Death sentence – the judge & jury panel committed killing karma?

[DS Star]

I wonder, when the panel of jury and the judge in a murder trial sentenced someone to death, are they committing the killing karma?

We can argue that they are only performing their duty, however, in my opinion their main duty is to determine whether the accused is REALLY guilty. The penalty sentence is actually on the next level.

In most of the murder cases, the juries (and in some countries, the judge) are given options to choose from and whichever sentence they chosen is deem appropriate with the seriousness of the crime; it should be the deterrent factor to any potential murderer in future.

When sentencing someone to death, the juries and the judge are playing God, for the life of the person is in their hands.

By taking the life of the murderer, will it bring the victim(s) back to life?
What if the accused is not the real murderer?

This means there is still a possibility of sending an innocent man/woman to galore.... then is it not creating 'killing' karma?

What about the convicted person that had remorseless repented (like Fredrick Baer in the video below)?
There is no forgiveness at all to lessen the sentence to life in prison?

http://youtu.be/1L4Zry4PmP0
	Small | Large

In an exclusive interview with The Herald Bulletin, Fredrick Baer, convicted in the 2004 for murders of Cory and Jenna Clark and sentenced to death, speaks about the events of that day and of his remorse for their families.

Or like the wrongly accused Jamie Bain who was jailed 35 years for a crime he didn't do, should we leave the 'appropriate punishment' to karma?

When asked by press after his release, if he is angry with the mistake and how he feel about the fact that the real kidnapper & rapist is still at large, Jamie Bain said :

“No, I am not angry sir. I got God in my head.” “God will take care of him  as much as He took care of me.”
Jamie Bain was only 19 years old when he went to prison back in 1974, he is 54 years old now.
 

http://youtu.be/vd0umpU4lAQ
	Small | Large

 
What is your opinion, sentencing someone to death sentence is a killing karma?

[Jessie Fong]

I am of the opinion that members of the jury do collect the karma of killing when they unanimously return the verdict of "Guilty" which ultimately carries the death penalty.

They may not have directly passed the death sentence but their voice led to it being handed down. It is the country's legal system that determines the sentence to be handed down on the accused. 

If you do not want to be guilty of being the indirect cause, are you able to reject jury duty?

[vajrastorm]

When a death sentence is meted out, and 'execution' does take place subsequently, there is a deliberate taking of a life. Hence, to me it is 'killing' - a non-virtuous action that carries a heavy burden of karma.

There is no true mitigating factor to consider here. The two purposes for enforcing the death sentence
are - as a form of retribution and as a deterrence against future would-be murderers or killers. As a form of retribution  - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life? What real purpose does this serve? Taking another life won't bring back the first life.  Two deaths for one - is the result. Is that true justice?
What happens if a wrongly accused person were put to death? Or if the guilty were remorseful and regrets his action just before his execution?

Is the death sentence likely to have  a deterrent effect on would-be killers in the future?
Studies have shown that killing is engaged in by a deluded mind, deluded by anger, hate, greed and the like. When  a person is in the grip of strong delusions, he is unlikely to rationalize about the negative consequences and harm he will cause even himself nor will his hand be stayed by the fear of the death sentence.

Using the Dharma as a guide, the skillful way to deal with a murderer, who has been tried and proven guilty without the shadow of a doubt,  is to handle it , based on our knowledge of karma . The negative karma of killing and taking a life will return unmitigated to the killer, if not purified. Purification has to have the four powers accompanying it. The power of regret, the power of resolve(not to commit  a similar act again), the power of reliance (taking refuge in the Three jewels or the practice of great compassion towards other beings) and the power of remedy - doing  purification practices, like reciting the Heart Sutra, the 35 Confessional Buddhas, Vajrasattva and the like.

We see that it is possible to purify the negative karma of killing as in the case of the great Buddhist saint Milarepa as well as Angulima, with the help and guidance of great Spiritual Guides, like the Buddha and Marpa. In modern times, instead of hard cold solitary cells, these murderers should be put in an environment, where Buddhist practices of meditation and Dharma teaching can be carried out in a skillful and effective way.
 

   

[RedLantern]

Buddhist doctrines hold non violence and compassion for all life in high regard.The first precept of Buddhism requires individual to abstain from injuring or killing all living creatures and Buddha's teaching restricts Buddhist monks from any political involvement too.
In Buddhist theory of karma,the karmic effect of a deed is not determined solely by the deed itself,but also by the nature of the person who commits the deed and by the circumstances in which the deed is committed.

[Tammy]

DS Star, stop thinking too much! The judges and executioners are just fulfilling their professional duties. It is definitely not a nice and happy feeling being an executioner, however, someone's gotta do the dirty job!!

[Benny]

I could not agree more with Vajrastorm , the two main purposes or aims of death sentences , which are retribution and deterrence are not good reasons or excuses to carry out the killing of another human being.

