To ask what you think of the death penalty? (Don’t open if you don’t like talking about death and crime)

[Chancewouldbeafinethlng]

I listened to Adam Buxtons newest podcast episode and found it very interesting.
I’m not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand there are some criminals who I would not piss on if they were on fire, I think they really deserve to die. But then there is always going to be a person who’s job it is to kill that person.
Also there is the risk that someone has been falsely accused and maybe not had a fair trial. How would you ever know?

The episode touched on the method used currently for the death penalty. The woman who was talking was saying how unreliable it is and is basically torture if it doesn’t work. What other methods could be used though?

Sorry I know it’s a very morbid subject but I would be interested in hearing other people’s opinions.

Some people deserve torture

If people who commit horrific acts deserve torture, what becomes of those who carry it out for the state?

That's a genuine question btw.

I didn't rtft. I am undecided purely because innocent people may suffer.
I'd feel for the person carrying out the execution.
I am completely against the electric chair when it goes wrong it's horrendous. not sure if it is used for execution anymore
Lethal injection yes I think some people deserve to die for their crimes, they can never be rehabilitated, cost thousands to keep in prison.

In some cases I meant people like murderers and sex offenders who show absolutely no remorse for any of their horrible crimes

Which is even more worrying, actually. It suggests the existence of people who (a) would not execute people if they showed remorse (so Hindley would have lived, but Brady dangled) and/or (b) would execute for crimes other than murder (btw, if the victim lives, is it then just to execute the perpetrator ?) such as parking offences and benefit fraud ?

I may not be taking this in the intended vein ....

the prison I work in does have a vulnerable prisoner wing ( mostly sex offenders ) but they are not all 'Beasts ' as suggested on here
Fuck me, are some of them teddy bears.
How would you describe them if not depraved beasts.

Some people deserve torture
Er, no.

Death penalty should be brought back for serial killers peadophiles and child killers - there is no rehabilitation for such disgusting crimes and as a taxpayer I dont want to pay for their comfortable lives in prison

Just a question which probably deserves it's very own thread.
Many citizens of the USA believe in the death penalty yet many of those same citizens are pro life & believe abortion is wrong no matter what the reason & want abortion banned.
Many citizens of the USA abhor the death penalty yet many of those same citizens are pro choice & want women to keep their right to have an abortion if they need or want one.

I'm sure there are many people in the UK who fall into one of the above camps.
However I find it all a bit strange as cognitive dissonance seems at play here.
Why is it ok to take one life but not another?
I know someone is going to say one has personhood & the other doesn't.
Yet why is a 38 yr old serial killer more deserving of life than a 10 foetus & vice versa.
I suppose it's a big ethical question.

For the record I am pro choice & support the death penalty.
Though you could say I'm suffering from cognitive dissonance too as I think only serial killers & child murders should be executed.

"To those who point out the miscarriages of justice on innocent people I agree that’s awful and that the death penalty needs to be only used in cases which are beyond doubt" that's never going to be possible.

All the cases people cited of miscarriages of justice, at the time of conviction the juries, judges and usually the general public/society and in some of those cases even their loved ones thought - believed - they were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

"If every rapist, and sadistic murderer were given life sentences then we would run out of prison space." Not true if we STOPPED imprisoning financial criminals, low level criminals - theft, handling stolen goods, shoplifting, drug possession etc

There are as some pps have commented on a lot of low level criminals in prison who are mentally ill, have learning disabilities, drug or alcohol addiction, or who have missed out on a decent education for other reasons.

And those have been major factors in their committing those crimes. Drug and alcohol treatment, dx & treatment of mental illness, dx & treatment/support for learning disabilities, education for those who missed out... Would be far more effective in rehabilitating these people as criminals and in preventing them from committing further crime.

Leaving prison spaces for the most dangerous, violent criminals.

I've watched lots of episodes on the BBC iplayer website about death row. It's pretty interesting. There was one where they were going to execute I think like 8 people in one week because the drug was going out of date. Few of them got clemency just in the nick of time! There was a higher chance it would be more of a slow and painful death for them.

I know very little about prison.

But does life ever really mean life in the UK?

Because I'm vehemently against the death penalty.

But.

Truly horrendous violent criminals should get life and not an easy time of it. In my opinion.

Some sort of back breaking work that needs done that can be done behind bars.

If there's no chance they can safely be released then let them be of some use but really the hateful part of me wants them to suffer for the rest of their lives if they've abused/killed people.

I disagree with the death penalty because it is disproportionately applied to poor, black and otherwise disadvantaged people.

But I also believe that if a referendum were to be held on the subject, the majority of the country would vote in favour of returning it. And I'll go a step further and say that I believe that it will be reinstated within our lifetimes.

