death penalty?

[Bonnyboy]

I have always been totally against the death penalty. The main reason being that you just know that sometime or other some poor soul is going to be wrongly executed.

Having said that I’ve started to think about instances where the death penalty might be applicable. I, along with lots of others, am losing faith rapidly with the sentences meted out in courts as proposed punishment. I said in another post that the Scales of Justice need recalibration, it’s still the case.

Sick and tired of hearing about the Human Rights of prisoners, sick of weak judges dishing out feeble sentences, sick of hearing about sentences being cut due to lack of prison spaces (getting out early) Christ, they can throw up a shopping superstore over a matter of a few weeks, how long does it take to build a bloody prison…..anyway that’s another topic.

I’m still against the death penalty, if there is a chance of wrongful execution, I have to say No.

[Madhatter]

If they didn't put people in prison for theft there'd be space for violent offenders, not just rapists and murderers but yobs that go out on a Friday night get tanked up and beat some poor sod to near death scaring him for life. That should be a prison sentence and not a short one, instead they're given community service a fine and told, but not made to pay compensation. Any violent crime of any sort should be dealt with severely, but places are took up by petty criminals.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by emamum23

In the wake of another massacre i am wondering what accywebs opinion of the death penalty is? I m a little stuck on this one since we hear so often of people being sent to prison for crimes they didnt commit..And it also seems like an easy solution and a quick release for the purpetrator, instead of rotting in jail they die, in some cases death is preferable to the lives they have.Should they not have their freedom taken from them and have to live knowing that?
I do agree that life should mean life in some cases...

Is the threat of the electric chair or hanging enough to stop the crimes being commited?

Or is death a fitting punishment for taking someones life?
Where do we draw the line?
I am thinking about Jamies Bulgers Killers, they were children themselves, now adults starting new lives... is that justice? Jamie didnt get to!

Please leave comments, I am interested in you opinions on this.



If we all took an eye for an eye, we would all be blind...........

The Jamie Bulger saga belongs in a thread of its own as you are raising two questions.

1) Do we approve of the death penalty?

2) Would we apply the death penalty to Jamie Bulger's killers?

[Bonnyboy]

Originally Posted by Madhatter

If they didn't put people in prison for theft there'd be space for violent offenders, not just rapists and murderers but yobs that go out on a Friday night get tanked up and beat some poor sod to near death scaring him for life. That should be a prison sentence and not a short one, instead they're given community service a fine and told, but not made to pay compensation. Any violent crime of any sort should be dealt with severely, but places are took up by petty criminals.

Personally I think punishment should be more harsh across the board, be that for petty crime or not.


“Petty Crime” I wonder which div thought that terminology up. It’s not a petty crime if you happen to be on the receiving end of having your pension nicked or your house ransacked. Scumbags, the lot of them. If more prison space is required the get the damned prisons built…hell put Tesco management in charge, there would be loads of prison space within months.

[derekgas]

I would not say apply the death penalty for the jamie bulger pair, because of thier age, but should not see light of day for 25 years, premeditated murder or multiple murder, rape, armed robbery, serious crimes against the impaired (mugging grannies, disabled etc) should carry the death penalty for over 18's and 25 years for anybody else. As said before, capital and corporal punishment etc should be brought back too, with clear guidelines for there application, as prison sentences should be, so there is no 'confusion' between judges.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I agree that there is no such thing as 'petty crime'.......and calling it this somehow makes it seem like it is less valid as a crime.
All crimes have victims.....the primary victim is the person that is robbed or mugged etc, but then there are the secondary victims of crime - the parents of the criminal, the children and partner/wife of the criminal......they are all victims.

At one time, being a criminal carried great shame for a family......and while I am not exactly sure that this is the case today, there must be parents who despair of the acts of their offspring, and wonder where it all went wrong.

[blazey]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Can you explain what you mean by the phrase 'Human compassion is dangerous'......I can't really see how it fits in with the rest of your post.
Maybe I am having a 'grey moment'.

Human compassion is what makes us seek things like revenge for those who have been hurt, its what makes us want those who have caused pain to suffer. No justice is brought by suffering, only satisfaction.

