why i think the death penalty should be reinstated worldwide.

@Rogan2112 said:

@gravitypress: I respectfully beg to differ: In 1990 The number of murders in Texas was 2389 (the highest number of murders for a year between 1990 and 2010 was 1991 in which the number of murders was 2652, the lowest was 1999 the number of murders being 1217) Between 1990 and 1999 the number of convicted murderers executed in Texas was166. Between 2000-2010 the number of convicted murderers executed was 280.

There COULD of course be other factors but this is also fairly simple math. Over the course of twenty years...the number of executions roughly doubled, and the number of murders roughly halved. So I'm not sure what you mean by "look at Texas" I don't LIKE the death penalty, I think it's a horrible necessity, and it it actually harms us all a little bit as a society, however, in Texas at least, it clearly has an effect on the murder rate, it prevents the tax payers (in the long run) from the expense of the tremendous amount of tax dollars it takes to house ONE inmate(yes there is a great expense in legal costs associated with a death penalty case associated with appeals and such, but once the inmate has been executed, those costs are made up before long. It's a horrible reality, but in this instance, if it ISN'T working, it's doing a VERY good job of LOOKING like it's working.

And here is the "contra-point" to your post: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/657. The article, albeit it a little old, shows that even states without the death penalty can have lower crime rates. This shows that capital punishment probably has little to do with crime rate.

@Rogan2112: I see what you are saying but the number of murders has gone down nationally not just in Texas but Texas still remains one of the highest murder states in the US.

@MonkeyToe: But of course, here is something, over in the USA they have a wonderful thing called the 1st Amendment, law of constitutional rights.

Basically it means, there is no such thing as a thought crime, you have a right to opinions, and you can say whatever you like as long as you're not threatening or discriminating against ones nationality, age, disability, orientation or skin color. ect.

if we, as a western society are going to uphold freedom of expression, then we shouldn't try to blur the lines between what is fictional and real.

sorry, but I cannot condone the deprivation of freedom of some otaku just because you didn't like anything in his manga collection. and the people I know agree with what I say on this because they'd rather the police go after pervs who are making or in possession of real child porn. just because there is a law against fictional porn doesn't mean it is morally correct. but we'll have to agree to disagree.

@aliensoldier105 said:

@MonkeyToe: But of course, here is something, over in the USA they have a wonderful thing called the 1st Amendment, law of constitutional rights.

Basically it means, there is no such thing as a thought crime, you have a right to opinions, and you can say whatever you like as long as you're not threatening or discriminating against ones nationality, age, disability, orientation or skin color. ect.

if we, as a western society are going to uphold freedom of expression, then we shouldn't try to blur the lines between what is fictional and real.

sorry, but I cannot condone the deprivation of freedom of some otaku just because you didn't like anything in his manga collection. and the people I know agree with what I say on this because they'd rather the police go after pervs who are making or in possession of real child porn. just because there is a law against fictional porn doesn't mean it is morally correct. but we'll have to agree to disagree.

Sorry, wrong again. Go back and read that same exact wikipedia link you posted earlier:

18 USC 1466A

In response to Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, Congress passed the PROTECT Act of 2003 (also dubbed the Amber Alert Law) and it was signed into law on April 30, 2003 by then presidentGeorge W. Bush. The law enacted 18 U.S.C.§ 1466A, which criminalizes material that has "a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture or painting", that "depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and is "obscene" or "depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in ... sexual intercourse ... and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value".

By its own terms, the law does not make all simulated child pornography illegal, only that found to be obscene or lacking in serious value. And mere possession of said images is not a violation of the law unless it can be proven that they were transmitted through a common carrier, such as the mail or the internet, or transported across state lines. There is also an affirmative defense made for possession of no more than two images with "reasonable steps to destroy" the images or reporting and turning over the images to law enforcement

@MonkeyToe: And you tell me something I already knew because? yeah it means they wont be locked up for being in possession of a pseudo image of an illegal sexual act. pretty much what I was talking about this whole time *yawn*

@aliensoldier105

Guess what, you wouldn't be either: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/09/30/lost-girls-britain-alan-moore/

Care to argue the point further?

