Should Dzhokhar Tsarnaev be put to death for the Boston Massacre?

[Simfan34]

Accidentally voted for Life in Prison with Parole- meant w/o Parole.

Capital Punishment - Firing Squad (sane)

I'm kind of surprised of people voting for firing squad in Tsarnaev's case, given that it's transitionally considered an honorable death for military personnel.

Agreed. If we were going to execute him, I'd want it to be a short-drop hanging.

[© tweed]

He wants to be a martyr, so no, let him rot.

if that were true, why did he allow a Western, anti-death penalty legal all-star team to represent him?  he clearly prefers to continue to live.

[Boris]

^ which is utterly bizarre, given "to live" entails 23 hrs a day of solitary confinement at ADX Florence for 60+ years

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

^ which is utterly bizarre, given "to live" entails 23 hrs a day of solitary confinement at ADX Florence for 60+ years

He probably has/will have enough voices in his head to keep him company. 

[H. Ross Peron]

^ which is utterly bizarre, given "to live" entails 23 hrs a day of solitary confinement at ADX Florence for 60+ years

He can still fap.

[© tweed]

^ which is utterly bizarre, given "to live" entails 23 hrs a day of solitary confinement at ADX Florence for 60+ years

He can still fap.

and hopefully read, receive and respond to mail, etc.  though many prisons do their best to crack down on even that simple stuff.

if I had the ability to write, a source of books (5-7 per week), paper to write plenty on, and access to a coin to decide simple probabilities I *might* be able to remain sane (or, sane enough not to have a psychotic break) for a long while, especially if I could correspond with professors, specialists, etc.  I'd try to write books, fiction and non fiction.

they might not allow all that, citing national security concerns... I'd take the safe route and die.  whatever happens, may Dzhokhar have minimal suffering and find peace w/his God.

btw, what's this fake fcking scandal where Dzhokhar flipped the bird to his security camera?  wtf would you do if you were videotaped 24/7?  the prosecution is actually sick enough to jump on this?  before God, I'd stike a friendship with a contract killer before a prosecutor.

[Ban my account ffs!]

He wants to be a martyr, so no, let him rot.

if that were true, why did he allow a Western, anti-death penalty legal all-star team to represent him?  he clearly prefers to continue to live.

Dead0man wants to be a martyr...so no, let him rot.

[AkSaber]

I am beginning to think both capital punishment and life without parole are immoral.

I went through the same doubts about my opinions of those things too. Used to be 100% for both of them. Now I'm 100% opposed to each.

Nice to know I'm not the only one.

[Bojack Horseman]

Life without parole. Do you know what goes on in prison? Life without parole at his age is a much harsher punishment than death IMO.

[politicallefty]

I do not support the death penalty. In this case, I think the most appropriate punishment is life without parole at ADX Florence.

[muon2]

Life in Prison (Parole)

I am beginning to think both capital punishment and life without parole are immoral.

Our current system—which amounts to a lottery for poor defendants—is immoral, but the death penalty per se is amoral.  It's all in how it is implemented, tho I'm doubtful that in the current social and political climate of the US that a non-immoral capital punishment system is possible.

The problem with the climate is that any high-profile crime is likely to result in the public demanding that the laws be made tougher and the punishment more severe. The same applies to the list of capital crimes. It becomes dependent on the immediate desire of the electorate and once on the list is near impossible to remove without intervention by a supreme court.

Perhaps the only way to make the death penalty less subject to immediate cries for retribution is to require that those crimes eligible for the death penalty must be constitutionally defined. The constitution can still be amended, but it's a more onerous process that passage of a law.

[© tweed]

Perhaps the only way to make the death penalty less subject to immediate cries for retribution is to require that those crimes eligible for the death penalty must be constitutionally defined. The constitution can still be amended, but it's a more onerous process that passage of a law.

what's wrong with the essentially common-law, judicial, case-by-case basis we have for this now?  at least in theory, the judiciary is more immune to public pressure than the legislature.  (I hope there are no instances where capital crimes are tried in courts where the judges are elected, but appeals from such cases are likely to be heard, I'd imagine)

[muon2]

Perhaps the only way to make the death penalty less subject to immediate cries for retribution is to require that those crimes eligible for the death penalty must be constitutionally defined. The constitution can still be amended, but it's a more onerous process that passage of a law.

what's wrong with the essentially common-law, judicial, case-by-case basis we have for this now?  at least in theory, the judiciary is more immune to public pressure than the legislature.  (I hope there are no instances where capital crimes are tried in courts where the judges are elected, but appeals from such cases are likely to be heard, I'd imagine)

Until 2011 when the death penalty was ended, capital crimes in IL were tried by elected judges and appealed to elected higher courts. The judges I know are good at avoiding public pressure, but the elections are real and can be expensive and highly negative. Interestingly, the fact that IL has an elected judiciary was never raised in the death penalty debate.

[angus]

other:  slow burn tied to a stake of oil-soaked mahogany, but only after being subjected to a ten-minute soaking in a pool of 12 M sulfuric acid after the eyelids have been cut off.  With a pencil.

[NeverAgain]

other:  slow burn tied to a stake of oil-soaked mahogany, but only after being subjected to a ten-minute soaking in a pool of 12 M sulfuric acid after the eyelids have been cut off.  With a pencil.

Well. I get on before I was about to sleep to see how my poll is doing and maybe see some enlightening comments and debates. I now am scared for my life, and will not sleep for weeks.

[courts]

should be shot, obviously

[seb_pard]

Life in Prison with Parole after 20 years (which should be the maximum existing sentence IMO).

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Also an instance where I must reluctantly support the death penalty.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Can we kill him soon so I can stop reading articles about him and his whackjob family?

[AggregateDemand]

I'm against the death penalty unless it is administered at the scene of the crime while the gun/bomb is still smoking or in a shootout at a later time.

However, we could probably reach a workable compromise. Anyone who turns himself in and confesses to the crime should be excluded from capital punishment consideration, but also parole. If the suspect commits murder and then pulls a Tsarnaev, death penalty is on the table.

I don't agree with the death penalty, but I also don't care to defend the rights of people who obviously want to forfeit their rights. The end goal is creating the right incentives. If you murder once, and you're eligible for the death penalty, why wouldn't you go on a killing spree and fight the authorities?

The people who don't go on a killing spree and attack cops are probably not the people who deserve the death penalty. If you take death penalty off of the table, people will turn themselves in and confess, which saves us time and money.