Do you think we should introduce the Death penalty?

foolsowl

Many people have been put to death and been innocent of the crime they were accused of. If you're goingto have the death penelty, how can you be absolutly sure only the truely guilty will be put to death?

Stevie t

It's fine until a miscarriage of justice is committed against one of your relations.....

the_slimreaper

Technically we still have the death penalty on the statute book for a few offences (arson in her majesty's dockyard and all that). But we can never ever impose it as it's outlawed under EU human rights law.

In answer to your question. No. Absolutely not. Just look at that miscarriages of justice over the last decade. In almost all cases where the conviction has been quashed the poor guy/woman would've been hung if we'd used the death penalty.

bean

sometimes I think that ... but sometimes I dont. What if they change their ways? What if they are innocent?

Eluned

No way - it doesn't work. America has the death penalty and they have a way bigger problem with serious crime than the UK.

Plus - do we really think our police and justice system are so good that they couldn't possibly make a mistake (bearing in mind that hardly a week goes by without another major re-trial)? What about those ladies who were put into prison for murdering their own babies, simply because an expert said that it was unlikely that 2 children would die of cot death in the same family? These poor women were released when it became clear that the causes of some cot deaths can be heriditary.... and therefore REALLY likely to happen twice to one family. Those poor women would be dead by now if we had the death penalty for murder.

Secondly - what makes us better than them if we do decide to take a life for a life? Our legal system is based on protecting the public and rehabilitating offenders - the idea that people can have a second chance. If our legal system is about revenge then its nothing better than a lynch-mob.

Have you ever done anything in your life for which you were sorry? Broke your sister's favourite doll, nicked the sweets off your birthday cake, kicked a football through the greenhouse....? Weren't you glad that it was forgotten? What would the punishment for that be in your hyper-disciplinary world? OK, it's not a serious crime, but do we all agree what is and what isn't?

Two hundred years ago you would have been hanged for stealing a pig. People were hanged for stealing the bread to feed their families - I'm not exaggerating, its absolutely true. After a while our society finally saw that this was inhumane. Who would want to drag us back in that direction?

jacg

No, the death penalty should never be reintroduced to this country. For such criminals as paedophiles, a life in prison is far worse than a quick death. They thrive on notoriety and would get off on the furore surrounding their death.

Who would determine whether a crime was serious enough to warrant execution? Would we not be lowering ourselves to their standards in killing them? What about if there was some way in which they were actually innocent?

If the death penalty was really a deterrent then there would be no serious crimes committed in the US, for example, where some states still have the death penalty. Criminals there still commit crime even though they know that in being found guilty they will be executed. Arguably, more criminals may go that extra step further and kill their victim thinking that they are going to be executed anyway, they might as well go down all guns blazing, so to speak.

David .

HERES A NOVEL idea, how about we investigate the reason behind crime? Heres an idea, how about we crack down on the REAL criminals, the elite people running the corporations and our government..wake up sheep. Do you know the CIA runs drugs? oh u don't well maybe u should learn..have a nice day.

Andrea P

No.

roo

I think we should use them for lab testing instead of innocent animals.

King Wills III

Why not ask those sentenced to life imprisonment? I'm sure some would prefer to die. That way no innocent gets killed and it would save the state a fortune.

just browsin

No. Too many mistakes have been made (Illinois actually rescinded the death penalty for a time because of innocent people being put on death row). Also, who should get the authority to put someone to death? An elected judge? An appointed judge? A jury? Also, it is VERY expensive to put someone to death with all the appeals that are (and should) be allowed. It is far less expensive for incarceration for life.

lefang

no, the punishment should reflect societies concerns, prisons are meant to reform, then we should use every means at our disposal to do just that, the rights of prisoners should not be our first concern, they gave no thought to the acts they perputrated upon thier victims
chemical aversion therapy, the testing of medicines awaiting human trials,castration, the tree strikes and you are gone from this earth, with no appeal, no fourth trial. for lesser crimes agaist the person where death has not occurred they should be made to contribute to society in some way, by being drafted to a penal regiment and sent to pick up landmines. LF

hastetothewedding

The only problem with the death penalty, as far as I can see, is the potential of making a mistake. However, I would say if you're 99% certain you've got the right man/woman then hang them.

As for the other 1%, chances are they're a bad person anyway. After all, what are the chances of a perfectly respectable and honest person ending up being accused of a serious crime?

