Death Row? Why?!

I have to ask a simple question and that is why dont we use these ruthless criminals that have been convicted of murder, rape and whatever to serve in our own military instead of our youth? We have convicted felons that have chosen to kill sitting behind bars living on the tax payers while we teach young men and women how to be ruthless killers themselves. Why? Can someone explain to me why tax payers are providing 3 hots and a cot to someone whos never going to see the light of day again instead of using them to fight for our nation? Instead we choose to train killers when we already have prisons overruning with them?

Theres one thing Ill never understand about the modern us military. There used to be a time when anyone could sign up to fight for their country and now it seems like you need a college eduation just to serve for pay that is, in most cases, borderline poverty. Our young men and women risk everything to serve our country and Justin Beiber walks away with millions a year while our soldiers can barely support their family? That in itself is a crime commited by our own society and nobody seems to care.

When these peope are convicted and put behind bars for the rest of their life they instead should be thrown into a military program, trained and thrown on the front line. Why do we need to pay for them to sit in a jail cell watching tv for the rest of their life when they can inturn serve their country and truley pay back their debt to society?

If you had chosen the army as your career, trained hard, learned survival skills and discipline and decorum, do you really think you would be pleased that you were suddenly put on the same level and value as some psycho that stabbed someone in a bar room brawl or killed their family in their sleep?

Besides when your fighting someone your supposed to be looking at the enemy, not wondering it your bunk mate is going to flip out and hack your arms off while your in the shower

Giving mentally unstable people guns is not an ideal solution

Originally posted by davespanners
If you had chosen the army as your career, trained hard, learned survival skills and discipline and decorum, do you really think you would be pleased that you were suddenly put on the same level and value as some psycho that stabbed someone in a bar room brawl or killed their family in their sleep?

Besides when your fighting someone your supposed to be looking at the enemy, not wondering it your bunk mate is going to flip out and hack your arms off while your in the shower

Giving mentally unstable people guns is not an ideal solution

edit on 1-2-2011 by davespanners because: (no reason given)

ill give you that but still there has to be something these people can be doing other than sitting there watching tv in their cell and getting high on whatever they find behind prison walls wasting tax payer money. lock them in a cage and when u see enemy forces release them like u would dogs? use them for entertainment? death race was a fun movie right? i dont know. anything other then letting them rot in a prison for god knows how many years.

Originally posted by davespanners
Giving mentally unstable people guns is not an ideal solution

edit on 1-2-2011 by davespanners because: (no reason given)

This.

Also, I would assume that it would be even more expensive for the taxpayers, considering the training, deployment, food etc., and possible benefits.

As much as I personally consider myself a liberal, I think the death penalty is not used nearly often enough.
I admire the Swedish political model, but the money that is wasted on trying to rehabilitate criminals is insane! Recently, an elderly man who was convicted of raping about 10 boys and killing one of them many years ago was given a "weekend off", during which he was allowed to leave the prison. Surprise, he was found trying to cross the border to Norway. Some people simply deserve the death penalty, and giving a convicted rapist or murderer training with a weapon would be... well... shall we say "counter-productive"?

The prisoner would swap sides the second he could for freedom...to include shoot the person that is next to them in the back to do so.

unless they are working towards their freedom, then who knows.

They would need incentive not to swap...else...would you trust a doomed man who has no way out so long as he remains with you guarding your back with a gun?

reply to post by AndrewJay


You want to give them the best guns on the planet and ability to commit war crimes in our name?



WTF!

reply to post by AndrewJay


Part of the reason we have so many people in our prison systems now is because of their lack of self control, willingness to break established rules, and generally are narcissistic ways. It's all about them, in the here and now, and they don't care about anyone else. They'll stab someone else to death over a honeybun, or rape someone when they find a quick place. I don't think they're trustworthy enough to handle being in the military. The only thing I would totally expect them to do is use their training to benefit themselves and cause more crime.

I know, inevitably someone will say, "we have soldiers who come back and end up in prison too" and that may be true; but, I have more respect for our soldiers than our prisoners.

Originally posted by SaturnFX
The prisoner would swap sides the second he could for freedom...to include shoot the person that is next to them in the back to do so.

unless they are working towards their freedom, then who knows.

They would need incentive not to swap...else...would you trust a doomed man who has no way out so long as he remains with you guarding your back with a gun?

so give them a way out then? 20 years of military service = freedom. 1 slip up = back to death row. look i understand the point of not handing guns to convicted murderers but why are we bankrupting our nation to keep them alive when they will never see the light of day again? either put them to death or give them a chance to redeem themselves.

Originally posted by AndrewJayeither put them to death or give them a chance to redeem themselves.

