off' on watching executions to have such a public display serve a useful purpose. Dang, this is a tough one...
  • I oppose televised/public executions of criminals. My reason: Why do criminals deserve attention (assuming these criminals ARE criminals and are in no way innocent)?
  • I am opposed to that. While I am not opposed to the death penalty in extreme circumstances a death like that, no matter who is dying, should be private.
  • I don't think we need to see it, we have enough violence on tv for the kids already. Not to mention death isn't good to see for any reason.
  • I oppose that because it would make people callous toward death, and executions would turn into reality TV. The thought of that makes me sick inside.
  • I am for the Capital Punishment for the proven guilty MFers. I don't know if I'd want it televised, maybe shown to all the other guilty MFers in prison. People keep saying that there may be an innocent person on death row...well maybe 1 in a million. "Proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt!" I don't think there's many if any innocent people on death row.
  • I wouldn't oppose it, but I'd not approve of it. Executions are to rid the world of scum that have given up the right to live. This isn't something to be celebrated, it's something to be done to make the world a better place.
  • Not that it will help to make a decision in answer to this question, but think of their families (doesn't deter the paparazzio). They don't deserve to have that televised. They didn't commit the crime. It would just add to their pain. And there is, what I can see, no good reason to televise it. I think the way executions are handled by the media in today's world is sufficient. Gets the news out there but doesn't sensationalize it or make a spectacle of it.
  • i don't really go for the whole death penalty thing just because i don't think killing them is any better than them killing the others. it's just not worth it to me. i know people who had their father murdered and they didn't want to press the death penalty against the killer. the daughter told me - it wont bring my dad back and i don't care what happens to the man, but i don't want him dead because of me personally. so i guess just by her model i can't really go for the showing of something i oppose. it's kind of morbid
  • I think it is in poor taste to televise it. If folks want to watch, they should do it in person. It just seems more civilized, I guess (if that's even possible).
  • I oppose having telivised executions. There is enough sensationalism on TV as it is. I just recently watched a movie that shows the ramifications of a telivised execution-"Citizen Verdict: http://imdb.com/title/tt0342207/ The acting isn't that great but the message is pretty clear.
  • Oppose. Strangely enough when there have been public punishments the rate of crimes that merit those punishments rise.
  • Perhaps if you shove it into people's faces, state-sponsored death would become less desirable.

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