Plus this: "So far Christopher Handley has been the only person found guilty of possession under laws against artificial depictions that was not also under investigation for child pornography involving real minors."

@gravitypress: Texas is also is also one of the states with the highest populations in the United States as well. Either way, the death penalty clearly shows it has an impact on the comission on the number of murders commited.

All of you are arguing with a child. aliensoldier105 can't be more then 16 years old. At least that's how his opinions comes across. Rape is not torture. It's a physical assault. They same way that getting beat up is not torture. And the death penalty? Geez, you gotta be kidding.

There is no justification for the death penalty. Sure doesn't work in Texas. You think killing prisoners will save money? Ever hear of the appeal system? Costs more to kill someone then keep them in prison. Wow...

@MonkeyToe: If you knew about that this whole time, then why didn't you point that out when we started talking about this? are you messing us around here? if so, hahaha funny joke.

but the wikipedia states the legal status regarding cartoon depictions of sexual activity of minors and all. that does not include the nude scene in the simpsons movie I mentioned earlier though. I hope.

but whatever :) Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does lol Homer Simpson has some good quotes in there.

@Rogan2112 said:

@gravitypress: Texas is also is also one of the states with the highest populations in the United States as well. Either way, the death penalty clearly shows it has an impact on the comission on the number of murders commited.

You can't make that statement unless you know for a fact what every single legal and judicial reform was done in the time frame you mentioned. ANYTHING can have an effect on how many murders are committed, from the number of police employed to the economic environment. You can't present one fact for one state and say, these numbers correlate to one another.

@aliensoldier105 said:

@MonkeyToe: If you knew about that this whole time, then why didn't you point that out when we started talking about this? are you messing us around here? if so, hahaha funny joke.

but the wikipedia states the legal status regarding cartoon depictions of sexual activity of minors and all. that does not include the nude scene in the simpsons movie I mentioned earlier though. I hope.

but whatever :) Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does lol Homer Simpson has some good quotes in there.

I don't even know what you're saying in this post.

@trailofdead: I let that whole thing drop on the last page, and ok. I guess the dp is kinda hypocritical if 1 you want to consider the murderer as still a human being, and 2 the family members who care about them but whom are innocent. thus don't deserve the torment of knowing the one they know is going to be killed on death row.

This thread is retarded and arguing about murdering bullies is retarded. As is comparing being bullied to being raped. Most rape victims fight back, most of the people who are bullied are too cowardly to fight back. And people who kill themselves because they are too cowardly to fight back have bigger problems than being bullied.

@GST1976 said:

This thread is retarded and arguing about murdering bullies is retarded. As is comparing being bullied to being raped. Most rape victims fight back, most of the people who are bullied are to cowardly to fight back. And people who kill themselves because they are to cowardly to fight back have bigger problems than being bullied.

Question. Have you actually been bullied?

@ZombieBigfoot: Not in a long time. You know why? I listened to my father and fought back.

@GST1976 said:

@ZombieBigfoot: Not in a long time. You know why? I listened to my father and fought back.

So, what do you do if you're too small to fight back? If there's too many bullies to physically fight back? What if you know the school officials won't do jack s**t and will give you the same punishment as the bullies? What if you have a physical disorder and can't fight back, but you're bullied anyways? Or if they have severe clinical depression, and just can't summon the will to fight back? Or, this is a good one, the school officials won't do anything? There's also the lovely self-esteem problems. You already think you're worth s**t, so you don't see the point in defending yourself. Or you have absolutely no friends to lean on, and all you have are your parents? Parental support only helps to a certain point. Try considering all of those, and every single one of the possible circumstances and situations.

I find it pathetic that bullying victims are labeled cowards just because they don't fight back. There's numerous reasons for it, but you're condemning them as cowards anyways.

