Prosecutors to seek death penalty for white supremacist who killed 10 at Buffalo supermarket

I think it's that guys like this one aren't a hill anyone is eager to die on. Like, it's bad, but let's not make this guy the poster boy for ending the practice. There are other cases I'm much happier to cite in arguments opposing the death penalty.

Probably because our morals and principles collapse at the first speed bump.

Too busy getting our consciousnesses shocked by mass killings at supermarkets, I guess. By the way, nice work blinding that cyclops.

The government says it’s okay to murder this person, so let’s murder him.

By that "logic", states also shouldn't be allowed to imprison people.

It may be barbaric, and considering how many innocents have been railroaded into it via abuse or neglect of justice, ethically untenable on the face of it.

That said, I feel there are certain people who's actions are so horrific and ideologies so dangerous that should not be allowed to harm society again, and that includes having to pay for their upkeep.

There are many worthy of execution that have been released to kill again.

In our imperfect world it is not right to levy a judgment that cannot be reversed.

If we magically had perfect knowledge of guilt and innocence, I would have zero issue with the death penalty being applied.

Since that world does not, and cannot exist, I will accept life imprisonment, grudgingly. Some people simply cannot or will not be rehabilitated.

I don’t want to pay a dime to keep that fucker alive. Just let the families kill him slowly.

You're implying that human beings have intrinsic worth. They don't. Human life has no value, and humans are trash. They're all garbage. Barbaric? You're talking about slavers, murderers, rapists. Humans are inherently flawed and earth would be better off without them.

I don't disagree, but also I think the death penalty is too merciful. This guy should live forever, watching the world go by without him or his ignorance. He should be forced to watch home movies and social media from the families of the people he killed. Watch them mourn, and how they find hope and love in a world where he also exists.

He should live long enough to learn that his life is meaningless, his actions, while extremely harmful, will be forgotten to history as just another violent, murderous bigot. He should realize that from inside a 10x10 room, and then he should live another 50 years with that knowledge.

The state shouldn't kill people at all. It isn't a deterrent, it doesn't cost less money, it doesn't increase justice, and sometimes we get it wrong. There isn't a good reason for the death penalty to exist, and plenty of reasons it shouldn't.

Not just barbaric, but also more expensive than life in prison. There's also all of those cases where an innocent person is killed.

getting killed because of your skin tone when going to shop at the grocery store is barbaric. i'm not trying to throw a zinger here, but we have to strongly address both sides of the situation.

Except for pedophiles!

The other issue is that it quite frequently costs exponentially more to administer the death penalty due to years of appeals. I'm not sure how that would work in this case, since as you said, it's apparent that the defendant is guilty.

Which is why you execute them immediately, not 20-30 years later. I don't want to hear about innocent people in jail that long, I don't even want to hear about guilty people in jail very long. Just kill em and move on regardless, it's really less cruel.

That's not how the prison industry works. There's no money in fixing people if you can use them as unpaid labour.

People who feel like they have nothing to live for often take their frustration out on others.

It's like they know their lives suck and likely won't get better, so they focus on making other people's lives worse because it's literally all they feel they can do.

Maybe, instead of killing him, we can somehow guarantee no new guys like him would happen.

How are those mutually exclusive? Do you think killing him will make him respawn somewhere?

The reactionary in me thinks "life in solidarity confinement without the chance of parole."

The me in me says he needs a long time in some sort of rehabilitation program. As much of a monster as he is, he's a bit of a victim. May he be studied so that we can pinpoint and prevent others from following his path.

What if I have problems with both capital punishment and the current prison system?

Maybe the death sentence would be the better option than prison. Not like we are on par with other peers with prisons. Either way I could care less about this one specific case.

Why waste resources on one who has proven themselves to be the worst kind of man? He won't learn a lesson. He doesn't deserve an opportunity to ever rejoin society. Your suggestion is to house, feed and provide medicine for this monster for the rest of his life. To give him what millions of Americans can not obtain. You want to reward his actions.

The death penalty is not revenge. It's not a lesson.It should not be seen as some deterrent. It's culling a sick animal so it can't do any more harm to the rest of the population. It can be done quickly, humanely, and even cleanly though the cheapest method would make a small, containable mess.

Yes, because he's a fascist actively helping his cult to take over the country and can only be stopped with violence.

No one wants him dead to prove all killing is wrong, they want him dead because he is genocidal and a threat to the existence of everyone else. Don't you bother trying to understand how other people think and feel, or do you think your arrogance and unwarranted sense of superiority over your opponents is what empathy is?

Doesn’t it serve justice to the families and friends of the people who he has killed? I can’t imagine them feeling a sense of justice when their tax dollars are put to work to get this guy back into society.

Do you think the families of the victims prefer this as well? Personally I would think the death penalty would give those families closure once it’s done.

I'd really like for us to move towards a restorative justice system instead of the punitive one we use now. In my mind, that would look something

1. Seeking input from the people who were impacted by the crime about what would help them move past or recover from the crime.
2. Separating the perpetrator from society at large while providing the resources to prepare them to reenter society when they no longer pose a threat.
3. Even those perpetrators who could never be reintroduced to society safely still be treated humanely and with respect.

I can't remember which off the top of my head, but there's a country (Scandinavian if my memory is accurate) that provides prisoners with small homes (still within the confines of a prison-like facility that separates them from society at large) which they have to take care of. I believe they even have jobs that let them contribute to society, and they receive counseling and all that as well. When they're eventually released, they know how to maintain a home, keep a job, etc, so they're well-prepared to reintegrate with society.

i saw on cnn the son of one of the mothers killed said that this was appropriate

What if he kills again? How can one person pay enough for 10 lives?

Just kill the useless and dangerous folk and it’ll work out in the benefit of society.

Should we tackle the mentally inferior and physically infirm next?

There are some people so dangerous that the risk of their return to society needs to be prevented at all costs.

Yes our court systems are imperfect, yes innocents have been sentence to death and executed.

Even with all that taken into consideration there are some people that simply need to be put down and when the evidence is so overwelmingly against them, I have no issues with this being how society keeps itself safe.

The problem is we have no way of guaranteeing an unbiased and thorough justice system, in fact its almost a guarantee to be the opposite of fair and unbiased in so may situations.

Yes they do, because they value protecting their people over appeasing your sensibilities.

And don't even bother wasting time arguing with me; I already know exactly what you're going to do -- you're going to removed to the high heavens with talking point after talking point after talking point, and you're going to do this because you don't care about anything other than the way articles like this make you feel. You're just going to be irrational and not listen, so don't bother.

Agreed. They should do it as cheaply and quickly as possible to set an example of how executions don't need to be expensive.