Hang em high!

[Margaret Pilkington]

[quote=shakermaker][quote=Margaret Pilkington].....so I think human error is far less likely.

less likely? so error would obviously still happen! if forensic science could get everything 100% right then i might take a different view on this issue - but that isnt going to happen any time soon is it.

I think that with the advances in Forensic Science it will be possible to state 100% that a criminal did the crime - what worries me is that maybe.....just maybe if you got a rogue police official then evidence could be corrupted, mislaid, tampered with etc....need I go on?

Prison is definitely no longer a deterrent. Life sentences are rarely that.
The murdered person's family are the only ones who truly serve a life sentence.

[SPUGGIE J]

At some piont if it was brought back exceptions would creep in and ultimately weaken it. Besides does anyone here believe the present judges would swing somebody? Hell they cant even get linear sentancing on crimes as it is. At what court would neck stretching be handed down from? How long would they have before they were dropped? This issue could pause as many questions as it poses so I will abstain on this vote. There are arguments for and against but I would need to see the white paper proposal on it before deciding. Yes there is the Yorkshire Ripper Rose and Fred West Ian Huntley Ian Bradey etc But what about the Guilford 4 and others who would have hanged yet were innocent. Science will never be 100% so unless the act was caught on camera with full face body and the act on there as well how are you 100% sure?

[Margaret Pilkington]

If my memory serves me correctly, were the Guildford Four not convicted on contaminated evidence? And it IS a long time since those convictions. Todays methods and DNA evidence would be more reliable.

[Tinkerbelle]

What about Peter Fell http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/peterfell/index.html he would have probably hung, his only crime was being mentally ill at the time.

[garinda]

I've made my opinion on the death penalty in other similar threads, I'm against it.

Most murders are committed by someone the victim knows. It wasn't a deterent when we previosly had the death penalty, and it still wouldn't be for crimes of passion.

I look at the United States, were they have both the death sentence in many states, and also armed police, and I prefer the society we have here.

Even with the advances in DNA there will always be some doubt as to the guilt of a person when it's left to twelve people to decide.

An interesting survey was released by Amnesty today. An amazing 26% of people believe that a woman who dresses provocatively or flirts, is in some way responsible if she is raped. These are the same people, 'twelve good men and true', as well as women, who are the ultimate judges of a persons guilt or innocence. I find that frightening.

[Debbie J]

I agree that there should be no difference in punishment for the life of a police officer & that of the man in the street.

I also agree that where there is D.N.A proof & a jury convicts someone then the death sentence should be brought in. But what about cases where there is very little or no forensic evidence & a person is convicted by a jury? Not too sure about that one as jury members are only human & do make mistakes, thats when miscarriages of justice happen.

As has already been said on here judges are too soft with their punishments now, which one of them would have the bottle to hand out the death penalty.

There have been many cases where psychiatrists have been fooled into thinking criminals are safe to be let out of prison only for them to kill again. Sick or evil people are often very clever but life should mean life NOT 15/20 years

[expat]

I only think you should hang them if they are caught with a smoking gun in their hand so to speak, And as for the police I don't put them on any pedestal,they might have been upright figures of the comunity back in the good old days, Now it's just for the money and the power.what makes them any better than i.e a social work or a nurse, hang bent coppers twice. hanging will also stop repeat offenders.

[godfrey]

Don't wait to see a smoking gun. If they are carrying a weapon it is because there is an intent and a willingness to kill. Take them before they do kill.

I like the idea of segregating the hardened dangerous criminals on an island to fend for themselves. The public would be happier with criminal justice if it did not cost so much to incarcerate. Why cannot the criminals be made to work for their upkeep?

[accymel]

Further to this debate i dont think the death penalty is the real issue more to do with that the current Law doesnt seem to be enough deterent to criminals & criminal acts & that the law has its inconsistances with regard to reasonable punishment for these crimes..... hence the lets hang em attitude being displayed, well that wouldn't solve the inconsistances within the law system but agravate matters worse by seeking avengance & making someone pay with result of death to possibles of innocent people paying the price for the real culprit. Even in the days of corporal punishment the inconsistancy in law meant a loss of an innocent person fitted for the crimes commited & no turning back for that innocent person whom ultamately cannot get his life back at all despite being cleared of that accusation.

The real issue is justice & altho i do feel the current prison system clearly doesn't work in majority of cases & certainly not actively rehabilitating effectively so that they dont commit again, unfortunately the majority do go onto re affending & doing bigger crimes to make it more the worth while, recent case of a woman being killed on a canal path by a guy whom only just got out of prison within days on early licence, which raised the issue of rehabilitation & means of assessing these criminals. There needs to be an active re-assessment of the current system in place with regard to punishment & habilitation that is justice but also ensuring the message of deterent & something done about it. Todays world is so much more violent & seemingly socially acceptable of it which is so wrong!

[SPUGGIE J]

Part of the legal systems problems is "do gooders" who dispite their failures still cling to their beliefs like barnicles on a rock.

[Ber999T]

Originally Posted by lettie

In the meantime, who would be paying for these scrotes to be fed, watered and legally represented through all of their appeals.....we would.

Why should we make them work to pay in kind for the legal expense and to get their food and water hells teeth we have to do that why cant they

[gabby]

Killing some one in my opinion is MURDER, years ago it was a death penalty for any one who commited cold blooded murder, now I believe the justis in this country is pathetic. Why bring back the death penalty just for police officers they choose to do this job, just like a lot of us choose to do the job that we do best. Inocent people from all walks of life get shot and killed doing there job, teachers, service station attendants, post office workers, the public walking down the street even young children ect.
I respect the job they do and I would not choose to do it, but I believe that every persons life is precious and that the law should take stronger steps to deter muderers with a lot stiffer penaltys and that it should be the same for every victim.

[SPUGGIE J]

Do we really want a country were life is cheaper than in South America? Somehow I dont think so but if the law did its job we would not be in this mess. If it was a guy up for shooting a police officer is hanged and in the next town a murderer gets life then we have a rule for one and a rule for another. There is no gaurentee of an even playing field so what next.

[Doug]

This is an emotive and complicated issue. I respect of using juries I’m not sure “Twelve Good Men” may be an ideal that past into our history many moons ago, I feel that a panel of Judges might be more appropriate for the passing of the death sentence and I feel that a period of abstention would be appropriate for cases where a sentence may be unsafe for whatever reason, however, where a conviction is secured beyond all reasonable doubt I have little objection to the sentence being conducted under medical conditions and an lethal injection being administered. Mistakes may be made if jurors remain private members of the public are where the media are allowed to run riot as they have in the past. I am all for the freedom of the press but where the life of an individual is being considered it should be done in the privacy and security of a court of law and not on the pages of the press. Public opinion will always be divided on this issue and it will remain the same when the public debate the innocents or guilt of a murderer, so the less the public have to do with due process the less likely it is that professional jurors will react emotively to public opinion rather than the public good.

[Debbie J]

well put Doug I agree whole heartedly with that.