Stanley 'Tookie' Williams

[KenWittlief]

Cory, Ive already given examples, and you dismissed then out of hand for un-related reasons.

If you define 'civilized' and 'society' to preclude civilizations and society's that go against your way of thinking, then you are rigging the discussion to force you own point of view to be correct.

If there is a credible threat of death for a given action, then any rational person will carefully consider their actions. Do you really believe that no one cares if they live or die? No one?

if any percentage of the population stops and reconsiders their actions, then the threat of capitol punishment has acted as a deterrent.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Cory, Ive already given examples, and you dismissed then out of hand for un-related reasons.

If you define 'civilized' and 'society' to preclude civilizations and society's that go against your way of thinking, then you are rigging the discussion to force you own point of view to be correct.

If there is a credible threat of death for a given action, then any rational person will carefully consider their actions. Do you really believe that no one cares if they live or die? No one?

if any percentage of the population stops and reconsiders their actions, then the threat of capitol punishment has acted as a deterrent.

Forgive me Ken, I missed when the debate switched from whether or not capital punishment is an effective deterrent in the US, to whether or not it's an effective deterrent in Iraq or China.

You're right...I did dismiss them, because Iraq and China are not the US. There is absolutely no similarity between our governments, societal values, or culture in general. When you can find a statistic that shows that capital punishment in the United States of America is an effective deterrent, I'll be glad to listen to what you have to say. Until then, you're presenting nothing more than anecdotal evidence that is entirely irrelevant to the situation at hand.