Death sentences

[usernamechanged1]

Saw on another thread a couple of “he should hang” type comments in respect to a man who has been convicted of murder. The victim was 9 (Olivia Pratt-Korbel).

I expect it’ll be a resounding no, but does anyone genuinely feel that there should be a death option for certain crimes?

Or are these throwaway comments people tend to make in response to particularly shocking/heinous crimes?

That's not the same thing though. I totally understand how you would feel like that and I am really sorry for your loss.

But feeling like you would kill someone who murdered family and actively volunteering to kill people who hadn't impacted you personally and claiming you wouldn't ever be bothered by it are two very different things.

@Mycathatesmecuddling to be fair to pp, it was an expression of anger rather than former job application for executioner.

Hypothetically, you would want to, I can't see anything wrong with feeling such rage towards such an evil person that you'd wish them killed. Personally.

Because if, for example, you genuinely feel such rage that you would want to kill a murderer that you would actually be willing to kill them even though it wasn't someone you knew that they had killed you are kind of part of the problem not the solution!

My belief is that they should be locked up in solitary with access to a suicide pill. We don't need to kill them, nor do we need to prevent them from ending their life

Thats a very good point and I'm on the fence really whereas in years gone by I would have been very anti death penalty.

The problem is, when the state puts someone to death, then they just die, it doesn't really punish them BUT it does punish their family - who have done nothing wrong.

On the other hand, it would almost be a kindness to allow the death penalty for people who have been given life imprisonment and request the death penalty instead. Thats the best of both worlds really - they request it and we save money on keeping them in prison.

What about their families? However heinous the crime, do the parents deserve to lose their child?

Whilst that's a tad radical for me I have to agree that the fact we actually try to actively stop people committing suicide in prison baffles me.

But then I guess I also wouldn't want to be the prison staff constantly not knowing of they are about to come across and deal with the body of someone whose killed themselves either in fairness

I would support it, with strong safeguards in place. I believe there are certain crimes that if you commit them you lose the right to life.

murderers should be offered the death penalty as an option for themselves to choose.

Whilst that's a tad radical for me I have to agree that the fact we actually try to actively stop people committing suicide in prison baffles me.

I'm shocked when people come out with this kind of thing. Prisons are stuffed full of people with brain injuries, ACE, abusive pasts, MH and addiction issues, cognitive issues. If they offend then yes, lock them up. But not caring if vulnerable people take their own lives? That's cold.

Can you imagine the type of people who would be attracted to that type of job? How do you identify who could do it without experiencing irreversible trauma themselves, or worse, "enjoying" it. Why would you "enjoy" killing people, for the thrill? There really is no good outcome from employing people to kill others. Let them rot in jail.

Which is pretty disgusting when you think he killed:

Timothy Evans who was innocent with a mental age of 10
Derek Bentley who was in police custody when his accomplice shot a police officer, Craig who committed the murder served a prison sentence and went free. Bentley was said to have a mental age of 11 or 12.
Ruth Ellis, a woman who was brutalised by her boyfriend who caused her to have a miscarriage shortly before the shooting.

Hard to see what is enjoyable about that.

I think if there’s 100 percent certainty that the person is guilty then yeah, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over the death penalty for those convicted of horrific crimes involving children. Saves on our taxes as well, why should we pay for people like that to spend the rest of their horrible lives in prison?

But there isn't. Ever. So what's your point?

You are right I'm sorry. I was caught up in the child molester, murderer side of the conversation and I shouldn't have said this. thank you for the reality check

Me too

That awfully bloody reasonable of you @Mycathatesmecuddling

Sure you're in the right place?

I was on the fence about this until I got hooked onto a YouTube channel called Soft White Underbelly. It has taught me so much as to why people do the things they do.

The death penalty currently costs more not less than a prison sentence so it would cost you taxes not save them

😂Sorry forgot it was MN and I should have been rude to you for making a very valid point

And while poor Black people are being executed while rich white people aren't, there's an issue. God help you if the victim is white.

Mind you the entire American prison system is racist so there's that.

I would say that he, and many others deserve to die.

But that isn’t saying I agree with the state executing people. However much they deserve it.

I don’t want to be part of a society that kills people. We cannot let our own standards be set by murderers.

You'll do better next time @Mycathatesmecuddling

A good list. I will add

• racial bias e.g. in the US black criminals are more likely to be given the death sentence than white criminals
• what counts as a crime worthy of the death sentence varies greatly by country, and in authoritarian states you can be sentenced to death for a simple political protest. I don't want the state to be able to make such decisions
• some people say that to avoid miscarriages of justice, we should only use it where the evidence is incontrovertible, e.g. video evidence. But this would then lead to person A getting a life sentence because there is no video evidence, and person B, who has committed the same or perhaps a lesser crime, being executed due to stronger evidence. Sentencing should depend on the crime and the criminal's history, not on the strength of the evidence - we only have guilty and not guilty, not 80% likely to be guilty.

This. I feel capable of executing a monster.