People are demanding the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and criminal defense attorney, Judy Clarke, has been appointed to represent him. Fox News conservatives railed against him, saying he should get capital punishment and even be tortured. How does the overall population feel about the death penalty? To generate an impression from the populace, I gathered data from the comments section of four websites with articles discussing James Holmes and his fateful trial.
The justice system takes years to reach a verdict on a death sentence, and James Holmes’s death trial is currently being processed and is scheduled to begin in February 2014. James Holmes was the man who went on a shooting spree in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring at least 24. With his infamous crime being known for nearly a year, there is more data to collect regarding people’s feelings on the death penalty.
In a recent poll on the Los Angeles Times website, 33.84% are positively in favor of capital punishment, 30.72% are in favor but the prosecutor should have the freedom to be against it, and 35.43% are completely against the death penalty. This gives a general idea of what people think, but only from one website.
From the four websites, I took the first 50 clearly stated opinions regarding capital punishment. The exception was Reason.com. I could only collect 39 opinions because I ran out of comments. I excluded repeat commentators, spam, and comments that seemed unclear on the specific issue of death sentences. Table 1 shows a summation of all comments in each category. Table 2 shows the proportions of people within each stance regarding capital punishment.
Table 1
Website
|
For
|
Against
|
In the Middle
|
Total
|
Huff Post
|
19
|
18
|
13
|
50
|
Reason.com
|
23
|
7
|
9
|
39
|
The Daily Beast
|
21
|
18
|
11
|
50
|
The Daily Kos
|
11
|
33
|
6
|
50
|
Totals
|
74
|
76
|
39
|
189
|
Table 2
The Qualitative Aspects of the Results
The two tables only measure the quantitative aspects of what the populace feels regarding the death penalty. The reasons for the people’s feelings shows a deeper perspective. Both “For” and “Against” sides have financial concerns on which is cheaper, to execute a murderer or to support the murderer through life in prison. Also, they both harbor violent wishes to be more creative than the death penalty. In the next sections, the comments from all three stances, For, Against, and In the Middle, illustrate the reasons for their opinions. No usernames are disclosed, and typos are included. Only websites are cited.
In Favor of the Death Penalty
The people who were in favor of capital punishment had five general reasons or reactions: Straight forward, Deserves a worse death penalty, Tax dollar concerns, Letting him live would endanger others, and Death penalty is not murder.
Straight Forward
Some people simply and vehemently believed in capital punishment.
“Off with his head, or at least a muscle relaxant when he's strapped to gurney.” – Huff Post
“His next move will be to find God and repent . . . I think he should do it in person.” – Huff Post
"Some things are worth the price and having this sack of shit cease to exist is one of them." – Reason.com
"This guy is a poster child for the death penalty. You can't put his face up there and expect to have a sober debate." – Reason.com
"He should plead insanity and then be put down like a rabid dog." – Reason.com
"The man needs to die. The best closure for all the victims families is a very speedy trial and a speedy execution. Tomorrow." – The Daily Beast
Deserves a worse death penalty
Then there were other people who not only believe in the death penalty, but they wish to be more creative in the level of brutality. Others want to literally reciprocate Holmes’s act by recreating the murder scene, placing him as the victim.
“The execution should be held in the city square. The authorities should then strip him naked and dismember each and every part of his body slowly starting with his fingers. If he passes out from the pain, stop and wake him up.” – Huff Post
“I vote for Impalement!” – Reason.com
“Defenestration. Sears Tower in Chicago would be about right size for it.” – Reason.com
“A trip through the wood chipper at half speed. Feet first, of course.” – Reason.com
“I say off with his head, and use a very dull blade!” – Reason.com
“Let him watch a movie in a theater, then go in with guns blazing” – Huff Post
“Good. And do it while he's watching a screening of the Kilmer or Clooney Batman.” – Huff Post
Tax dollar concerns
The idea is why should people pay for a murderer to keep living? Some believe execution is cheaper in the long run.
“How much money do you think it will take for those of us in Colorado to support him for the rest of his natural life? I'm not up for that.....thanks so much,” – Huff Post
“Also, where is the calculation of a lifetime in prison? It's probably more than a million bucks, with food, healthcare etc.” – Reason.com
“Exactly, and why pay to keep him alive for the rest of his life. Free room, board, and healthcare for the next half century or so. Close the door on his life and let the families move on.” – The Daily Beast
“A hole in the ground will free up a cell for someone else.” – Huff Post
Letting him live would endanger others.
The ideas expressed were that execution insures that the person can not kill another person ever again, and that even in prison the murderer could kill inmates and prison guards.