It's much more likely that a person who's been in trouble before is charged with a crime they didn't commit, in which case that'll be a lesson for them won't it :)

amania_r

It's a good job none of you are politicians. If your daughter murdered someone, would you condone the death penalty?

Stammerman!

Are an easy life or death really the only two options? Why not make prison the punishment its supposed to be.

Anyway, many kiddy fiddlers get beaten up by prisoners who seem to think that their crimes are not worthy of a good beating.

I think we should let the paedophiles beat up the murderers and armed criminals for a change.

Hendo

Yes, especially for child abusers, serial rapists and murderers. It would also help with the organ shortage for transplants.

Essex Ron

In Britain we have retained the death penalty for one group of human beings only - unborn babies. No crime committed, no harm done to anyone, just because it is a human being that we do not want to live, it is possible to have a perfectly viable, living, human being plucked from the body of a pregnant woman and left to die in a hospital sluice. This up to the age of 24 weeks, when premature babies born before that age regularly survive.

Hiyawaffa

No one has the right to take a human life. But yes in the cases of people who actually like what they do ie. serial killers, serial rapists.and serial paedophiles and mass murders it would be less for the world to worry about and people would probably sleep better in their beds knowing its one less too worry about, or an alternative would be to teach them to forgive themselves first for their deadly deeds, then let them do the Honourable thing by letting them commit harry-carry and then no one has their blood on their hands. sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind, its a shame that the world has created these monsters in the first place.

rank_peeler

Do you realize that we are the only CIVILIZED country that still has the deth penalty. The poblem with prison overcrowding is simply this: The politicians (and citizens) fell in love with get tough on crime (which is good) years ago. The one thing they forgot about is where to put everyone who gets caught committing a crime. You have a good political platform i.e. "Vote for me and all criminals will go to jail" Then you have the rest of it i.e. "Where do we put them and who's going to pay for all this?"
But isn't that typical of our society? We love one idea, but put blinders on to consequences of that idea.

Andrew H

NEVER. If the state kills a person, no matter how evil they are, does that make the state a killer too?? The death penalty exists is some US states, but does it stop killers from killing... no.
Prison crowding is a big issue so why don't we sent some offenders to the Falkland isles and do a bit of quarrying or something?? Or even some free national service for less serious offenders therefore keeping prisons free for killers and rapists.

lil missy

its a hard one as some people are proved innocent whilst on death row or something, but then you look at some sick ^"$% who should be rotting in hell and not prison...then sometimes its good to see people like the huntley bloke who CANT kill himself, let alone all the folks who'd like to do it for him. suffering can be a nice word when people who deserve it cant get out of it.

noTpoOdLE

No i don't. Although i would prefer it if it was me in that situation. The rod for the systems back is the sadistic lengths of time it chooses to decide when to do it. Having said that, if innocent people are murdered by the death penalty, it is done in cold blood, by the system which makes a prisoner swear by almighty god to tell the truth. Thereby breaking a commandment thought to apply to all people on earth. How do the condemners justify the right to choose who, and when to kill, compared to the criminals choice to kill. I think the courts are acting like a hanging party, using a majority deciscion to kill in the name of humanity.

waddyisme

No. The death penalty is not a deterrent from serious crime, so what would be the point, except to have some sort of revenge? If revenge is all we seek, then yes bring it back, if you want to stop crime in the first place, then the death penalty is like shouting at a brick wall.

dennis l

If we tie the death penalty to the national lottery and all these who voted for the death penalty there names put into a data bank so should subsequent evidence prove that the wrong person was convicted they would be able to take their place as the state was guilty of murder and the state represents the people,all very democratic.

Crazy_German

id say yes... but then where i live the death penalty is still part of the law... you kill anyone you get hanged... and believe me its happened not too long ago where a woman killed her friend she got hanged for it..... however this doesn't prevent the crime from still happening they just dont kill anyone these days and if they do they tend to kill themselves afterwards anyway...

goliathntime

Only if it is carried out expeditiously.

susangray1375

Use of the dealth penalty (dp) is a contentious issue. In arabic states there is little crime, which may be partly use to the strict Shia laws which include use of the dp. In the US, which also uses the (dp) there is still a high crime rate. The dp does not allow for human error, or the uncovering of new evidence. Sentences cannot really be reviewed. Also convicts have to be housed whilst waiting for the dp which negates the idea of reducing the number of inmates. Therefore building more prisons, maybe with a harsher regime and life sentances to mean life is the way discussions about prison policy should go.

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