Do stories like this bring you closer to saying 'YES' to bringing back Capital Punishment? Would you sign a petition to the PM supporting it?
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070823/tuk-two-held-over-liverpool-shooting-dba1618_2.html
2007-08-22 22:58:59 · 29 answers · asked by Party_Fants 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
i always said they shouldnt of abolished capital punishment.im all for it.and its about time they brought back disipline in schools as well eg.cane, ruler.that would knock the cockyness out of some of these gobby teens
2007-08-22 23:11:15 · answer #1 · answered by flo-pickle 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
Stories like this are outrageous and the call for harsh punishment is natural. But before you decide, take a look at the American capital punishment system and ask whether it has helped the US prevent or reduce crfime. Here is some information about the practical aspects of the system with sources below.
Risks of executing innocent people-
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides and isn’t a guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.
The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that don’t.
We have a good alternative. Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.
Death penalty costs. The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process. When the death penalty is a possible sentence, extra costs start mounting up before trial, continue through the uniquely complicated trial in death penalty cases (actually 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court), and appeals.
The death penalty doesn't apply to people with money. Its not reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?
The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.
Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.
2007-08-23 09:36:22 · answer #2 · answered by Susan S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are certain types of persons walking around on this planet who will kill somone else because:
they feel like it,
they are angry with other person
they wonder what it would be like [the REALLy scary ones].
Without capital punishment, they know that even if they live their life in confinement at least they're happy because their victim is not living at all. In other words, they know they can take a life and keep their own and are okay with that. There must be a reaction to their actions that can, hopefully, prevent their ideas from becoming actions. I do not believe anyone who has a propensity to kill other humans because they get "urges" should be allowed to be a continued threat even in confinment. There is no way any person wanting to commit and then perform the action of homicide because they feel like it can be deemed normal. That is a deviant behaviour that cannot be tolerated. Live and let live. For those who won't and want to kill, remove them.
Capital punishment may not stop ALL homicides, but it would definitely prevent some persons from following through on their ideas. To say we should not be like them is saying their lives are more important than those they took. Sorry, but I just can't wrap my mind around that concept.
2007-08-23 06:37:28 · answer #3 · answered by quntmphys238 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would never support Capital Punishment, "An eye for an eye makes the world go blind" so said Ghandi, and I think he was onto something there.
And even if I did support it, I wouldn't sign a petition on this or any other issue. When was the last time a petition from the public got New Labour listening? If ever? This government is too bloody arrogant to listen and act upon what the public want!
2007-08-23 06:26:55 · answer #4 · answered by Spawnee 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. The fact of the matter is that capital punishment is too expensive and is not a deterrent.
In the united States, with all the built in appeals, legal fees run about $4 million per execution. In states like Texas with 1300 people on death row, the $5.2 billion could go into law enforcement and stop the act before it started.
Execution is cruel and unusual by its nature. It is applied to the poor frequently but never ever to the rich. Because of its uneven application it is "unusual." Because the act once done can never be undone, it is cruel. Execution is the last vestige of torture.
In the case you cite the perpetrators were underage. Do you advocate executing children?
2007-08-23 06:10:34 · answer #5 · answered by fredrick z 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think capital punishment should be used for murderers and paedophiles. The current system doesn't seem to lock them up, instead allow them to continue committing their crimes. The country is over populated and there are a lot of criminals who do not deserve human rights or life for that matter. The government may be responsible but there has got to be a solution for changing the current state of society
2007-08-23 07:35:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A civilized society cannot support Capital Punishment - USA ain't civilized. However there is one exception which I might be prepared to accept...
Advocates of Capital Punishment should perhaps reap the benefits of the denouement they espouse.
2007-08-23 07:44:04 · answer #7 · answered by Helen P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not sure......How would you feel if the wrong person was convicted? There have been people in the past who have now been found out to be innocent. It would certainly be worth a debate. Instead of capital punishment should "life" actually mean "life"? Hard question for me to give straight answer to....
2007-08-23 06:17:22 · answer #8 · answered by dod377 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
After observing the ignorance of these comments, I have to say that yes, we all enjoy a public linching but have any of you seen a person get executed. Have you seen a man sh!t his pants in fear because he knows hes going to die. Have you seen the shock on his face after hes dead. Have you seen the expressions on the people who have disposed of hims faces. I think its fascinating the way death can impact a crowd. The silence is like harmony
2007-08-23 06:51:23 · answer #9 · answered by deconstructionist 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that once you have taken a principled position on this issue, then I don't think that you can change it, otherwise you haven't taken a principled position, you are succumbing to the emotion raised by a particular horrific crime, and then extrapolating it generally.
I am not in favour of capitol punishment. I wonder what kind of people fancy that kind of job?
2007-08-23 06:18:39 · answer #10 · answered by Veritas 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've always supported the death sentence for murder and such crimes. The only problem I have is that the British justice system seems to get it wrong all too often.
As much as I'd love to see murders being taken off the street permanently, without the massive cost of keeping them in prison, I wouldn't like to see an innocent man or woman killed.
For that reason, until the courts can be 100% right, I'd have to say no.
2007-08-23 06:05:27 · answer #11 · answered by mark 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