Just my Opinion

I know people dont like to talk about this,
but it is something I feel strongly about and I have fought many years to stop this.
This does not affect many people, so they really don't care.

Since 1976, more than 1,470 people in the United States have been executed and they were innocent. That could be your Father, Son, or it could be you. How would you feel? How would your family feel?
I hate to even think about it.

If you kill someone, I believe you should be punished of course, but just as you had no right to take a life, we should have no right to take yours. God will take care of that!

Most people won't agree with me and That's ok. We all have our opinion. Its just hard for me to see all of these innocent people executed! It is wrong!

I'm not trying to change anybody's mind, I just want you to think about it, think about the 1, 470 innocent people gone and how there families have to deal with this.
THE END!

Reviews

[Krizito]

most people don't believe in God. He doesn't exist to them, so man makes the judgement call. i don't have any opinion on the taking of life. is it justice for man to take another's life? is it right, is it evil? i don't know.
but it is something to think about, and i'll try to do that. thanks for the thought-jiggle.

[Donna]

Thank you for your review. I appreciate it.

[drcornelius]

I agree. I think you should have labeled this as something other than as a story. It is really an essay or opinion piece.

[Donna]

That's true! I didn't even think of that!

[phill..m]

There's a paradox in your story. Wouldn't the 1,470 innocent people be in
heaven with god? and the one's who convicted them to death be punished by god.
In the uk there's a saying. Justice must be seen to be done.

[Donna]

You make a very good point here. Thank you

[phill..m]

I agree with you, i would never want
capital punishment returned to the uk.

[Relic]

........................More DNA before execution. There have been many cases where DNA was ignored or overlooked. It could be the difference between life and death.

[Donna]

Exactly! Thank you!

[Wild Rose]

From the news we get. It would appear that America is full of people with guns who go around shooting people just because they disagree with their way of life; or perhaps some one in authority
Children /students in school teachers

What its the fascination with guns ?
Wht is it not possible to restrict gun ownership to those who need them for work?

[Donna]

I don't know what the fascination with guns is in the U.S. It is out of control, and nobody is doing anything to stop it.

[Wild Rose]

Think it goes back to the "Wild West" days and cowboys or the civil war

[Delmar Cooper]

In your writing you say: " That could be your Father, Son, or it could be you. How would you feel? How would your family feel? "

Let us use those same words and consider that father or son as a murder victim. In that case how would I feel? I believe I would want to personally kill the perpetrator and do it in the most dreadful way imaginable. But that is not justice; that is vengeance and that's the reason the families of victims are excluded from juries.

I would never be a juror on a capital case because I would never deliver a verdict, just or not, that would put any human life at peril. If everyone felt that way there would be no capital punishment. They don't.

Statistically, capital punishment is not an effective deterrent. Financially, it is ruinous to the state, appeals take years and the taxpayer foots the bill. Morally it is reprehensible. There is no chance of redemption past death.

I agree with you that the death penalty is wrong, but your written argument is inexact and not compelling.

[Donna]

Delmar, I respect your opinion. And I do agree and feel for the victims families. My main problem is all the innocent ones that have been executed. Thank you for your review, I appreciate it!

[Delmar Cooper]

Not much you can do for them is there? Dead is dead and neither innocent victim or executed murder deserved that death. That is the opinion I hoped to express, but my well intentioned opinion is not a compelling argument to change anything. Your heartfelt opinion probably won't change any minds either.

[Donna]

Yes, you are right about that. Thanks again!

[barleygirl]

You probably know the movie "Dead Man Walking" & I saw Sister Helen Prejean speak in a small church setting in Aptos (near Santa Cruz, California) back when that movie was current. She was very convincing & I've never been on the fence about this topic ever since. You do a great job of presenting an opinion piece without blaming or criticizing. I feel your approach is more likely to entice new followers to this point of view, since people get their hackles up when they feel under attack, holding on to their opinions even harder. So this is what "persuasion" is all about, to me. Great job! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[GregoryM]

Although I do agree that there are some DNA strains I don't wish to see continued on this planet, I disagree with executing people because a jury of their peers decided that some group of lawyers current interpretation of a law is the first consideration. Life happens, and sometimes the literal interpretation of someones writing skill detailing what is right and just is not what should determine whether someone lives or dies.

In my mind, the harshest penalty that can be imposed on an individual is removing them from our society; which is what incarceration is supposed to do. We are social animals, so it seems to me that a harsher penalty for the prisoner would involve escalating restrictions on human interactions.

If we are a just people, then it would seem to me that the least we could do would be to allow an innocent man to at least have the duration of his remaining lifetime to prove his innocence.

How can taking a life be anything, but revenge?
Does that mean that the termination of a life is a cost-cutting measure?

Is this too strong? It's my first reply to a post.

[Donna]

Wow! For a first review on a post, you did excellent. I agree with everything you had to say. Thank you so much for reading this and thank you for letting me be the first that you reviewed!

[Parth Jain]

I am a little undecided on the topic yet I appreciate you for taking up this topic and writing on it.

[Donna]

Thank you for your review! I do appreciate it. I know it is a hard topic!

[Samuel Dickens]

I agree. While I understand how we humans often want a murderer to pay the ultimate price, I also question how civilized and moral we are as a people to practice capitol punishment. Then there's the other thing which you point out--they're sometimes innocent of the crime they're convicted of. Some people I know claim the Bible authorizes executions, but I'm pretty sure it says "Thou shalt not kill".