Should James Holmes (Batman killing) get the death penalty?

but ideally he should someday be released. It's impossible to tell what he's going to be like in 10 or 20 years time, he may well be a reformed member of society

This is the problem. We're going about the justice system all wrong. It shouldn't be done by emotion but by morality.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

He doesn't have the right to be a reformed citizen.

How the hell are you defending a guy who killed 12 people and a little baby.

How can you advocate someone unlawfully taking innocent peoples lives and them being able to live normal lives?

If his victims can never go into a shop again, or breathe in fresh air, then he shouldn't.

I doubt you said 'Oh but what if Bin Laden quits Al-Qaeda and becomes a good person in 10 or 20 years time? You know, he might not bomb us next time.'

most of these people have mental issues or have had seriously screwed up childhoods, society has obviously failed them, killing them solves nothing.

i really think bin laden should have been taken alive and tried in an international court. if in 20 years time he has truly has changed and can be safely released into society i don't see a problem with that

How can someone have the right to roam free after killing people? Isn't that unfair to the victim and their family/friends?

No.

the point of sentencing somebody to prison/community service/etc is rehabilitation. sentencing somebody to death is you saying that they'll never ever be able to contribute positively to society

While I agree that rehabilitation should be the main goal of our judicial system, acts such as makes one wonder what doesn't deserve rehabilitation. Yes, he was on track to a promising career, but the fact of the matter is that he knew he has going to do this shooting one day. To plan/ romanticize (he had asked I think his gf, or at least someone of importance if they would visit him in prison, before committing the offense) committing such an act as shooting up a movie theatre, in my opinion, shouldn't be given a second chance.

He went in expecting no survivors. He ended up killing 12 people, injuring 58 more, and not to mention causing unimaginable emotional pain to hundreds more. If he made the decision that every person in that theatre doesn't deserve to live, why should we be more merciful?

but WHY did he make those decisions, he is most likely mentally ill and dropped through societys safety net. why does that then give us the right to kill him. surely as a society we should try and fix people like that rather than sweep them under the rug

I can only work off of my speculation as to why he did it, and to me the only reason I can see why someone would shoot up the premiere of a highly successful movie series film is for fame. Unfortunately, the media LOVES falling into this trap, and he's getting exactly what he wants. So in my opinion, I would agree (and this is rare for me) that he is deserving of a death penalty.

Besides, is there any long- term, objective proof of rehabilitating these kind of people?

But in a world where we throw away people's lives over non- violent drug crimes, yet give pedophiles less prison time in comparison, I guess it makes sense for people to be divided here.

What do you think as this question has sparked some debate.

I think yes he most certainly should.

The man is a monster.. he shot a baby and killed a 6 year old and continued to shoot people as they begged for him to stop.. He is evil.

Am interested to hear the arguments for both sides.

Please make sure before you debate on here you are familiar with the case, I don't support the death penalty but after reading reports on this from witnesses about what he did I think he should be killed.