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Reply 140
Original post by vanessastock
Unfortunately our prisons are nothing akin to a blackhole and have adopted the stance more comparable to a rehabilitation centre as opposed to a prison, which is absolutely ridiculous. Anyway I don't fancy contributing to subsidise a rehab centre for criminals that aim to harm our society, much cheaper to just get rid of them. As Thatcher said 'there is no such thing as public money, there is only tax payers money', so I'd rather that money go into something more progressive such as education.


Before I answer that; are you talking about treating all criminals (from people smoking some pot to pickpockets to white collar criminals to serial killers) as irredeemable filth to be rubbed out or are you talking about specific criminal offences?
No only instigators of the most heinous of crimes should be executed from society (i.e. terrorism, multiple rape(including children), serial killers), although I still think prisons should be toughened up even for minor crimes
Original post by Napp
Before I answer that; are you talking about treating all criminals (from people smoking some pot to pickpockets to white collar criminals to serial killers) as irredeemable filth to be rubbed out or are you talking about specific criminal offences?
Original post by vanessastock
No only instigators of the most heinous of crimes should be executed from society (i.e. terrorism, multiple rape(including children), serial killers), although I still think prisons should be toughened up even for minor crimes

How would society be better off if perpetrators of the aforementioned crimes were killed?
Absolutely - and I bet that if you held a referendum on the topic, it would be brought back.
Reply 144
Yes. Even more urgent now.
In addition to the return of capital punishment, I would also look into bringing back powers for the Home Secretary/Justice Secretary to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners.
anyone who is seriously advocating the death penalty in these situations is living in a dream world in the real world however much you want it to be nothing is ever 100% accurate and many things are not necessary black and white . if even 1% of these sentences were untrue then you've unnecessarily condemned numerous people to death and anyone who can look at that statistic and thinks its acceptable are clearly basing their idea of how the justice system should work on a system of revenge rather than justice.
Also, the idea of capital punishment makes sense when you consider the reoffending statistics, which especially applies to the high-profile offenders, whom are the subject of this discussion.
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/presspolicy/comment/moreprisonsarenottheanswer#:~:text=Yet%20prison%20has,11bn%20per%20year.

"Yet prison has a poor record for reducing reoffending 47% of adults are reconvicted within one year of being released. For petty offenders, serving sentences of less than 12 months, this increases to 60%. For children and young people in custody the rate of reoffending rises to 75%. Reoffending by ex-prisoners costs society at least £11bn per year."

If the prison system fails to stop reoffending, especially for convicts such as murderers, terrorists, rapists, molesters and suchlike, why should they be given another chance, assuming they are let out?

Furthermore, what is the end objective of a life sentence for one of these individuals? They do no work, often disregard rehab (as seen by the statistic above), but do not get a second chance. They are only an unwelcome burden on society and ultimately the taxpayer. Prisons already take money away from development of healthcare and societal services, but high-profile offenders, which cost even more, worsen this and do nothing to justify the cost. If we just rid the Earth of them, at least they present an example of why *not* to commit such crimes.

I am not saying every single offender or convict should be given a capital punishment trial. After all, the death sentence is too much for somebody who stole £850 from the cash drawer in the local convenience store. But not for a paedophile who would otherwise spend the rest of his life in a concrete box, sapping money from the public cash fund.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by sels22
For pedos, terrorists & murderers.

I agree. Instead of high- or maximum-security life sentences, the death penalty should be excercised.
Original post by thefauxtrump
Okay, so a maximum security prisoner costs about 50,000(1) pounds per year. Let's say a thirty year old commits one count of murder, without using a firearm, and for personal gain. In the UK, this would currently mean a starting point sentence of 30 years(2). Therefore, we'll say our prisoner serves a full 30 years. This means that the prisoner will cost 1.5 million pounds over their sentence. The lethal injection costs around 1.3 million dollars, or just about 1 million pounds(3). In 2010, death row inmates served an average of 15 years before their deaths(4). Let's assume that a death row prisoner costs the same amount per year as a maximum security one. This means that their prison sentence cost is 750,000 pounds. When added to the cost of lethal injection, an incarceration of capital punishment is 250,000 pounds more expensive than a sentence for murder.

As well as this, court cases for the death penalty cost far more. This is because nothing can be overlooked, due to the fact that a mistake should never be made with a punishment so serious.

As well as this, a long sentence is, in my personal opinion, a more serious punishment. I'd much rather die after 20 years in prison, rather than have to serve 30, or possibly more. After so long in prison, you'd be likely to become very mentally disturbed. Yes, the idea of your execution hangs right over your head, but at least the sentence is then over more quickly.


(1) http://www.golocalprov.com/news/maximum-security-prisoners-cost-rhode-island-200k-each-per-year
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment_in_England_and_Wales
(3) https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_row

Why do we need death row? What is it trying to achieve? I mean, it is just letting convicts sit essentially serving an extended sentence, then they are executed. Just carry out the penalty sooner and there will be less issues, and it will be a lot cheaper.
Original post by 3121
I’m actually against the death penalty now because of the data and when I saw the procedure I just thought it was cruel. Then again for terrorist plotters I don’t have much sympathy and they often radicalise others in prison, although I have heard some rehab success stories.

But I watched a show on the death penalty and I just thought it was wrong


Consider this: The costs of prisons, in the UK at least, and the whole system, is increasing, following the trend for demand for more prisons and reoffending rates. The prison system is going to have to get bigger in the future if nothing changes and we continue on the current course, and a larger system means yet further increases in costs. The money being poured into prisons should be invested into education, healthcare, housing, all of which can reduce crime and avoid people following a life of crime.