You can just destroy something you don't like in society, it's just not ethical or humane, and the death penalty means someone else has to stoop as low as someone else, and it isn't often that the ones who praise it are the actual executioners themselves.

Many people may say they could easily kill someone who has done something so terrible to another, but how truthful is that when most people probably cant even put, for example, an injured bird out of its misery?

I read the argument about human compassion in an academic article, obviously it went into a lot more depth, but the key message was that it should never be given authority.

[blazey]

Originally Posted by emamum23

i think a more apt word would have been emotion.....

The word emotion is too vague and doesn't describe the exact emotion I am outlining. If I was to use the word emotion that would imply that ALL emotion is dangerous, and I wouldn't go as far to make such a broad statement as that. It would mean I am saying happiness and love are dangerous emotions, when they tend to be more harmless than compassion.

[cashman]

ya lost me with that un.always understood compassion to mean a kind of sorrow?

[blazey]

I explained what I meant but the forum messed up my post, so I cant be bothered to type it again.

Basically, yes my use of the word compassion is linked with sorrow, mainly for someone elses pain rather than your own.

I said a lot more than that but I dont think I need to explain my first post any further, if you have the same ideology as me you will have understood my post. If you dont agree with my view, maybe for a different reason against it or a view for it, it probably wont make a difference about my view anyway, as this topic is one where most people have their own set idea on it, and it takes a lot to change a view on such a controversial topic and I certainly dont have time or any need to make those changes to someone elses opinion.

I feel strongly against the death penalty but it isn't something I would ever feel the need to mae a public statement against. They're just my views and I dont need them to matter or be understood by anyone else, and I certainly dont have time to have a heated debate about this topic, but there are people who probably campaign daily about it in america and places that have the death penalty.

[cashman]

who wants a heated debate about what is a very personal issue? i sure as hell dont.

[blazey]

Originally Posted by cashman

who wants a heated debate about what is a very personal issue? i sure as hell dont.

Most of the time it cant be avoided. People want to criticise your argument with their own opinion, and of course, opinion isn't something that is necessarily easy to disprove, particularly on subjects that involve feelings like this one, and you just run around in circles arguing your point.

My main point against it was the one I said based on the law, and how it should be aimed generally, rather than at individuals. It isn't an opinion-based argument really as it is a legal principle, therefore can be much easier criticised, and yet its more solid than any opinion so less likely to be knocked down.

The death penalty is almost like double standards. You can't murder but once you have, your then free to be murdered yourself. I dont like double standards, they're generally unfair to one side.

[Madhatter]

Not sure how you can say there's no such thing as petty crime, saying all crimes are serious de-rates serious crime.
The sex offenders register does that, All sex offenders are lumped together on the list regardless of whether they're rapists, child molesters or a 17 yr old that got his 15 n 3/4 yr old girl friend pregnant. Lucky we're not in america I suppose or he'd be a rapist too.

You need clear labels for different types of crimes, different ways of dealing with those crimes and different levels of punishment.

They are petty compared to murder. Shoplifting certainly is. Stealing from a till is. That is NOT to say that those crimes aren't that, a crime because we all know that they are. We all know they hurt people, affect lives can mentally scar people and cause financial hardship. They are still petty though. That is what the law defines them as.

[Diesel]

I personally am against the Death Penalty.
Why should somebody who has commited Murder get the easy way out with death?
They should be jailed for life(until they die of natural causes) and be made to suffer for their crime.
The solution is stronger sentences and stop making prisons like holiday camps.

[steeljack]

I guess you can put me in the box ....if it was my child who had been murdered , I would say hang the son of a bitch , ........and if it was my son who was up on the charge I would pray mercy would be shown , but to my mind there is a problem ......I live in a State (California) which has the death penalty on the books and in recent years over 600 juries have decided after due deliberation that the person was guilty as charged and have followed the Judges/Courts directions on following sentencing guidelines and came down on the side that the person should be executed, .........now here is the problem ....we have over 600 people on death row dying of old age because sleazeball lawyers and a corrupt legal system which allows appeal after appeal ,
There is neither the judicial or political will to carry out the laws on the books , instead lip service is paid to the notion of justice , but no thought given to the 7000 odd jurors who have racked their consciences about making the difficult decision that would take someones life .