A couple of people have ironically asked whether we'll start start killing off physically or mentally disabled next. We've already started doing that. It's nothing as kind as an injection, but when you continually cut support staff and benefits from vulnerable people, it's pretty much inevitable that they die. And when they die, that's one more saving for the government.

I am passionately against the death penalty. Imo, it's a hideous, barbaric punishment that belongs in the past and is utterly inappropriate for this day and age.

Lots of people are saying how we should not be spending money on keeping people in prison even after multiple posts stating how much more expensive it is to execute someone! The public should not be the judge, we are all fallible and emotions impact on our thought processes, we need a fair impartial justice system which prioritises public safety over making criminals suffer. How does anyone benefit from someone else's suffering anyway? Did the victim suddenly come back to life because their killer was having a hard time in prison?

I wouldn't support the death penalty because of:
a) Miscarriages of Justice (wasn't Ruth Ellis innocent?) and
b) I wouldn't be capable of administering a fatal injection to someone and watching them die in a horrible manner so couldn't expect anyone else to do so.

I do agree that we need a better system in the UK though that metes out a balance of both punishment and rehabilitation. I think we should perhaps have harsher sentences where convicts don't have access to telephones, TVs, Xboxes etc. Properly remove their freedoms but but also have compulsory lessons in respect for people and their possessions and counselling to help those from bad backgrounds who've just followed in their parents' footsteps.

The PlayStations are to keep them busy and stop them getting into trouble due to being board.

They only have books in the USA and prison is not a deterrent.

Personally we should look at why a crime has been committed and then tailor a rehabilitation scheme based around that. Prison should be reserved for sex crimes.

I support the death penalty - where it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, proven in court and there is irrefutable evidence given. Like i said - i am from a country that uses it, and my family have been affected by it. The person who did said crime was 100% guilty and was put to death - and the country was a better place for it. Personally i believe people who are serial murderers, child rapists, serial rapists, drug dealers - there is no place for them and i pay tax to have them in the prisons here.

I think it’s a good idea to bring it back, obviously only in the most awful of cases and I mean serve a minimum term first, in the event of appeals of false imprisonment.
Then fill your boots. I don’t believe the effect it would have is much different from a vet euthanising a pet someone couldn’t afford (it happens more than you know), or more traumatic than a slaughterman suffers (species dependant cattle and pigs are awful). We expect those to function well mentally, I personally would have little issue putting to sleep someone who inflicted wrong doings on a child or such.

In favour of saving our prison spaces for the homeless I’m afraid. Not monsters our society would benefit without. Not about the high ground here for me it’s more clear cut than that. Make space for people that need looking after. Put that money towards funding kids illnesses etc.

I have an issue with people dying based on the verdict of a jury of their peers. Mostly because I have met many of my peers and wouldn't trust them to choose a ripe cantaloupe, let alone something with a life or death outcome.

No, Ruth Ellis wasn’t innocent, she did murder her lover David Blakey, however he had beaten her often, the most recent beating before his death caused her to miscarry. She was suffering from ptsd when she shot him, and really should have been found guilty but with diminished responsibility , and she should have been jailed, not hanged.

@JaimeBronde

there's no dichotomy. Unborn children are pure and innocent, and deserve life. Evildoers no longer deserve life.

You may as well consider it the other way. If you are happy to liberally permit abortion, then why would you be opposed to various alternative sorts of state sanctioned "tidying up"? Execution, euthanasia, etc.

Ultimately there are no "morals". All there are is laws, decided on by a majority. What else can there be? Anything else is perverse, surely. IMO

We should not have the death penalty under any circumstances for any crime. A life sentence, meaning life, is enough for the most dangerous offenders.
The death penalty is barbaric.
Many potential jurists would refuse to serve on a jury if the death penalty was a possibility. Considering how many people are in prison just now who actually have undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues, I hate to think how many could have been sentenced to death if we had Capital Punishment here.
We have had too many instances of wrongful convictions for crimes already - at least some have lived to be pardoned - not possible if the death penalty existed.
The death penalty is no deterrent - it is more likely to make criminals more violent, prepared to kill even those arresting them, or the witnesses, to avoid the ultimate penalty.
Countries that have the death penalty are hardly shining examples of civilisation!

“I have an issue with people dying based on the verdict of a jury of their peers. Mostly because I have met many of my peers and wouldn't trust them to choose a ripe cantaloupe, let alone something with a life or death outcome.”

Absolutely true.

and she should have been jailed, not hanged.

I don't even think she should have been jailed, or if she was, only for a very short sentence.

Prison should be reserved for sex crimes.

No, it shouldn't. The man who beat my mum deserved prison (and worse), not rehabilitation FFS.

Some people deserve torture

If people who commit horrific acts deserve torture, what becomes of those who carry it out for the state?

Nothing, they have given the person what they deserve and are legally exempt.