Are rape victims cowards for not reporting the rapes? You can fight back all you want, but if bullying victims are cowards for not doing that, than I can just as easily call rape victims cowards for not reporting it every single time. Now, I don't support that, but it puts it into perspective, doesn't it? Rape and bullying might not be on the same level, but sometimes, fighting back is easier said than done.

Edit: Also, when you're being raped, you're probably going to be afraid for your life. It's instinctive to fight back. Last time I checked, bullying doesn't usually threaten one's life like rape does.

@Rogan2112: Yeah but like I said murder went down across the board even in states without the death penalty. Im all for a permanent solution and vengeance but lets not delude ourselves into thinking the DP lowers crime.

@Edamame said:

@ZombieBigfoot: I like your post. Those are some good points. :)

Unfortunately, not everyone is as considerate you are. I would also like to mention that there is rarely a great deal of compassion or accommodation for those who have mental illnesses (such as depression), physical disabilities, mental deficiencies, etc. This particular form of Social Darwinism is alive and well, and I don't think that it will ever go away.

Being aware of society's problems doesn't mean it won't piss me off. And don't get me wrong, things have gotten better. One of the school officials here does do what she can to help me(I'm technically a "disabled student"), so I don't get bullying problems anymore. But five years ago? Completely different story. Getting an administrator to stick up for me was like pulling teeth.

No. What you are saying isn't right. In fact, that may be worse. Some of the worst bullies may deserve jail but the death penalty? IMO unless someone has done so much that their death would save many innocent, death isn't a form of punishment but even then, all other options come first. Life is precious. It's someone's opportunity for happiness. Now some people may bully, but most bullies have been bullied themselves. And though that doesn't make what they do any less wrong. They do not want those people to kill themselves because of them. They want people to accept them or like them too. They just don't see any other way of making that happen for themselves. They just want what everyone else wants: to be happy. That's why I think that understanding should be something that needs to be bolstered in the social community. People need to be raised that way, taught that way, and taken care of that way: through understanding. Believe it or not, that's not as impossible as it seems. Invoking the DEATH PENALTY won't do anything. I really think that this can only be solved through making others understand how serious this is. That's why there needs to be more films like that movie "Bully" that is coming out (this is why you should vote to drop the rating, so more people can see it.). Anyway, if I've been saying anything, as a person who has been bullied and will probably continue to be bullied to a degree... people have the capacity to understand in all seriousness, why teenagers commit suicide. It's because they feel alone. They feel like no one cares about them, like no one could ever understand how they feel and why they act the way they do. They want to be happy. Killing kids who want the same thing is disgusting. Understanding is the only way to make people get it. Because until people understand how serious things are, this will never stop.

I've been called names by a lot of people over the years. If I commit suicide and leave a list of all those meanies, will they all be executed? That wouldn't be a bad way to go.

I'm pro-death penalty too, but only in the case of murder. Everybody has bullied someone else at one point or another. Nobody would be left standing if that law were enacted. I know some people do go through Hell because of bullying, but everybody needs to learn to ignore other peoples' bullshit. There will always be dicks in the world. Man up and get over it.

That isn't to say that it isn't very sad when people commit suicide though.

@Edamame said:

@ZombieBigfoot said:

Being aware of society's problems doesn't mean it won't piss me off. And don't get me wrong, things have gotten better. One of the school officials here does do what she can to help me(I'm technically a "disabled student"), so I don't get bullying problems anymore. But five years ago? Completely different story. Getting an administrator to stick up for me was like pulling teeth.

You are certainly right, but there is still a lot of progress to be made. I will admit that America is a little bit better off than other countries around the world. You should see how people with mental illnesses, mental deficiencies and physical disabilities are treated in East Asia, Europe, Africa, etc. Nevertheless, in America, there is still quite a bit of discrimination against those with mental illnesses in the workplace and in society in general.

Unfortunately, it does, and most likely always will.

And with that, I'm done commenting on this thread for now. Starting to get agitated and I don't want to end up saying something.