Capital Punishment, Yes or No?

[johnlambert]

The Americans have just carried out the 1000th execution since 1976, should we also bring back capital punisment for killers (all murderers, not just for killing a Police Officer)

Im going to stir up a hornets nest and say yes we should

[funnywebsite]

yes

[charliebaps]

Why? As a deterent? Revenge? It has worked in other countries and although Britain is not perfect is going back to barbaric tendencies a good thing?

[charliebaps]

ooops has should be hasn't

[AliFlump]

Im in 2 minds about it, 1 part of me thinks that if we brought it back it would be a good deterent

another part thinks well the Americans have been doing it for so long yet they still have so much gun crime and alot of people are still on death row (some innocents i know) and their murder rates still rise.

There is always the risk of executing an innocent person which is unforgiveable

[coyn]

If the death penalty is a deterrant why did Albert Pierrepoint have to hang hundreds of people? and why did his father before him hang hundreds of people? and why did his grandfather .........well I think you get the picture

[libertie]

Personally against the death penalty as I just don't think its a deterrent! Would like to see prison sentances that reflect the seriousness of the crime though!!

[mata hari]

perhaps they should bring back public flogging as a deterrant ?

Not sure about the death penalty though - unless the person involved was proved to be 110 per cent guilty.

[jake-the-peg]

How about this guy?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4486178.stm

5 Nobel peace prize nominations since entering prison

He's saved a lot of lives since then

Arnie's got to decide whether or not to kill him - would you?

[metagirl]

Don't think capital punishment is a good idea, and even though America just executed their 1000th person - the popularity of the judgement is waning - as the BBC article mentions. There is too much room for mistakes -- too much mention of old cases that would now be considered "unsafe" for people to be as wholeheartedly behind it as perhaps they once were.

My personal view is that no human has the right to take another person's life, regardless of the circumstances. And state sponsored killing (even in the guise of "justice") is too risky and too seemingly archaic for a progressive minded nation to continue to employ.

[Loosehead]

The detractors always say it's not a deterent because murders and executions would stop if it were, yada yada yada. It is a deterent, not 100% of course but if you are in any doubt look at the number of murders in 1960 compared to today. In 1960 murders made the news now it has to be "special" for it to make the news.

Here's anothere one, "you might execute an innocent"; Yes you might and that's bad. Just how many innocents are killed because we have no deterrent? mmm just a thought.

The above said I would forgo capital punishement if life in prison meant exactly that life!

[metagirl]

thanks jake-the-peg for that link. I forgot about that case - I hope that Arny does the right thing and grants him clemency. It will be an obvious test of his views on prison and the point of incarceration - Americans are still out on whether they see Prison as a place purely for Punishment or if they see it as a chance for Rehabilitation.

[andy hughes]

I think it's a really complex moral issue, and there is no simple 'yes' or 'no' answer.

If I had to make the decvision, i would have to say 'no - I just don't think ritualised killing is a response for a civilised society - and yes, I know i'd feel differently if it was a member of my family, etc., but so far, it isn't, so that's my take on it as things stand now.

[undercovers]

are you servious loosehead - you would tolerate a level of innocents being killed by the crown / people because you think it sends a good strong message to those that might murder in the future... i find that view amazing.

You might guess i do not approve of the death penalty - i don't think it has any place in a civilised society, how do we show we don't approve of your actions Mr. Convict well we murder you - i do not want to be lowered to a murders level by the state acting the same way on my behalf.

Plus it is just too risky, even one innocent murdered by the state would be too much for me to bear...

Loosehead please show your figures re murder rates, related to population size to prove your above point about state-murder being a good deterent to civilian murder

[Loosehead]

Of course not Undercovers, what I'm saying is we never focus on how many innocents die because we have no deterrent or because we let out killers to kill again. We always focus on the possibility of miscarraiges. I agree it would be awful for an innocent to be executed That's why I favour the "long time on death row and let's be sure approach the US takes" time to appeal time to be sure. In fact as said above I'd be happy to not have capital punishment if life meant life.

[gedk]

I am in favour of capital punishment. I agree it doesn't work as a deterrant but how about it as a punishment? I think it should be used on a case by case basis and not just for all murderers or rapists etc. The likes of Ian Huntley, The Moors Murderers, Roy Whiting, Peter Sutcliffe, Rose West (I could go on) should all have been removed from the face of the earth. I am sure some of them (Ian Huntley, Fred West, Harold Shipman) would have rather been executed than spend the rest of their life in prison. Maybe we could give them a choice - execution or life (and it would mean life) in prison?

[DaveHodgson]

Me say YES.

[yummymummy]

I would have to say yes in some circumstances, maybe in cases with no doubt as to guilt (if this is possible!) for the most horrendous crimes. Why should we have to pay to keep them for however many years, and also run the risk of them being released early, escaping etc. Some people don't deserve freedom or rights after committing certain crimes.

[gary baldy]

As far as the death sentence as a detterent goes - America is now crime free because of it isn't it?
Also you should perhaps ask one of the Guildford Four or the Birmingham Six what they think.

[kick3m0n]

it's a difficult question, but I'd say no. I really don't think any punishment would act as a deterrent for murderers. Murders are committed in a flash of anger, or perhaps due to a compulsion on the part of the murderer, or in an act of jealousy, through greed or panic. My point is, I don't believe many (if any) murderers think at all about punishment before the commit their crime, so how can you possibly cite any punishment as a deterrent? I think that life in prisonment should mean life, there till you die, and it may well not be a deterrent, but it would ensure they then had plenty of time to think about their crime and punishment. Death is a quick way out, far better to make them face up to the reality of what they did. Every day. For ever.

[Dolly1308]

It seems to work as a deterrent in Singapore where they even hang drug traffickers.They hung a 25 year old man today for drug trafficking,absolutely heartbreaking for his mother and family and friends but as was pointed out what about all the kids who die from drug overdoses. I'm just glad I didn't have to make the decision to hang him.