Is the death penalty neccessary?

I also believe it should be legal if enough evidence is provided. Would save a lot of the tax payers money. I still believe the Robert Thompson and Jon Venables should have been shipped to America to have the death sentence!

Reply 2

OP

Original post by jesswalton888

I also believe it should be legal if enough evidence is provided. Would save a lot of the tax payers money. I still believe the Robert Thompson and Jon Venables should have been shipped to America to have the death sentence!

I agree, even though they were only 10 its not like they didn't know what they were doing - they should be taken out of society now and get the death sentence

Reply 3

Drewski

19

Original post by Heidi_16

But is it effective in the USA?

All the evidence suggests no, it isn't.

Original post by jesswalton888

Would save a lot of the tax payers money.

There is zero evidence that this is the case.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Drewski

All the evidence suggests no, it isn't.

There is zero evidence that this is the case.

Yes but don't you think there would be less serious crimes if the death penalty was introduced - although there may be no evidence I still think it is a well deserved punishment

Reply 5

Drewski

19

Original post by Heidi_16

Yes but don't you think there would be less serious crimes if the death penalty was introduced - although there may be no evidence

Have a word with yourself...

Reply 6

Olivia B. W

14

Death penalty for Islamophobia and Xenophobia should exist.

Reply 7

jesswalton888

Original post by Drewski

All the evidence suggests no, it isn't.

There is zero evidence that this is the case.

I don't know if you're from the UK, but here, a lot of the tax payers money goes to prisons to house more inmates. If we had the death penalty, this would not only save the taxpayers money but will also 'kill off' criminals that have been proven to commit horrific crimes, such as the killers in the James Bulger case and Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Drewski

Have a word with yourself...

Just giving my opinion

Reply 9

xoxox_helena

12

I don’t think it’s morally right because it’s murder, so it’s basically saying that murder is okay..? But I think that life penalty for stuff like terrorism and psychopaths should mean that they actually spend their entire lives behind bars.

Reply 10

xoxox_helena

12

It’s also the easy way out, they should live with guilt

Reply 11

Drewski

19

Original post by jesswalton888

I don't know if you're from the UK, but here, a lot of the tax payers money goes to prisons to house more inmates. If we had the death penalty, this would not only save the taxpayers money but will also 'kill off' criminals that have been proven to commit horrific crimes, such as the killers in the James Bulger case and Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.

It costs, usually, 3 or 4 times as much to put someone through due process to be given the death sentence than it does to imprison them for life.

Just because I disagree with you, and have facts to back it up, doesn't mean I'm foreign...

Original post by Heidi_16

Just giving my opinion

Your opinion directly contradicts fact. And you were trying to bring fact into your argument. Rendering your opinion pointless and without merit.

Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean anybody has to listen to it or pay it any attention.

Reply 12

mintchocchip

20

I mean it’s a pretty good deterrent. But then again if someone is mentally unstable and kills some one but ultimately wants to end their life then maybe not so effective

Reply 13

CrazyPantha27

Original post by Drewski

It costs, usually, 3 or 4 times as much to put someone through due process to be given the death sentence than it does to imprison them for life.

Just because I disagree with you, and have facts to back it up, doesn't mean I'm foreign...

Your opinion directly contradicts fact. And you were trying to bring fact into your argument. Rendering your opinion pointless and without merit.

Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean anybody has to listen to it or pay it any attention.

Well, you can look at it that way from a numbers standpoint. But you should think about what the taxpayers are getting for that money. The cheaper option is to let them live in prison, which means they spend the rest of their life having 3 meals a day and live within the relative comforts that modern prisons provide. And they will never experience the pain and suffering their victim or their victims family experienced and also it provides no deterrent for any future murders. Or option 2, you give them the death penalty; and the taxpayer's money is used to remove a scumbag human being (who will never be accepted back into society) and cause them to suffer as they deserve, and it provides a deterrent for future criminals. I'd rather my taxes went towards removing a detestable human being who has caused much pain and suffering, rather than them going towards the same human being but instead they're given 3 meals a day and they never have to experience the pain and suffering they caused. Why would you want these people alive in our society? They have no place.