“Ah, yes, the LWOP dodge (Life With Out Parole). Inmates can still kill guards, other prisoners, and arrange to have their co-conspirators in or out of prison kill people even outside prison. What's to stop JH from joining a prison gang & causing more havoc on the inside?” – Reason.com
“..... Moral tone has no effect on the deaf ear of murderous evil, but with the death penalty, at least they will never get a second chance to steal another life. ......” – The Daily Beast
“I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, but what about the safety of the other inmates? You mentioned the "general public," but what of those who are caged in with a lunatic? Is their protection not more of a state responsibility than that of the general public?” – Reason.com
Death penalty is not murder.
The idea is that killing and murder are two separate concepts. Here is one example.
“Because we don't firmly believe killing people is wrong. There are always exceptions. War. Self-defense. In the defense of others. In some states, death with dignity for the terminal. There are others. This can be one, too....” – The Daily Beast
Against the Death Penalty
The people opposed to execution express eight general reasons or reactions for their opinions: Immorality, Financial concerns, Societal problems, False positives, Life Without Parole is worse, Study them, Giving him what he wants, and Death penalty does not deter murder.
Immorality
They believe the death penalty is vengeance or hypocritically committing the same crime the killer did.
“That is not justice, that is revenge.” – Huff Post
“They might be sending a clear message to James Holmes but they are also teaching your kids, your brother / sister that violance is the answer.. How do they expect the kids of today take the right road and make something of themselfs, when the state is doing the same thing that James Holmes did. Take a life for a life. What message is that giving the kids? So what the state is saying that violence is acceptable, and that the can give just about anyone the death penalty. Yeah great work people.” – Huff Post
“The cost and time, the wishes of the victims, and society's desire for vengeance are irrelevant. The way I see it, the state just doesn't have the moral authority to kill somebody that it has rendered harmless. ….” – Reason.com
“In a society where we firmly believe that killing someone is wrong... How does it make sense for the punishment to be killing someone?” – The Daily Beast
“I disagree. It makes society no better than the criminal.” – The Daily Beast
“Why do we kill people to show that killing people is wrong?” – The Daily Kos
Financial concerns
They feel that execution costs more, affecting tax payers.
“From a 2009 article on Yahoo. "To execute a prisoner costs about $3 millions dollars. To keep a prisoner in jail for a lifetime without chance of parole costs about $650,000.Recent studies have indicated that the death penalty costs 70% more than lifetime incarceration, in Tennessee 48% more, and in Maryland, the death penalty costs 3 times as much. In 2008, a California Commission found that a system without the death penalty would cost 11.5 millions dollars, compared to 137 million with the death penalty. Even with no appeals, the death penalty is still more expensive.” – The Daily Beast
“I've been involved with three, one went all the way through and we spent approx $1M. The other two resolved pre-trial for LWOP and probably cost $50k together.” – The Daily Kos
Societal problems
Others believe that society helped shape the mind of the murderer.
“People like this can only exist in our society because we create them and ignore them after their creation. We waste billions on the military industrial complex when we should be investing billions into mental health programs. Society failed this man, and society paid the price for that failure. We could kill him, but we are only doing so to avoid taking responsibility for that failure. It takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to save a person from drowning in their insanity and despair. Compassion could have prevented this whole tragedy.” – Huff Post
False positives
Not everyone who is executed is guilty. Later evidence proves their innocence when it is too late.
“To that I would play Devil’s advocate and answer that we kill people to punish them for doing something they knew was wrong when they did it. Death penalty advocates have a point when they say that murderers give up their right to live by taking life, and that they know it was wrong to murder because they try to cover up the crime. Of course death penalty advocates go silent when you show them the rising statistics of death row inmates being exonerated when new evidence of innocence comes to light.” – The Daily Kos
Life Without Parole (LWOP) is worse.
The conditions of prison make life unbearable, and the criminal has his/her whole life to contemplate their actions. Plus, the liberal side also likes to get creative with punishments.
“And how is locking a person in a cell 23 hours a day for decades any more humane or less depriving of rights than killing that person. Yeah, murder is bad. But there are fates worse than death. And living your life in a supermax is probably one of them.” – Reason.com.
“The death penalty is such a waste. I could think of much more creative and useful punishments. Organ harvesting and human experiments come to mind.” – Reason.com.“Capital Punishment is too easy. What should really happen is that he should be woken up daily, forced to watch home videos, birthday and baby pictures of the people he killed, along with photos of the aftermath, Clockwork Orange style. Once a year, force him to sit in front of any family member that wishes to describe to him in whatever level of detail they choose how his actions impacted their lives. Having a guard kick him in the nuts on the way back to his supermax cell every day would be nice as well, but that's negotiable. Now that's punishment. Death? bah. Also, it's wrong for the state to kill people.” – The Daily Kos
Study them.
