Would you want capital punishment back?

[Mynameisnew]

There are people who do such vile things in this country and are jailed for a decade or two. Perhaps released for good behaviour a bit earlier.

Afaik CP was stopped amongst other reasons because there were a number of errors made and innocent people being convicted.

But these days with DNA proof or cases where it is on cctv /phone messages or has been admitted (thinking of Emma Tustin)

Would it not make a good deterrent? Even if one person is saved from being murdered...

I appreciate that in the USA people still commit murder, but they also have guns there which means a higher incidence of spur of the moment violence.

But a sustained campaign of abuse - would such an abuser as Tustin have been put off if CP was an option, even if very rarely used?

It's easy for me to say that I would be deterred, but I'm not a psychopathic and sadistic person so the issue is, it's hard to say if people like that would be put off such a crime. Perhaps it doesn't even enter their heads that it's wrong.

No. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I do think there should be longer sentences for violent and sexual crimes.

No way, not ever. Bringing back the death penalty would stop us from being able to call ourselves a civilised society.

Everybody 'knew' that Gerry Conlon and the rest of the Guildford Four were definitely guilty. Except they weren't.

OP nobody is ever released from prison for good behaviour. The sentence given often includes a proportion served on probation

The deterrent argument has no validity. American states with the death penalty do not have lower murder rates.

I have mixed feelings. Prisons are very expensive to run and sentences are absurdly lenient in many cases - due to them running concurrently. I don’t really believe that child killers snd paedophiles and rapists can be rehabilitated; it’s shown time and time again when they are released and reoffend. I resent my taxes paying for these scum in prison. Maybe prisons need a tier system re comfortability; really serious crimes could have more of a Victorian, bread and water, straw mattress element. Lesser crimes less awful living conditions. There’s no easy solution.

Of course it would not make a good deterrent, it doesn't in countries that do have it, look at the US.

I would never support the return of capital punishment.

I find it appalling and depressing that 21% have voted YANBU. 21% of MN thinks that state sanctioned murder is acceptable.

I agree that a life sentence should mean, life spent in prison for certain people rather than life on license. From an ethical and logical standpoint, no I don't think capital punishment should ever be brought back. How can you say that killing someone is wrong, and then kill them to show how wrong killing is? It just doesn't make sense. Who gets to decide what actions/circumstances are deemed 'enough' to justify intentionally killing in some situations?

@Justheretoaskaquestion91

I have mixed feelings. Prisons are very expensive to run and sentences are absurdly lenient in many cases - due to them running concurrently. I don’t really believe that child killers snd paedophiles and rapists can be rehabilitated; it’s shown time and time again when they are released and reoffend. I resent my taxes paying for these scum in prison. Maybe prisons need a tier system re comfortability; really serious crimes could have more of a Victorian, bread and water, straw mattress element. Lesser crimes less awful living conditions. There’s no easy solution.

Research done in the US shows it is significantly more expensive to execute someone than to incarcerate them for life. Yes, that’s due to the lengthy appeals process, but if you decide to shorten that, you risk executing more innocent people.

No, it's barbaric.

Many times I have heard of horrific crimes and thought the perpetrator deserves capital punishment.

But of course there is still room for error and it would lead to innocent people who are wrongly convicted dying and that can never be ok - that is why I couldn't get on board with returning to capital punishment.

I do however think that life should mean exactly that - little Arther likely had another 70+ years ahead of him, that evil woman has a sentence of just 29 years. She will be out before it's time to get her pension, she still has a life to look forward to and that is not ok, highly insulting to that poor little boy.

The people who commit the most horrible offences have often had terrible backgrounds themselves. Read up about the childhoods of the likes of Rosemary West and Fred West.

It does not excuse their crimes but they are messed up people who have had terrible things done to them as well as doing awful things themselves. Better social services would be a much better use of money than the death penalty.

And also, the question: does this person deserve to live? is a different question to: should this person be killed by the state?

So many people who want to bring back capital punishment are also against compulsory vaccinations/maskwearing/anything coronavirus-forced because of too much state control. The irony.

@EnidFrighten

And also, the question: does this person deserve to live? is a different question to: should this person be killed by the state?

That's a brilliant way of putting it.

@ErickBroch

So many people who want to bring back capital punishment are also against compulsory vaccinations/maskwearing/anything coronavirus-forced because of too much state control. The irony.

Where did you get the research to establish that correlation?

No, for me I want them to suffer. Not for seconds but for a life time. Jail needs to be as heinous as possible for the worst offenders.

@ErickBroch

So many people who want to bring back capital punishment are also against compulsory vaccinations/maskwearing/anything coronavirus-forced because of too much state control. The irony.

Um what? There’s obsession with Covid and then there is this. Provide a link to that research please.

I used to think CP should be brought back however, the amount of people in America who are wrongly convicted and later exonerated is too high - and that's only the people who manage to get good lawyers and court dates etc before their time is up. I don't like to think about the amount of people who get killed while innocent but unable to make anybody listen.

I know that's America and it's a little different here because prosecutors aren't necessarily trying to make a name for themselves or get re-elected but I think there is too big a chance of error.

What I would like to see would be proper sentences (I am a supporter of the American sentencing of 100years etc) so the victim / victims family can be reassured that person isn't getting out.
Plus I don't think prisons should be quite as relaxed as they are. I don't want slave labour / chain gangs etc but I do think you should be made to do something useful to society while you're in there.

Never. No place for it in a civilised society.

@ErickBroch

So many people who want to bring back capital punishment are also against compulsory vaccinations/maskwearing/anything coronavirus-forced because of too much state control. The irony.

What bollocks. There is zero connection between capital punishment and Covid issues.

I am against the return of capital punishment for all of the reasons stated in my first post on this thread and further ones given by others. That doesn't make us all anti-vaxxers or any such nonsense.

No. It's barbaric and no criminal justice system is foolproof. Plus it's not a deterrent and costs a lot of money anyway with all the appeals.

I'd much rather see more money put into social services. Have judges overrule experts less in cases of child cruelty/neglect. Have more money put into supporting vulnerable families (not saying that would have helped in the most heinous cases but might have freed up time for SWs to devote to these kind of cases).

I understand people's emotions around the death penalty. Truly. But I think we need to get to this at a far deeper level. What has gone so wrong in our society that there are people that think this is OK to treat your children like this?

@Pinksloth
I completely agree. Early intervention needs to be prioritised. And where appropriate restorative justice. That’s where the money should be going.

Nope.
Too many miscarriages of justice.
Plus. Rest of life in prison as a marked child murderer seems a more fitting punishment to me for that vile specimen. I don't beleive in heaven or hell so having an injection and going to sleep is no punishment at all for me.