Is it right to support the death penalty for men, but not for women?

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   KatSangerposted 12 years ago

   Is it right to support the death penalty for men, but not for women?

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2. 60

   NotPCposted 12 years ago

   Is it right to support the death penalty at all? Even if, in theory, you support killing the baddest of the bad criminals, in practice there is always a chance that you're killing an innocent person, and that alone should make the death penalty illegal.

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3. 78

   Karreposted 12 years ago

   I am not sure that there should be any argument on whether the death penalty is "right" for men and "wrong" for women. There are certain crimes in certain states that warrant the death penalty (by law) regardless of sex. Having said that, there are some things to consider that I can think of off the top of my head: 1) many capital punishment crimes by women are done because of the continued unrecognized mental health conditions that are particular to women -- severe postpartum depression is one example in a case where a woman may have killed her children; 2) there have been scholarly works that indicate that most women in prison are there because of some control that a man (typically a boyfriend or husband) has exerted over her. In essence, there are times she was a victim too. Since these issues have yet to find a correct place within the legal system, perhaps it there is legitimate argument, assuming the death penalty is a good thing. Which leads me to respond to NotPC -- I agree (assuming I understand your comment correctly) that since death is final, and so many are on death row without access to the newest technology, such as DNA testing, that it is probably better on society as a whole to having many living criminals than one dead innocent person.

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      NotPCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You understood me correctly I know that my writing can be difficult to decipher sometimes! Killing one innocent person is too many. Some may disagree, but personally if I were the innocent person I would be pretty upset!

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      Karreposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      NotPC, Your writing is great, I was just clarifying. I agree that  one innocent person is worth disallowing the death penalty. But that was not the question, so I answered the question but wanted to respond to your comment b/c  its important too. :-)

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   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   I'm all for equality even when it's the death penalty!

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   ambercita04posted 12 years ago

   I would say no. What makes men murdering different than women murdering? Sex should not play a role in justice. Justice should look at crime and the surrounding conditions of the crime to set the penalty based on the laws of the land. The only things that should affect the outcome should be psychological factors, self-defense factors, and what the victims desire. Other than that, justice should stay focused on the crime, not the sex.

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