Firstly , if it was an "effective" method of deterrence , then murders in countries with death sentences , would have ceased all together . As the video interview of most remorseful murderers would show you , murderers will still murder even being fully aware that there is the death penalty as retribution waiting for them.

Secondly , as a form of retribution , an eye for an eye , not everyone in society agrees with this notion, especially Buddhist . Although , most victims family would want justice to be served , most would not want the capital punishment of death. Especially Buddhists , it is only "conveniently" accepted that it is NOT them who wants the death of the killer , BUT the law or the state that demands the execution . So if , there were no such laws to kill offenders , then most people would just accept life imprisonment as sufficient punishment.

Based on the above points and also the very real RISK of miscarriages of justice , where the innocent are mistakenly punished , it is best we leave the death sentencing out of our samsaric laws . In this age of delusions , who are the judges , jury , lawyers and enforcement authorities to have the power to take another life .

[rossoneri]

Yes, definitely is killing. And this is leading to another karma manifest in another form or time zone between the judge, panel of jury and the criminal. Come to think of it i am very fortunate not to be born as one of them.... I remember i read about one family which consists of the mother, father, son and a dog. Whereby the is very attached to the dog, the son loves fishing and the father loved to have fish as part of his diet. If i remembered correctly in their next life the son is to be born as a dog, the father as a fish, the dog as a son and the mother as  father. So what does it tell us, in this cyclic existence (samsara) what goes around comes around and ultimately we can't cheat karma. So if we did anything in this life there're bound to have the effect.

[dondrup]

Sentencing someone to death gives rise to killing karma because the judge and jury panel are the indirect causes for the accused's death! if the verdict decided upon by the Judge and jury panel was done without conscience, irresponsibly and with the intention to kill, then the severity of the killing karma is greater! It does not matter whether the law permits the death sentence to be given out for those found guilty of the crime, or the judge or jury panel had performed their duties responsibly and with conscience or without the intention to kill the accused; the fact that the accused will experience death is killing!

[bambi]

They definitely contribute to the karma of killing. Its the same as the fish monger catching fishes, the person selling the fish in the market and us buying it. Does it mean that we did not kill the fish directly hence its not my karma? We did not create the negative karma from buying and eating it? But death sentence is NOT the way. We should never think that any of us have the authority to take another life.
Hhmm... They should have Buddha's teachings in prison.. Can plant seed and show them the truth...

[yontenjamyang]

The judge has definitely committed killing karma. The jury have directly committed the killing karma if there are other alternatives in the punishment that can be sentenced by the judge. If the jury know that the only possible punishment allowed by the law of the land is death, then, they have committed the killing karma.

If that is the case, every single person in the jury and the judge, the prosecutor his assistants has committed the same act of killing; not to mention the executor and his cohorts.

The four components of the act is present. These components are the basis, intention, deed and final step. The basis is the person sentenced to death ie someone other than yourself, the intention consist of recognition, the motive and the delusions. The recognition here is another human being, the motive is wanting to execute the person and the delusion here is mainly ignorance and attachment to the law of the country. The deed is the act of killing by poison, hanging etc and the final step is the death of the person executed.

Unfortunately in these degenerate times, "an eye for an eye" is still practiced. We should modify the law to show compassion to the criminals. After all, even Angulimala who killed 999 people gained enlightenment.

[cookie]

There is disagreement among Buddhists as to whether or not Buddhism forbids the death penalty. The first of the Five Precepts (Panca-sila) is to abstain from destruction of life.
"Everyone fears punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore you do not kill or cause to be killed."
 "Him I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. He neither kills nor helps others to kill." These sentences are interpreted by many Buddhists (especially in the West) as an injunction against supporting any legal measure which might lead to the death penalty. However, as is often the case with the interpretation of scripture, there is dispute on this matter. For example, Bhutan has abolished the death penalty, but Thailand still retains it, although Buddhism is the official religion in both.
 Japan still imposes the death penalty, although some recent justice ministers have refused to sign death warrants, citing their Buddhist beliefs as their reason.
All judges who makes a death sentence is definitely committing a killing karma ! More efforts and resources should instead be used to rehabilitate the criminals.  Compassion for the criminals is definitely necessary. But unfortunately it's always THEM against US and it's really hard to practice equanimity and compassion especially in this degenerate era !!

[pgdharma]

My opinion is that to sentence someone to death is wrong. If we have any direct part in the death of another person, then it would bring suffering to us as well as karmic consequences that we have to live for the rest of our lives. What about the obvious suffering that we would be helping to inflict onto the person on trial if he/she is given the death penalty? We cannot be responsible for incarcerating another human being who may well be innocent. Instead of death penalty, a better solution is life imprisonment where the hard core prisoners can be guided by Buddha’s Teachings in prison and be rehabilitated.