Do you believe in the death penalty? Did your opinion change after reading this novel?

Do you believe in the death penalty? Did your opinion about the death penalty change after reading this novel?

I do not believe in the death penalty and this book did not change my mind. I do believe in our system of justice but humans are fallible and mistakes get made and no one's life should depend on whether someone is distracted. Further, from an economic standpoint, many death penalty cases are more expensive to prosecute (including appeals) than the cost of life imprison.

I did and still do believe in the death penalty. As I work in a consortium of criminal defense lawyers, there were points in this book that made it less than believeable. I also think there are truly people that the world is better off rid of, no matter if it's more expensive for taxpayers or not.

No I don't. I think having to spend your life in prison especially like Noa in solitary is a justified outcome. You need to live with yourself and be reminded daily how you let your freedom be taken away from you.

I still do not believe in the death penalty after reading Noa P. I'm not sure I think everything in the book is believable, and some days I really think there ARE people who do not contribute to a single thing in our society and world; however, I also believe that fairness in our justice system is not ensured and that those with money and advantage have a better chance of not being executed. Minorities and poor people are more often executed. Cost is also a factor. The legal steps before a condemned person is put to death cost the public far more than life imprisonment. I think also, for some people, life imprisonment is a worse punishment than death. I believe more innocent people than we know are put to death unjustly.

I do not believe in the death penalty and this book did not change my mind. I doubt that any book or real life story ever could change my mind. I simply do not believe that it is our right to take another's life no matter what the crime. Religious beliefs, I guess. I understand the reality of cost involved in housing criminals for entire life times but still can never justify it in my own mind.

I do not believe in the death penalty and my opinion didn't change after reading this book, although I felt little sympathy for Noa. I do think our judicial system is seriously warped, and I think the descriptions of the trial verified this opinion, in that Noa's defense was an abusive mistreatment of justice.

Yes, I do. I would hope and pray that the correct criminal receives it. But when a person intentionally takes the life of another, I don't believe he deserves to live -- and be paroled to do it again.

My opinion did not change.

I did believe in the death penalty in extreme cases. In those cases of "smoking gun" where there is no doubt of guilt in a heinous crime, for example. I have altered my views in recent years with the many cases in which DNA tests and other evidence has changed all circumstances and resulted in the release of a falsely accused person. I am less likely to rush to judgment and hope that our judicial system will follow that line.

In respone to Harriettek's answer I understand what you mean and I agree about the courts following suit but like in Noa's case if her lawyers had done a better job she would not have been on death row in the first place.

I used to believe in the death penalty but not any more. What changed my mind was John Grisholm's book not this one.

I think that one of the odd things about this book is that it didn't make me think about the death penalty--pro or con--even though that is what, at least partially, the book is suppose to be about.

I fluctuate depending on the crime. I think many of those who are poor, illiterate, black have been railroaded, but serial killers, terrorists - who plan their murders should definitely die.

I don't believe in the death penalty, but this book has nothing to do with that opinion. I was completely unmoved by this book. I could not get emotionally invested in any of the characters, and as a result, I was not moved to consider weighty topics while reading it.

I do not believe in the death penalty and I know this point of view is strengthened each time I see a report of a person released by the justice system because he was wrongly accused.
My opinion did not change after reading the novel.

I do believe in the death penalty. Some crimes are so heinous that death is deserved. However, that said, I think that sometimes it is more painful for the criminal to live than to die. There are worse things than death and life without the possibility of parole makes sense in many cases. As long as it is truly 'without parole'. My opinion did not change from reading this book. Noa's whole trial situation was a travesty and she should have been a lifer or set free. I think she was ready to be done with her life. The guilt she had lived with had eaten her soul and she had nothing more to live for.

I do not believe in the death penalty, and this book did not change my opinion.

At one time I was a proponent of the death penalty but have come to change my mind over the years as DNA has proven a number of those on death row to be innocent. Still, it troubles me that there are some people whose crimes are so heinous they do not deserve to live, i.e. child killers, serial killers, etc. I will have to leave justice for those individuals in the hands of God.

Meredithk, I do not think Noa would have been given the death penalty if she had spoken up for herself or told the whole story. Although her lawyers did a poor job, she didn't give them anything at all to work with.

I just found parts of this book totally unbelievable.

I do believe in the death penalty but also believe that there has to be undeniable evidence of the persons guilt. Sometime hard to come by...a witness is does not offer undeniable evidence...physical evidence with witness testimony is a good start. With today's technology we are finding the guilty and setting the not guilty free.

My feelings about the death penalty have evolved throughout the years. However, I feel were should err on the side of caution. It's not that I don't think certain criminals should be executed; it's that mistakes have been made and innocent people who have served years on death row have been discovered through DNA testing.

I do believe in the death penalty for someone whose crimes are so horrible that they are unthinkable, such as the man who kept those women imprisoned in his house for 10 years we have recently been hearing about, and the Boston bombers, who put a bomb down next to children, knowing they would die. I'm not sure that Noa deserved the death penalty, but she needed to be kept away from others since she was mentally unbalanced. I think she felt guilt, if not for he husband's girlfriend, who I don't think she planned to kill, then definitely for Persephone. My opinion on the death penalty has not changed since reading this book.

I believe in the death penalty only if there is no question of guilt; for example, if the person is caught on film or there is DNA plus other evidence. If the crime is really horrible, then I think it is better for society to not have to think about the criminal every time he comes up for parole. Even Charles Manson came up for parole. The book did not effect my opinion because Noa was guilty.

I read this book at night and watched the Jodi Arias trial by day. So Capital Punishment was on my mind day and night. I think there are people like Jodi that are evil. Sociopaths, psychopaths, all those things and are not redeemable. Society is better off with out those people. But who is to be the judge if they are redeemable? A psychologist? Lawyers? Judges? Insurance companies? LOL Is the point to punish them or exterminate them? I think incarceration in solitary confinement is more of a punishment than death. I really don't have a definite opinion on the death penalty and that hasn't changed

I do not believe in the death penalty and think (as others have commented) that it is unfairly given to those too poor to buy a better defense. There have been too many stories of people freed after DNA or other evidence was reviewed -most after spending years in prison.

My opinion did not change. I do believe in the death penalty especially when DNA and other evidence is conclusive. However I do think it is cruel and unusual punishment to have so many appeals etc. Nora was guilty both times.
However yesterday an individual was released because he was convicted by an overzealous DA and evidence that should have been admitted was not and thus with DNA and other factors he was released after serving 25 years. That is a crime.

I do not agree with the death penalty and this book reinforced that belief. There are a lot of mistakes that can be corrected but dead is not one of them. Someone's life should not depend on their economic status and in many cases it does because of their ability to have money to mount a better defense.

I do not believe in the death penalty and the book did not change my position. I definitely think that a book that stimulates discussion on the topic is a good thing although I think it would be rare for a novel to change opinions on such an important issue.