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Original poster

Death sentences

350 replies

usernamechanged1 · 30/03/2023 20:14

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
PinkSyCo · 30/03/2023 21:24

I don’t believe in the death penalty but murderers should get a full life sentence and rapists and peodophiles the same unless they agree to be castrated.

Callmenat · 30/03/2023 21:27

Capital punishment is abhorrent imo

Mycathatesmecuddling · 30/03/2023 21:28

PinkSyCo · 30/03/2023 21:24

I don’t believe in the death penalty but murderers should get a full life sentence and rapists and peodophiles the same unless they agree to be castrated.

Do you mean chemical castration?

Because that involves the offender complying with the treatment for the rest of their life and it only lowers sex drive it doesn't necessarily get rid of it and its effects differ between people so its no guarantee that a specifc person would not have sex/rape etc again

VintageThoughts · 30/03/2023 21:28

I actually do agree with the death penalty but only if:

  1. There was irrefutable evidence that they had committed the crime.
  1. The execution was carried out humanely and without drama. No electric chairs or hanging and no public viewing gallery. Just a simple injection while they were in their cell. No 'last walks' etc.

In my view, if a dog attacked a child for no reason whatsoever, the dog would be destroyed. End of. I don't see why it's different for humans. If they've killed or caused immense suffering, why should we spend hundreds of thousands of pounds keeping them alive? Especially if they're going to die in prison. Just what is the point?

I don't believe in revenge, I just don't believe some people deserve to be kept alive. There is literally no point to their existence.

Suzi888 · 30/03/2023 21:29

Castration doesn’t work either.

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/03/2023 21:31

PinkSyCo · 30/03/2023 21:24

I don’t believe in the death penalty but murderers should get a full life sentence and rapists and peodophiles the same unless they agree to be castrated.

These kinds of 'reckons' go against everything we know about how sentencing works. There are many reason whole life tariffs are stupid. I post them on every thread but posters always think their uninformed assumptions about sentencing are better than experts. A random sampling: it makes prison staff less safe, it discourages guilty verdicts, it's expensive, I just can't be bothered again.

Ditto castration. Rape and CSA is about power not sex. Castration doesn't work as a deterrent or a sentence. And a jury of men, knowing castration was on the table, much less likely to convict. There is no reasonable doubt in this case.

Daisyismynameorisnot · 30/03/2023 21:31

I feel that the person doesn't suffer for their crime if killed. I'd much rather see them suffer in prison for the rest of their days...

user1471453601 · 30/03/2023 21:33

How do you, for example, teach a child not to bite or bully? Do you do it by biting them or bullying them? That doesn't work. It just shows that those who are bigger than you, or have more powerful weapons can bite and bully with no consequence.

So how can we show those who don't accept not to kill, by killing them?

it just makes no sense to me. Cashman (I'm assuming) took the life of a child, made his crime worse by pleading not guilty and putting her family through a trial.

he has his punishment.

the child's family will never get her back.

it's so very very sad but killing Cashman is no deterrent.

MortimerTheCat · 30/03/2023 21:33

I’m torn, why would we pay millions of pounds per year keeping murderers, rapists, child abusers Alice’s, when that money could be better spent on elderly people who are freezing to death in winter as they can’t afford the heating, or people are starving as they can’t afford to eat.

I’ve never though the idea of solitary confinement with a suicide pill though, that could be an option

PinkSyCo · 30/03/2023 21:34

Mycathatesmecuddling · 30/03/2023 21:28

Do you mean chemical castration?

Because that involves the offender complying with the treatment for the rest of their life and it only lowers sex drive it doesn't necessarily get rid of it and its effects differ between people so its no guarantee that a specifc person would not have sex/rape etc again

Show quote history

No I mean as in chop it off.

MortimerTheCat · 30/03/2023 21:34

alive*

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:34

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

So you don't think Wayne Couzens is 100% guilty?

Suzi888 · 30/03/2023 21:37

“No I mean as in chop it off.”

The problem isn’t the penis, (well it may be partially) but more likely the brain. Besides you don’t need a penis to abuse someone. So you’d have to take other parts too…

MorrisZapp · 30/03/2023 21:38

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:34

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

So you don't think Wayne Couzens is 100% guilty?

There are only two verdicts, guilty and not guilty. (and the pesky not proven in Scotland)

There isn't a verdict of 100% guilty, or any sliding scale at all. It's a conviction or no conviction. We can't send some guilty people to prison for being guilty but others to death row because they're even more guilty.

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/03/2023 21:39

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:34

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

So you don't think Wayne Couzens is 100% guilty?

I think he is, I believe he is. Do I think that I know, without any doubt whatsoever? Of course not. I lived through miscarriages of justice and they are rife. With police fabricating and hiding evidence. Which they would be more motivated to do following a death sentence.

You can't start arsing around with beyond a reasonable doubt so that the state can kill people.

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:40

I didn't say you could though?

I was just questioning the point that you can't ever know some people are 100% guilty..

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/03/2023 21:42

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:40

I didn't say you could though?

I was just questioning the point that you can't ever know some people are 100% guilty..

But you can't. Almost any evidence can be faked now. And AI and tech is getting better and better at it. Evidence has always been an arms race. There were so many oops moment when DNA became a thing. But even DNA evidence isn't foolproof, just very close.

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:42

I think you can be aware that police stitch people up or make mistakes & there are miscarriages of justice but also know that some people are 100% guilty.

PinkSyCo · 30/03/2023 21:43

Suzi888 · 30/03/2023 21:37

“No I mean as in chop it off.”

The problem isn’t the penis, (well it may be partially) but more likely the brain. Besides you don’t need a penis to abuse someone. So you’d have to take other parts too…

It would lower his testosterone which could hopefully calm him down, and if he still offended well then he should get life along with the murderers.

DomesticShortHair · 30/03/2023 21:44

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:40

I didn't say you could though?

I was just questioning the point that you can't ever know some people are 100% guilty..

Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale are 100% guilty. No shadow of a doubt there.

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/03/2023 21:44

duoplik · 30/03/2023 21:42

I think you can be aware that police stitch people up or make mistakes & there are miscarriages of justice but also know that some people are 100% guilty.

I disagree.

And regardless, you can't have levels of guilty so it's irrelevant to the discussion.

JustAnotherManicNameChange · 30/03/2023 21:44

Emotionally yes, rationally no.

No, for all the reasons mentioned.

However , I do wish that we had proper sentencing in the UK and life was life, but that's a whole other thread.

MinorMeltdown · 30/03/2023 21:47

I completely understand why families of victims would feel this way but ultimately the death penalty is massively hypocritical.

Criminal kills victim = killing is wrong
State kills criminal = killing is right

Doesn't stack up to me.

123wentaway · 30/03/2023 21:47

Yes, I do.
Costs a fortune to keep rapists, murderers and sex offenders in prison for years on end. If released it costs more money in support roles for them, housing, keeping track. And for what? Who wants to employ or live next door to a murderer or rapist? Drug dealers that think nothing of carrying guns and shooting in the street.
Start putting a few down I think the crime rate would reduce. Hang them, inject them, I’m not bothered —- they have chosen to ruin lives through violence, the family of the murdered, raped or abused adult or child all suffer as well.
You choose to do the crime, you face the consequence of losing your own life.

ClassicLib · 30/03/2023 21:47

No, the death penalty should not be reinstated. Even for the worst terrorists and child murderers.

BUT

Life should mean life, without parole. If you commit murder, you spend the rest of your life in prison, and you die in prison.