• generalpotato@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    What I’m saying is that the chances of wrongful conviction shouldn’t arise. Ever. That should be how serious we should be rooting out systemic inequalities. If a society is actually just, wrongful convictions become a non issue. Does that mean that it won’t ever occur? No, but the chances are significantly decreased to where the ones that do occur have the legal frameworks in place to prevent and minimize such occurrences. Perhaps additional appeals, considerations, pardon process from victims etc.

    Think of it something like airline regulations, where the process is so stringent, that every single incident is analyzed, learnt from and guarded against in the future. I bet you, that if we were really serious about this, we can collectively solve it. We’ve solved it for space travel, airlines, medicine and countless other fields with implications far beyond what we can cover here. All it takes is collective willingness.

    The benefits:

    1. Tax payer dollars are routed to rehab services instead of subsidizing prison operations and budgets.
    2. Deterrent for people thinking about committing egregious crimes, think serial rapists, mass murderers, serial pedophiles etc.
    3. Closure for families that go through traumatic events such as these.
    4. Laws value human life, equity and justice above all because there’s lives at stake and each conviction has gravity to it.

    In terms of proof of ineffectiveness, can you point me to some research?

    • Skua@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      In terms of proof of ineffectiveness, can you point me to some research?

      From “Deterrence and the Death Penalty” by Daniel S. Nagin, John V. Pepper, and others:

      CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The committee concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates. Therefore, the committee recommends that these studies not be used to inform deliberations requiring judgments about the effect of the death penalty on homicide. Consequently, claims that research demonstrates that capital punishment decreases or increases the homicide rate by a specified amount or has no effect on the homicide rate should not influence policy judgments about capital punishment.

      What I’m saying is that the chances of wrongful conviction shouldn’t arise. Ever.

      Right, well in reality they do. Everywhere. And it should be pointed out, your initial comment was that you don’t see a problem with Saudi Arabia executing people in the present; do you think that Saudi Arabia has this perfect justice system already?

      We’ve solved it for space travel, airlines, medicine and countless other fields with implications far beyond what we can cover here. All it takes is collective willingness.

      You know people still die from all three of those fields all the goddamn time, right? Even in spaceflight, the one with by far the fewest operations in which something might happen, we’re fewer than ten years out from the VSS Enterprise crash that killed Michael Alsbury

      Purported benefits in order:

        1. In the real world, executing someone costs more than life imprisonment due to the costs of investigation and appeals. And it’s still not enough to prevent errors.
        1. See research above
        1. That’s literally just revenge. Do you have any data showing that execution is actually good for the mental health of the families of crimes that, in your opinion, deserve the death penalty?
        1. The law values human life by… ending it?
      • generalpotato@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Thanks for the link. Here’s my counter:

        https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/five-things-about-deterrence

        I will concede, until I look into this further that on face value maybe capital punishment isn’t as effective deterrent as I initially thought. That said, deterrence via capital punishment is one small piece of the problem. So let’s not lose sight of the main point here. Capital punishment literally has irreversible consequences, which means we need laws to be upheld. Just because it’s norm to have wrongful convictions, doesn’t mean we should accept that. That is the ultimate problem we need to go chase, not capital punishment. Focusing on capital punishment is deflection from systemic injustices. So when articles like this come out pointing fingers, my response becomes… “And?”

        Right, well in reality they do. Everywhere. And it should be pointed out, your initial comment was that you don’t see a problem with Saudi Arabia executing people in the present; do you think that Saudi Arabia has this perfect justice system already?

        Maybe re-read my initial comment stating that I do not believe what Saudi is doing is correct either. A differing opinion =/= implicit agreement with a regime. Wtf?

        You know people still die from all three of those fields all the goddamn time, right? Even in spaceflight, the one with by far the fewest operations in which something might happen, we’re fewer than ten years out from the VSS Enterprise crash that killed Michael Alsbury

        So that’s it? Society stops trying? What sort of asinine view is that? Fear of failure should not impede progress. This also applies to laws, regulations, legal frameworks etc.

        In the real world, executing someone costs more than life imprisonment due to the costs of investigation and appeals. And it’s still not enough to prevent errors.

        If we aren’t subsidizing prisons, we can afford it. Although your claim seems far fetched as defacto statement. Costs seem to be variable depending on state, conditions, sentence type etc.

        That’s literally just revenge. Do you have any data showing that execution is actually good for the mental health of the families of crimes that, in your opinion, deserve the death penalty?

        Says you. Go ask the parents of the kids that died in Uvalde massacre on what they want done with the murderer.

        The law values human life by… ending it?

        Accountability of our own laws, enforcement and the justice system… it’s thing you know.

        • Skua@kbin.social
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          8 months ago

          nij.ojp.gov/…/five-things-about-deterrence

          Are you sure this is the link you were looking for? It literally has a header saying “There is no proof that the death penalty deters criminals.”

          Capital punishment literally has irreversible consequences, which means we need laws to be upheld.

          This is no less true without capital punishment. We shouldn’t and don’t stop worrying about wrongful convictions for other punishments.

          That is the ultimate problem we need to go chase, not capital punishment.

          One of the two is actually possible to solve immediately and basically for free. If you get rid of the death penalty then there is nothing taken away from any other effort to improve the justice system and ongoing miscarriages of justice become less severe. Do you think that everyone gave up worrying about miscarriages of justice in the over 100 countries that don’t have the death penalty?

          There are also other points against the death penalty even if you assume it is being used only in a justice system that makes literally no mistakes. How do you know who can and can’t be rehabilitated? Who carries out the executions, and what are the effects on them? Do you actually want the state to hold the power of death over its own citizens?

          Maybe re-read my initial comment stating that I do not believe what Saudi is doing is correct either. A differing opinion =/= implicit agreement with a regime. Wtf?

          I read it just fine. You said you’re not defending the Saudi royal family. That doesn’t mean that you’re not rejecting criticism of the system. And if you are trying to say that, it is really odd to have started the comment by dimissing the whole article with “And?”

          So that’s it? Society stops trying? What sort of asinine view is that? Fear of failure should not impede progress. This also applies to laws, regulations, legal frameworks etc.

          No? How the hell did you get to that? Society should recognise that it cannot do these things perfectly and act with that in mind, like by not using something so permanent as execution as a punishment.

          If we aren’t subsidizing prisons, we can afford it.

          “We can afford it” is a much weaker position than “it will save money over the alternative”, because it permits execution being more expensive. If execution if more expensive - and in the US, it is - then you can put more money towards rehab by not doing it.

          Says you. Go ask the parents of the kids that died in Uvalde massacre on what they want done with the murderer.

          I’m literally asking you for data to support your point. I’m not sure how the parents of the kids at Uvalde would have a particular opinion on what they want done with the murderer considering that he was shot dead at the scene though.

          Accountability of our own laws, enforcement and the justice system… it’s thing you know.

          Are you suggesting that it isn’t a thing in countries that don’t have the death penalty? I don’t understand the point you’re trying to make here.