The Death Penalty

[HisChildForever]

I tried to do a search to see if this topic has already been discussed, but the feature was not working properly.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following:

[quote]2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."68[/quote]

Source: [url="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a5.htm"]http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a5.htm[/url]

I sort of interpret this as an indefinite teaching. According to the Church, she "does not exclude recourse to the death penalty" and yet "the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.'" Since one can go either way on this topic - supporting the death penalty with appropriate restraint, as well as not supporting the death penalty - I wanted to open it for debate and discussion. For those who support the death penalty, why? And for those who absolutely do not, are you not technically going against Church teaching, which says that in extreme cases the death penalty is acceptable?

My opinion is as follows.

When the death penalty is raised during conversation, many people automatically dismiss it as immoral. In actuality, many do not trust the criminal justice system and may go as far to call it corrupt when, in reality, they just do not understand how the system functions; therefore, they are quick to judge and assume. Not every criminal gets sentenced to the death penalty – only the most heinous, those identified as a threat to society - the system is trying to protect and safeguard society.

Furthermore, the criminal sentenced to death is not immediately executed as soon as he or she exits the court room. In fact, criminals can appeal the death penalty (and often do so numerous times), which inevitably prolongs their stay on death row. Now in my opinion, the death penalty is not necessarily moral, but it is certainly the lesser of two evils. For instance, let us assume that a criminal – who should have been sentenced to death – instead is sentenced to life in prison without parole. This inmate has absolutely no motivation to behave him or herself; this inmate is a risk to his or her fellow inmates, correction officers, and other personnel. There is also the possibility of escape, which poses a great threat to society – remember, the inmate is violent and high-risk, and is most likely not receiving any counseling for reintegration. (But there is, surely, counseling for rehabilitation in terms of anger management and so forth. But then we must ask – does the criminal even care to listen, knowing that he or she will forever remain in prison? Again, there is no motivation for the individual to try and better his or her behaviors/personality.) So what are the other options? Sentencing the inmate to a life of solitary confinement? This may be beneficial to the other inmates, the staff, and society, (for the sake of their protection), but of what benefit is this to the criminal? Is this not cruel and unusual punishment, a sentence that preys on one’s sanity? (As the common argument is that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment).

Discuss.

[rkwright]

I think theres like a 20 page topic on this somewhere...

[fides quarens intellectum]

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edit: typo

Edited November 18, 2008 by fides quarens intellectum

[fides quarens intellectum]

[quote name='rkwright' post='1704199' date='Nov 18 2008, 03:16 PM']I think theres like a 20 page topic on this somewhere...[/quote]

my search found 15 - let's try not to exaggerate, okay?

Edited November 18, 2008 by fides quarens intellectum

[rkwright]

This is the one... no exaggeration here.. this topic was 22 pages long

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=81097&hl=death%20penalty"]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?s...death%20penalty[/url]

There was another one around here somewhere that featured a lot of debate about quotes from the church fathers

[fides quarens intellectum]

oh - i'm sorry - i thought you were saying there were like 20 threads out there, not one 20-page thread. sorry!! i was being silly.

[rkwright]

[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' post='1704215' date='Nov 18 2008, 04:28 PM']oh - i'm sorry - i thought you were saying there were like 20 threads out there, not one 20-page thread. sorry!! i was being silly.[/quote]

No problem

[HisChildForever]

Oh Lord.....clearly the topic was discussed.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1704274' date='Nov 18 2008, 06:17 PM']Oh Lord.....clearly the topic was discussed. [/quote]


But you're right: the search feature doesn't work.