N.J. plans to rid itself of the death penalty.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/death_penalty_new_jersey

Generally I think the death penalty is rather hypocritcal, and beyond useless except in rare instances. From the article: "Republicans had sought to retain the death penalty for those who murder law enforcement officials, rape and murder children, and terrorists, but the Senate rejected the idea."

I think terrorists is a rather dubious term... if they meant mass murderers it would make more sense to me. One way or another, I don't think N.J. is going to be missing anything important if they get rid of capital punishment.

Well done NJ. Another archaic law going the way of the dinosaur.

This is just my opinion and the fact that I have been drinking has nothing to do with it. Personally I am a fan of capital punishment. I feel that if someone can be convicted of murder without a shadow of a doubt then they should be put down like a dog who bit the mailman. If someone has it in them to kill someone outside of self defense or what can be proved to be an accident or true insanity then they have no place in society. I also think that the punishment should fit the crime. If someone chokes someone to death, they should be choked to death. If someone shoots and kills someone else, put them in front of a firing squad. I do also have plans for rapists and child molesters like tying them up to a stump in a swamp and leaving them for the critters. I feel that you should be punished for a crime, not housed and fed for the rest of your life.

Capital punishment is not an effective deterrent and is VERY expensive to do. It costs the American tax payer millions to execute someones, due mostly to state provided legal costs.
About 20 years ago, I read that it costs just a few thousand to house a prisoner per year, but over $4 million to execute them.
IMO locking some one away for life in an unpleasant prision is as good as executing anyways. It is also less terminal, just in case the convict is actually found innocent later ( it does happen)

I personally think our capital punishment is too easy. i think that sitting in a cell for the rest of your life is worse than lethal injection.

This is just my opinion and the fact that I have been drinking has nothing to do with it. Personally I am a fan of capital punishment. I feel that if someone can be convicted of murder without a shadow of a doubt then they should be put down like a dog who bit the mailman. If someone has it in them to kill someone outside of self defense or what can be proved to be an accident or true insanity then they have no place in society.

See, I can never think of justice in terms of dispensing punishment. I always think of it in terms of setting things straight. The idea to me of sending somebody to prison as "punishment" is stupid - and is the single biggest flaw in our prison system there is.
The real, and only good reason to imprison anybody is to separate them from society so they can do the general public no harm. And this is what really gets me. We can send somebody to prison for 20 years, and they can come out 20 years later just as bad for society as they were when they went in - but it's ok because they got their punishment and served their time.

In terms of the death penalty, if somebody kills somebody on purpose as an act of murder but they've come to blows with what they have done and can become a useful citizen who is not a threat to society, then there's no reason IMHO to sentence them to death. If however say, they are somebody who has murdered multiple people - then chances are they don't see what's harmful about it, and they're never going to serve any useful position in society - in which case I have no qualms of ridding the human race of them.

I would rather see prisons function as a separate society where criminals can work towards proving their worth to society - instead of simply a place we send people to be punished by boredom and crummy food for an arbitrary amount of time. My opinion is they shouldn't be rotting in cells all day consuming our money - if they want to eat they should be working in prison to earn what they're going to eat. It would teach a lot of people who are used to stealing and taking other people's hard earned stuff, the value of working to earn what they have. Sitting around and being bored and cramped doesn't do that. Prison as punishment is just stupid.