Instead of killing the killer, analyzing the murder’s mind and life could answer questions about what caused him/her to become a societal monster.
“That mass murderers should not be put to death, but rather be put under the microscope... lab rats if you will. Then perhaps we could narrow down what causes people to snap and so these things... Thoughts?” – The Daily Kos
“Studying them with the next decade's technology could easily save more lives than executing them.” – The Daily Kos
“I agree. We know there is something wrong with these people. I believe the most rational response is to attempt to learn what causes these violent outbursts and see what can be done to prevent these tragedies.” – The Daily Kos
Giving him what he wants.
The idea is that the killer desires notoriety and to die a “martyr,” so executing him is appeasing him.
“By executing him you fulfill his dream(he probably wanted to die via suicide by cop). Also for those other twisted minds, you just enable the myths that other twisted minds will somehow use to idolize him. Life in prison is a far better punishment, because he will eventually be forgotten about, or at a minimum be rendered a minor footnote in history. When/if he is executed you will have a media circus that will do no favours for the victims or their families.” – The Daily Kos
Death penalty does not deter murder.
The death penalty has been around throughout the history, and it has not stopped murder.
“If it isn’t a deterrent, it isn’t worth it.” – The Daily Kos.
In the Middle
The people who were in the middle either believe in the death penalty with exceptions or they have other interesting views where blame is shifted to the pharmaceutical industry or racial discrimination is mentioned.
I am against the death penalty, but…..
“I'm against the death penalty, but I understand those who want revenge.” – Huff Post
“I'm sorry, but the guy clearly did it. I'm against the death penalty in 99% of cases, where there could be doubt and when there is only a single murder (so as to give criminals a reason not to murder more than one person). But in this case, there is no doubt whatsoever, and he killed a bunch of people.” – Reason.com
Other interesting views
“No matter what they do to this monster - they will never get "justice" for the victims. The victims are dead, sadly, and nothing will bring them back. No amount of vengeance, revenge, "justice", or whatever you want to call it will ever be just or fair. The innocent victims are gone. …………The victims have the right to have their loved ones back - but that's never going to happen - just like "justice" for anyone is ever really going to ever happen in this case. I wish there was a better answer than that...............” – Huff Post
“When are we going to start punishing the Dr. Frankensteins who dole out medications that turn the James Holmes in the world from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hydes? ........” – Huff Post
“If we don't push for the death penalty for James Holmes, we should get rid of it altogether. So sick of having these mostly white, mostly privileged young men skate off with a life term while we all know what happens to the poverty stricken minority youth that goes on trial for 1 murder (let alone 10+).” – The Daily Beast
© 2013 Caroline Friehs
Originally posted: May 9, 2013
References
Chapman, S (2013 Apr. 4). Why Prosecutors Should Push for Life in Prison – Not the Death Penalty – for James Holmes. Reason.com. Retrieved from: http://reason.com/archives/2013/04/04/why-prosecutors-should-push-for-life-in#comment
Daily Kos Member (2013 Apr. 1). Does James Holmes, the Aurora Killer, deserve the death penalty. The Daily Kos. Courtesy of user: Michael012. Retrieved from: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/01/1198514/-Does-James-Holmes-the-Aurora-killer-deserve-the-death-penalty
Donaghue, E (2013 May 2). Defending Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Renowned attorney Judy Clarke will fight for bombing suspect’s life. CBS News.com – Crime Sider. Retrieved from: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57582573-504083/defending-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-renowned-attorney-judy-clarke-will-fight-for-bombing-suspects-life/
Dow, D.R. (2013 Apr. 2). Death Penalty Is the Wrong Punishment for James Holmes. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/02/death-penalty-is-the-wrong-punishment-for-james-holmes.html
Huff Post (2013 Apr. 1). James Holmes Death Penalty: Prosecutors To Seek Capital Punishment For Accused Aurora Theater Shooter. Huff Post – Crime. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/01/james-holmes-death-penalty_n_2978900.html?utm_hp_ref=crime
McGough, M (2013 Apr. 12). Poll: James Holmes and the death penalty. Los Angeles Times – Opinion LA. Retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-aurora-victims-deserve-respect-but-not-a-sayso-20130412,0,57620.story
Williams, R (2013 April). It’s Official – Fox News Just Hit Rock Bottom. Hard and Repeatedly. [video]. Upworthy.com. Retrieved from: http://www.upworthy.com/its-official-fox-news-just-hit-rock-bottom-hard-and-repeatedly-3
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