Do you think that Capital Punishment is acceptable under any circumstances?

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Paedophiles,rapists,child killers and shitbags that try and rip of the elderly,also that shyster that owns farepak,they should all dangle.

 

[paddy]

Only suitable for some criminals like paedophiles and rapists but for high profile murderers like Sadaam Hussain death is too good. Some people should be made to reflect on their crimes for the rest of their lives in a prison.

 

[cjd]

To those who say yes - explain to me how, therefore, we could say to someone 'you've killed someone. That is illegal. Therefore we are going to kill you'. It makes no sense to me, you can't punish someone for an illegal act by performing the same act (albeit 'legally') upon them.

So...following your argument.....if someone kidnapped a person and held them prisoner for a few years.. (it has actually happened), it would be wrong then for us to imprison them

Anyway, getting back to the thread....I don,t have a problem with Capital punishment for pre-meditated murders.....I just take the simplistic view that it probably costs about £2,000.00 a week to keep a prsoner and over a life sentence of 20 years that,s £2,000,000....how much would it cost to feed a starving child in Africa, India etc etc....£100 a year....?
However,.....Capital punishment is never going to be brought back unless there is some sort of revolution......so I just accept the situation.....I just think there,s much better ways of using the money spent on some of these people.

 

[RM-Taylor]

People like Peado's and Serial Killers yes.

 

[Minge]

Surely you have to start off by asking by what is the point of capital punishment.

If it is supposed to act as a deterrent, then the evidence from the USA (another so called western democracy such as the UK), is that it is not a justification. Rates of murder, rape etc are still far higher in the US than they are here, so the argument fails of this score. Ironically it is probably more likely to act as a deterrent for so called 'lesser' crimes. For example, if you knew that you would be executed for driving over the speed limit on a motorway, then it would almost certainly reduce this activity by 99%+.

If it is because of vengeance, then it makes vengeance an acceptable act. Therefore if I come home and find a bloke shagging my wife, surely I am therefore entitled to kill him, on the grounds that if state vengeance is acceptable, then it is also valid on a personal level. I can only say that after carrying out an act of vengeance myself when I was younger, it did not bring closure, satisfaction or any tangible benefit to my life. You could also argue that perhaps it would make the relatives of a person who had been murdered feel better if the perpetrator was executed, but the logical extension of that argument is that if the murdered person has no relatives, then the criminal in these circumstances should be spared the death sentence.

If it is justified on an economic level, then it is a sign that we value money more in today's society than we do life itself, surely a rejection of all of the major religions in society today, as well as those of many individuals.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Capital punishment,if applied properly in schools ,could solve lots of hooligan problems later on,eh Miss?

 

[itszamora]

So...following your argument.....if someone kidnapped a person and held them prisoner for a few years.. (it has actually happened), it would be wrong then for us to imprison them

Anyway, getting back to the thread....I don,t have a problem with Capital punishment for pre-meditated murders.....I just take the simplistic view that it probably costs about £2,000.00 a week to keep a prsoner and over a life sentence of 20 years that,s £2,000,000....how much would it cost to feed a starving child in Africa, India etc etc....£100 a year....?
However,.....Capital punishment is never going to be brought back unless there is some sort of revolution......so I just accept the situation.....I just think there,s much better ways of using the money spent on some of these people.

Admittedly, there is a flaw in my argument as you have pointed out above. I guess what I am trying to say is that a) I don't believe in killing people, no matter what the circumstances as it makes the body that authorises such killing no better than the criminal who has perpetrated the offence in the first place, and b) that death is often the easy way out for criminals, who as someone has already noted earlier should be made to reflect upon their acts in prison, hopefully with the rest of society's scum beating the s*it out of them on a regular basis.

As for the economic argument, it's a good point. Nevertheless, to save money by killing people is only a couple of steps away from something very dangerous indeed, and there is also the area of miscarriages of justice - you may not be able to give the person back x years of their life but at least they still have a life.

 

[beardy gull]

No. Never. Not in a "civilised" society.

 

[BensGrandad]

I can never understand why people should suggest that ther should be degrees of murder i.e hanging in the case of Huntley with children but not in the case ofa hired killer like those involved with Nicholas Van Hogstrartten (sp) . A life is a life irrespective and to the people left behind it causes grieving and loss irrespective of the age of the victim.

I believe that certain of the prisons should be utilised as 'lifers' prisons and the offenders should be kept their until they die and are buried in the grounds. If this was the case they would not be able to educate or influence anybody who will one day be released and they would serve their just sentence. If they chose to hang themselves so be it it is their choice. If they have committed the crime and been sentenced to life why should they ever need to be re-educated in modern living if they are not going to see the otside of a prison as a free man again. I believe that too much is considered about rehabilitation and not enough about punishment of the crime.

 

[algie]

I can never understand why people should suggest that ther should be degrees of murder i.e hanging in the case of Huntley with children but not in the case ofa hired killer like those involved with Nicholas Van Hogstrartten (sp) . A life is a life irrespective and to the people left behind it causes grieving and loss irrespective of the age of the victim.

I believe that certain of the prisons should be utilised as 'lifers' prisons and the offenders should be kept their until they die and are buried in the grounds. If this was the case they would not be able to educate or influence anybody who will one day be released and they would serve their just sentence. If they chose to hang themselves so be it it is their choice. If they have committed the crime and been sentenced to life why should they ever need to be re-educated in modern living if they are not going to see the otside of a prison as a free man again. I believe that too much is considered about rehabilitation and not enough about punishment of the crime.

Thats a good post

 

[BensGrandad]

Thats a good post

You will be slated for agreeing with me.

 

[algie]

You will be slated for agreeing with me.

The only thing i disagree with is about letting them commit suicide if they choose.This must never happen.They are there to serve for a crime not to escape it

 

[BensGrandad]

The law of the land would not allow the authorities to permit or encourage suicide but they dont have to take all of their shoe laces etc away to stop them hanging themselves.

 

[bhaexpress]

I can never understand why people should suggest that ther should be degrees of murder i.e hanging in the case of Huntley with children but not in the case ofa hired killer like those involved with Nicholas Van Hogstrartten (sp) . A life is a life irrespective and to the people left behind it causes grieving and loss irrespective of the age of the victim.

I believe that certain of the prisons should be utilised as 'lifers' prisons and the offenders should be kept their until they die and are buried in the grounds. If this was the case they would not be able to educate or influence anybody who will one day be released and they would serve their just sentence. If they chose to hang themselves so be it it is their choice. If they have committed the crime and been sentenced to life why should they ever need to be re-educated in modern living if they are not going to see the otside of a prison as a free man again. I believe that too much is considered about rehabilitation and not enough about punishment of the crime.

Great post, couldn't agree more

 

[BensGrandad]

I wonder if the people who are in favour of capital punishment would be happy with cases going to court that may have happened 20 + years ago but modern science has aided a conviction and then those people subsequently being hanged.