Quote from: MattScott on May 09, 2017, 07:05:55 PM

I support the existence of the death penalty. This is not the best option in the fight against crime, but it is a fair punishment for serious crimes. I think that if you have 100% proof of guilt then you need to apply the death penalty, and if the evidence is less it is better to apply a life sentence. If it was a mistake?

Exactly, what if there is indeed a mistake? Given how inefficient our judicial system is, and the known prejudices against poor populations and non white populations, is it OK to use such a final judgement? Also, how liable should the prosecuting party be if the suspect is later found innocent? Since we would have essentially murdered a free, non criminal citizen for no reason, should the prosecution be brought up on murder charges, with the possibility of death?

Also, given that it is pretty much impossible to obtain the proven drug combination historically used in executions, is it OK to use unknown, untested drugs as substitutes? Constitutionally, you can't punish people cruelly or unusually, if we don't actually know how cruel or unusual these drugs are, is it OK to use them?