To think we should bring back the Death Penalty for proven very serious offenders

[ILiveAtTheBeach]

They have raped and murdered. Yet, they have no money worries, a roof over their head, 3 square meals a day, Sky TV, PS4, arranged activities....why are we so bloody soft? We have an over crowding problem in jails. Why can't we give these monsters a lethal injection and be done with it? Sometimes they are released back into society under a false identity (to protect them). What about our protection? They could move in next door. Who would be up for getting rid?

No to death penalty. Yes to life meaning life. People who take another life, paedophiles, repeat rapists, quite frankly i'd lock them up and throw away the key. And it would be harsh prison conditions to boot with a bit of manual labour thrown in for good measure. Imo, death is too good for them.

Lots of people who are pro death penalty are also anti abortion in the U.S.

I don't want state sanctioned murder where reprieves can be decided on popularity rather than logic. I don't want a system where survival is down a defendent's ablity to pay a good lawyer rather than guilt.

I don't know how I would feel if my daughter was raped and murdered. Killing the defendent would not bring her back from the dead.

Does anyone else think that Fred West and Harold Shipman got off too easily by hanging themselves (?) in prison before serving their sentences? I can't help feeling they would have been punished more by staying alive.

As PPs have said, the day the UK reinstitutes the death penalty is the day I ship out. It's not a logistical or financial argument, it's a principled one. I couldn't give a fig if prison is more expensive/harder to administer/whatever.

That doesn't mean I think the current system is perfect.

I can't help feeling they would have been punished more by staying alive

Well, yes. Presumably that's why they did it.

How to stop prisoners doing it is a different issue. Or are you saying a blind eye was turned?

I agree Thecountess
We had family friends and the father killed his partner and children . He killed himself in prison the injustice still gets me.

"Lots of people who are pro death penalty are also anti abortion in the U.S. "

Yes, I find that a difficult one to get my head around.

Maidofstars, I do wonder. But I know nothing about prisons so am not about to jump to any conclusions.

I would like to say yes but then I think of Ruth Ellis (crime of passion) and Derek Bentley (miscarriage of justice?) and I think no.

If there was no questionable doubt then yes maybe, but isn't life in prison harder?

I've known people spend time in prison (1 man swore he was framed and wasn't guilty) and it does destroy you and can be very hard to get over/on with your life. If someone were executed wrongly that must be even worse for the family and friends of both the victim and accused.

The only thing the death penalty really achieves is the creation of more victims!

The hypocrisy of killing people because they are heinous murderers is breathtaking, it makes the state as bad if not worse than the person being executed.

Life should mean life and there should be no luxuries at all, no currency, no smoking, no drugs, nothing, they should receive just enough food to keep them alive and death should feel like something they pray for every single day of their remaining lives.

But no, I don't believe we or our government should have the right to kill them.

Very interesting documentary a few years ago re a reporter on China's death penalty...

She was a despicable piece of work, often shaming her victims before they were executed .

One very interesting interview came out - the wife of a victim (she'd murdered him she was a victim of domestic violence) for some reason she was due to be executed but then I think victim's family said no... They can be lenient (forget the exact terms) anyway the SIL and PIL of the wife were interviewed and they said "well she is the kid's mum after all" (the couple had had a child together) and they had expressed relief that she hadn't been executed. The judge in that case said in legal matters going forward re murder etc there was more mediation and less pushing for execution.

The chilling finale was the journalist finally gave up her show because she was travelling on a train very tired and she said she woke up and saw in the windows of the train carriage opposite all the faces of the dead executed people she'd interviewed. woo!

I completely disagree with the the OP. For any crime, however terrible! I agree with the those who have said that it turns the state into murderers. It just makes. Me rather sad that people can still hold this view in this day and age! Just look at those countries that still have the death penalty, do we really want to be like them!

Re: pro death penalty/anti abortion. One life is innocent, one isn't? The purpose of the death penalty is punishment/public safety, neither of which apply to abortion?

Just pondering on possible justifications (not reflective of my personal opinion).

Life should mean life and there should be no luxuries at all, no currency, no smoking, no drugs, nothing, they should receive just enough food to keep them alive and death should feel like something they pray for every single day of their remaining lives.
So somebody who has murdered their partner because they can no longer cope with being raped and beaten should live like this? Prison is the loss of liberty, no choices, not even about when you wash and clean yourself. It's not a cushy life. Television in cells is given as a consequence of good behaviour. Satellite television is restricted, in the main to free channels only. (I say in the main because in one or two privately run prisons, some prisoners may subscribe to some channels). Food is not a luxury, soap isn't a luxury. They shouldn't be praying for death, that is a prison camp. They should be being rehabilitated.

That would also apply to people who have helped terminally ill loved ones to die

Haven't yet RTFT but LOL at OP trying to prove that prison is like a luxury hotel by linking to photos of a former prison that actually is now a luxury hotel!

I think many people just haven't thought about exactly what loss of liberty means.

If we want prisoners act like humans then we need to treat them like humans. Why do loads of people who have never experienced serious crime or who have never set foot in a prison have a view. How can we know what works? I would like our justice system to be research based in what works to keep us safe rather than popular knee jerk politics.

If all child rapists were executed then there would be a strong moviation for a rapist to kill his victim. In the US where there is the death penalty and longer jail sentences there is more crime and little evidence that harsh prisons or the death penalty do anything to deter crime.

How to run a prison

Solving an overcrowding problem with the death penalty?

I hope you don't think that about London.

Dawn
People like Ian Brady and Peter Sutcliffe are, whether people like it or not, seriously psychiatrically unwell. There are very many others like them, just as dangerous but not as famous. Do we kill them all? If we as a society start executing the mentally ill where do we stop?

I agree fully with this. A number of the most notorious killers have ended up in secure hospitals for life. You can't execute someone for Mental Illness. Additionally, would we have the situation where a "common or garden" murder would face the death penalty but the mentally unwell serial killer wouldn't.

To add to the possible miscarriages of justice don't forget Ruth Ellis & Derek Bentley both of whom were hanged and the Maguire 7 who were wrongly imprisoned for terrorist offences.

I just watched a programme yesterday on the repeal of the death penalty. There was a lot of public support for it being repealed, after two men who were hanged, were proven to be innocent.

We still have people convicted of murder who are later found to be innocent. But at least now they are still alive and can be released from jail.

I wonder how many of those in favour of the death penalty would be Ok with it if it were their child wrongly put to death by the state for rape/murder? Because that's part of the deal too - some people will be wrongly convicted andkilled. OP, is that a price you're willing to pay, or are you only OK with it if it's paid by others?

seek juries are asked if guilt is beyond 'reasonable' doubt, not beyond all doubt. So I think people do get put away when there isn't 100% certainty of guilt.