Reply 14

Notoriety

22

Original post by CrazyPantha27

Well, you can look at it that way from a numbers standpoint. But you should think about what the taxpayers are getting for that money. The cheaper option is to let them live in prison, which means they spend the rest of their life having 3 meals a day and live within the relative comforts that modern prisons provide. And they will never experience the pain and suffering their victim or their victims family experienced and also it provides no deterrent for any future murders. Or option 2, you give them the death penalty; and the taxpayer's money is used to remove a scumbag human being (who will never be accepted back into society) and cause them to suffer as they deserve, and it provides a deterrent for future criminals. I'd rather my taxes went towards removing a detestable human being who has caused much pain and suffering, rather than them going towards the same human being but instead they're given 3 meals a day and they never have to experience the pain and suffering they caused. Why would you want these people alive in our society? They have no place.

In the US, the accused go through very expensive trials, appeals and re-appeals. All these things cost money. Then the condemned are put into solitary confinement, which is very expensive also. Further, the length the condemned is incarcerated is usually many decades and their period of incarceration is usually not that far off their life span. The time you take their life to when they would have died anyway is not that far off -- not far enough off to make up for the cost of trial and appeals, and solitary confinement.

As for the punishment, would you be able to even witness the execution? Do you think it is a bit bizarre you're calling for people to be killed in your name, when you don't even have the stomach to see it carried out? People on death row are not that much different to the people in the general prison population: they are typically dirt-poor people with MH issues and no support network. Do they deserve the ultimate retribution?

Reply 15

Azraall

7

Just because this is something I've had numerous conversations about I would like to offer my two cents on the issue

The death penalty is never necessary for the following reasons

The whole point of the justice system is rehabilitation not retribution so the death pentalty while it may be cathartic to know that an evil man such as the yorkshire ripper harold shipman or an evil woman like myra hindley was put to death and so their evil has been removed from the world that isn't justice that is revenge. Which nicely brings me onto my next point

Putting someone to death makes us as bad as them. Yes I appreciate that it isn't something that people think really matters when we talk about the justice system but how can a society stand of a pedestal and say certain crimes are wrong if it is completely willing to break one of its own laws in response to someone breaking a law. Its hipocracy of perhaps the highest order

In reference to it being a deterrent well have you checked the statistics on that. There has never been any evidence to suggest that the death penalty acts as a deterent to crime. If you take the US states which have the death penalty do not have a statistically significant difference in people commiting crimes for which the death penalty is the punishment than those that do not have the death penalty.In fact from a purely hypothetical view as I have not checked the stats for this but from a purely hypothetical view places with life imprisonment probably has a lower rate of people commiting crimes they'd recieve the death penalty for in other places because dying is a quick done and dusted deal if you want to die as a martyr for a cause for example you are going to be far more willing to commit a crime that has the death penalty attached to it.

The oldest arguement I guess. What is they are innocent? It has occured many times throughout history being being sent to prision convicted of a crime when they did not commit it and it will happen many more times throughout history. With a prison system you can appeal the sentence and if new evidence comes to light for whatever reason it may come to light you can release the person but if you have put them to death you cannot go back on that if you put an innocent person to death you can't apologise for that .

But what is in my opinion the most important point is rehabilitation over retribution. Life imprisonment gives the prisoner the time to reflect on their acts or if they are mentally ill get treated for it or learn how to manage it. End of the day rehabilitative justice is better for society and the person who commits the crime. Which makes it overall better than the death penalty is bad for no one.

Reply 16

Azraall

7

TL;DR for the above
Rehab is better than retribution
death penalty = retribution
Death penalty is not a deterrent
What if you sentence an innocent person

Reply 17

OP

Original post by xoxox_helena

It’s also the easy way out, they should live with guilt

They don't live without guilt, they should live with fear knowing that they are going to be punished for the sick crime they have punished, if they have murdered other people - why shouldnt the same happen to them?
Most prisoners have an easier life than the majority of elderly or homeless people

Reply 18

Notoriety

22

Original post by Azraall

Putting someone to death makes us as bad as them. Yes I appreciate that it isn't something that people think really matters when we talk about the justice system but how can a society stand of a pedestal and say certain crimes are wrong if it is completely willing to break one of its own laws in response to someone breaking a law. Its hipocracy of perhaps the highest order

When a suspect kidnaps a random member of society and locks them away in their house for many years, what is our response? We pick that suspect up off the street and we put them in a cell for many years. The difference is the lawfulness of the act: it is lawful when the suspect is imprisoned but not lawful when the suspect imprisoned their victim. The same logic holds for the death penalty.

Reply 19

jesswalton888