Firing squad upon conviction. It's quick, and it's cheap.

Originally posted by Mapkar
reply to post by AndrewJay

 

Part of the reason we have so many people in our prison systems now is because of their lack of self control, willingness to break established rules, and generally are narcissistic ways. It's all about them, in the here and now, and they don't care about anyone else. They'll stab someone else to death over a honeybun, or rape someone when they find a quick place. I don't think they're trustworthy enough to handle being in the military. The only thing I would totally expect them to do is use their training to benefit themselves and cause more crime.

I know, inevitably someone will say, "we have soldiers who come back and end up in prison too" and that may be true; but, I have more respect for our soldiers than our prisoners.

You have to admit that the prison system itself isnt exactly the best when it comes to prisoner reform. Someone could go into a min security jail for 2 months and end up on that same sentence in a max security duing life and never see the outside world again. Its happend before and it will happen again. You dont mix murderers with someone in there doing a few months to a year for a drug charge yet we do it anyway.

Look my posts may have come off as naive to the situtation but im fully aware of just how insane the people im speaking of truley are. Hand them guns? No. But for god sake either give them a way out or put them to death. The real question of this thread is why do we pay for someone to be kept behind bars for the rest of their life instead of just ending it.

Because they have shown the inability to follow rules/directions. They would be untrainable, always resisting authority. Having people such as this could end up getting other soldiers unnecessarily killed. Violent criminals do not belong in the military just as they do not belong in society. It would be a detriment to our military and would lower their standards.

If we started executing people outside the court room we would be worse then china...

Originally posted by ShogunAssassins
If we started executing people outside the court room we would be worse then china...

Now by no means am I saying put everyone that commits any crime to death here. All Im saying is whats the point of keeping someone alive that has life in prison with no chance of parol? Why are they alive at that point? So they can spend the rest of their life plotting an escape attempt? Seriously. Common sense plays a part in the legal system doesnt it?

reply to post by AndrewJay


Humanity? The thing that makes us different and better then them?

I would agree if someone is on death row and sentenced to death they should be exicuted when they come to understand the fact that their life will end. Rather then keeping them waiting for 30 years. But they should be able to have the chance to come to terms with their own ending.

Originally posted by ShogunAssassins
reply to post by AndrewJay

 

Humanity? The thing that makes us different and better then them?

edit on 1-2-2011 by ShogunAssassins because: (no reason given)

Yes humanity because throughout history we've proven to be better than them havent we? Wasnt it Rome that fed people to lions? Slavery was a good show of humanity. How about the term "off with his head"? But were better than that now yes? Even though we have the ability to eradicate all poverty and choose not to. Give me a break. We can talk about humanity all you want when human kind stops killing and torturing its own for the sake of currency and pride.

Im sorry if I wasnt poltically correct.

reply to post by AndrewJay


So you think it would be ok to pretend we are in the middle ages? Or that we should act like a less then free 3rd world nation? With that type of mind set we will never go forward.

Originally posted by ShogunAssassins
reply to post by AndrewJay

 

So you think it would be ok to pretend we are in the middle ages?

Do you actually think we as a people are any different than they were simply because we have technology now? Because we have a suit and tie? Maybe because were all so DARN politically correct now. Let me let you in on a little secret. Theres a reason why we enjoy violent movies and why they continue to be made. Its the same reason why the people in Rome would sit there and watch someone being fed to a lion or 2 gladiators fighting to the death.

reply to post by AndrewJay


Society is always expected to evolve if it wants to thrive and live.. Though obviously we have a few throw backs who keep the world down. And all us evolved people see it everyday on the news in other nations. Look to Iran if you want that type of justice...

Originally posted by ShogunAssassins
reply to post by AndrewJay

 

Society is always expected to evolve if it wants to thrive and live.. Though obviously we have a few throw backs who keep the world down. And all us evolved people see it everyday on the news in other nations. Look to Iran if you want that type of justice...

and by what example are you judging that on? have you seen an advanced society and how theyre supposed to opperate? because i know for a fact that humanity wasnt created to sit in an office 10 hours a day with a suit and tie on. if you want to talk about iran please do your research on the countries history before speaking on it and understand exactly why they are where they are. also understand that almost every 3rd world nation continues to keep its 3rd world status for that very same reason.

reply to post by AndrewJay


Because there is absolutely no way that kind of scum could measure up.

They would probably pull snafus to the point where they got more professional soldiers killed than the enemy.

I like what Ron White said the death penalty taking so long to be acted on: "That's bu** sh*t. In Texas, we're putting in express lanes"

I cleaned that up a bit