Is it time to bring back the death penalty?

[vxr8mate]

I presume this is an old debate, but after reading this article I find it hard to argue against its reintroduction.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wale...

How do political parties argue against it when we will probably have to pay for this guy to remain incarcerated for the rest of his life?

I have to say after reading this article I would happily throw the switch if the perpetrator of this crime was in the chair.

[Bing o]

vxr8mate said:

I presume this is an old debate

older than an mx-5, mapped.

[nobodyknows]

I read somewhere recently that it's actually more expensive to put somebody to death in the USA than imprison them for life! All down to appeals etc according to the article I read.

Just a thought, would you personally be willing to act as executioner? I know I wouldn't.

[tomw2000]

Yes it is.

[freecar]

So killing him would bring her back?

Or end the families pain?

Or it wont do either of those and wouldn't act as a deterrent to murder or many of the other crimes that still go on around the world despite the fact that the people doing it are risking the death penalty.


All it would do is make people like you go "great, one less on the streets" but I'm sure it would be worth it so you got a good feeling.

[Bing o]

I think it's important that society sends a message that killing people is wrong by killing people.

[thinfourth2]

For murders and rapists nope

For serial scrotes who are constantly in and out of jail for minor crimes YEP

[bobr]

Surely prison is a worse punishment than death? For instance, look at Ian Huntley and Shipman, both have tried (one obviously having succeeded) to kill themselves in prison, does this not show that death is an "easy way out" and prison actually causes criminals to reflect on what they have done?

Obviously there is the other side, that plenty of people put to death would rather be in prison.

It's far easier to release an innocent person from prison, than it is to resurrect them

[theaxe]

nobodyknows said:

I read somewhere recently that it's actually more expensive to put somebody to death in the USA than imprison them for life! All down to appeals etc according to the article I read.

I believe that's the case, I don't think you can argue the death penalty on economic grounds.

Outsourcing prisons to India would be far more cost effective and practical.

[freecar]

Bing o said:

I think it's important that society sends a message that killing people is wrong by killing people.

It doesn't work, if you look at the US the states with the death penalty have the HIGHER murder rates compared to those without, this also works with states that have had the penalty and removed it.

It might seem counterintuitive but every criminal has one thing in common, they don't think they'll get caught so it doens't matter what the penalty is!

[RemainAllHoof]

nobodyknows said:

would you personally be willing to act as executioner?

vxr8mate said:

I have to say after reading this article I would happily throw the switch if the perpetrator of this crime was in the chair.

[RemainAllHoof]

theaxe said:

Outsourcing prisons to India would be far more cost effective and practical.

That's interesting. Why do we outsource the good stuff... like jobs?! (Yes, yes, economical reasons.)

[Zaxxon]

angins too good fer em


Use them for target practice on Dartmoor. Running Man style.

'Targets will fall, when hit'
'In your own time......go on'

[wolves_wanderer]

Lock them in prison for the rest of their lives. Unless you believe in punishment after death then this is the route that we need to go down.

[Caulkhead]

If we reintroduced the death penalty we would be forced to leave the EU forthwith. So the answer is yes.

[Halb]

Bing o said:

I think it's important that society sends a message that killing people is wrong by killing people.

Nail 'em up I say, nail some sense into 'em!

[Spiritual_Beggar]

freecar said:

So killing him would bring her back?

Or end the families pain?

Or it wont do either of those and wouldn't act as a deterrent to murder or many of the other crimes that still go on around the world despite the fact that the people doing it are risking the death penalty.


All it would do is make people like you go "great, one less on the streets" but I'm sure it would be worth it so you got a good feeling.

It would certainly stop the 'person' from committing a similar act again in the future though.

If we remove the 'possibility of doubt' from the equation, which I believe is the biggest argument against the death penalty, what 'benefit' would there be to keeping someone in prison for life, rather than executing them? Assuming said 'person' committed the act in 'cold blood' and showed no remorse (i.e.: no chance to rehabilitate said 'person'.......since rehabilitation rarely works, if ever, in such cases)

[andymadmak]

Yes, because it would save an awful lot of innocent lives.



BUT, you'd have to bring it back as a part of a whole raft of changes to the Police (improve detection rates) , criminal justice (make it more likely a prosecution will result in a harsh sentence instead of a cuddle and trip to Alton Towers) and prisons systems ( make em harsh, and places any sensible person REALLY would NOT want to spend ANY time in) .

The death penalty is only a deterrent if Crim boy thinks there is a real risk he'll be caught, convicted and duly sentenced...

[freecar]

andymadmak said:

Yes, because it would save an awful lot of innocent lives.




The death penalty is only a deterrent if Crim boy thinks there is a real risk he'll be caught, convicted and duly sentenced...

Based upon what data?

As the data we have from countries with the death penalty doesn't back up your fantasy.

[andymadmak]

freecar said:

andymadmak said:

Yes, because it would save an awful lot of innocent lives.




The death penalty is only a deterrent if Crim boy thinks there is a real risk he'll be caught, convicted and duly sentenced...

Based upon what data?

As the data we have from countries with the death penalty doesn't back up your fantasy.

Yawn. Well, for a start we don't need data from other countries. Other countries (the one most commonly spouted is the USA) have entirely different cultures, population demographics, attitudes to gun ownership etc etc. All these things serve to effectively negate any comparison of data between the UK and "other countries".

No, the only data you need is to compare the murder rate in the UK per million head of population in the periods before and after the abolition of the death penalty and the liberalistaion of of police/criminal justice system.

The data is available from the home office. And for all the apologists protestations of "post hoc fallacies" and the like the simple fact is that in the 60 years before abolition the murder rate per million head of population in the UK had held remarkably steady at around 6. This despit 2 world wars, major civil unrest, times of great poverty, social and cultural change. Within a few years of abolition the rate had doubled. Do the maths. Thats an awful lot of extra innocents dying for the liberal hand wringers cause.