General Chat

Lucia - you may find the following interesting. It's a quote from the autobiography of Albert Pierrepoint (Britain's last hangman) written in 1974: 'I operated on behalf of the state, what I am convinced was the most humane and the most dignified method of meting out death to a delinquent - however justified or unjustified the allotment of death may be - and on behalf of humanity I trained other nations to adopt the British system of execution... I do not now believe that any one of the hundreds of executions I carried out has in any way acted as a deterrent against future murder. Capital punishment, in my view, achieved nothing except revenge.' I have always been against capital punishment.

although they are not necessarily insane, psychotic maybe, but in my eyes they are different. It depends if they are awarded the defence of insanity. it depends on which definition of insane you use, the medical or the legal, the legal, still says that people with one kind of diabetes are insane so if they commit a crime becasue they need an insulin injection they are held liable, many of these individuals choose to plead quilty rather than face a mentl asylem. it's totally unfair

oops sorry Jim, I understand your argument now. Lucia

No Lucia, That is not what I meant. It is not only the cost factor, but the fact that the criminal must never be allowed back into Society. As long as they are imprisoned there is always the risk of escape. Peter, If we have Laws we must of necessity have Judges to try the case. We have a system where a Jury of ordinary people determine Guilt or Innocence, but the Judge then passes the sentence.

Well I don't think they should have death penalty for that - if they are insane, Lucia

I'm not offended, I like to hear other people's opinions on the subject, Lucia :-)

does this also apply to serial killers who cannot be reformed, and kill for fun or because they feel they need to?

when capital punishment was used in this country there seemed to be far less murders then and the deterant seemed to work a murder then would seem to be headlines in the papers and on the radio now it is just part of every day reading There were some innocecnt people hanged but far less than the number of children we see killed today just my point of view dont be offended howard

Jim, that's why I think it's unethical. I think it is horrible to kill someone just to save the cost of keeping them alive, Lucia

Nell, I agree... Wouldn't it encourage organisations to train underage terrorists because capital punishment will only apply for over 18s or something like that? Lucia

I don't see Capital Punishment as revenge, nor necessarily as a deterrent to others. I do, however, think that there are certain individuals who commit crimes so horrible that they have no place in our society, and need to be excluded from it for the rest of their lives. Why then should the burden of keeping them fall upon the very society they have offended against? Far better to have them put down as you would put down a savage dog. As regards Peter's Uncle. The poor lad who pulled the trigger had no option, but his Superiors had to answer for their war crimes at Nuremberg. So what do we say about our boys and girls in Iraq? They have no option but to follow orders. We have, however, seen that today our society will not allow, even in wartime, atrocities being done to the captured enemy. But if ours are captured???

No, I am opposed to capital punishment. As for the argument that it would be a deterrent, many terrorists are suicide bombers etc, so it wouldn't deter them. nell

very true, those are also tricky mind men are more likely to get that defence than women. example. One case i studied a man got the defence of diminished responsibility beacause his wife was an constant nag! However a battered wife was not allowed it because she sharpended the knife before she stabbed the hubby, that woman is still in jail. How unfair is that, or have i just opened a whole new can of worms.

I don't about that. I was just thinking that is capital punishment is an effective deterrent then this would only be true for premeditated killings etc People wouldn't think about the death penalty in crimes of passion Lucia :-)

no it wouldn't, purhaps its as peter says the need for revenge. I don't think this argument will ever be clear cut. Do you know does it work in America as a deterant.

Victoria, I see what you mean, but if I was in that situation I don't think capital punishment would achieve anything - it wouldn't bring the person back... Lucia :-)

Peter, It is so sad what happened to your uncle. I don't think that anyone should be sentenced to death not even someone really bad like Hitler for instance. I just think there's a lot of hypocrisy in carrying out capital punishment and it would only be lowering yourself to the level of the criminal anyway. Lucia

That is very true, as a law student i know what you mean about not being a deterant there is very little evidence to support that misconception. however i do think that sometimes the families may feel they do not get justice with the so called life sentence. That sounds an interesting subject by the way. Very provocative i should imagine.

Hi, RMPS is religious, moral and philosophical studies. I don't agree with capital punishment because I think it is defeatist - there isn't any chance of repentance. And someone could be wrongly conviction. I also think its a cruel and backward form of punishment. It is ineffective in detering criminals and is carried out for completely the wrong reasons. Lucia :-)

May i ask what rmps is please, I wish they would bring back capital punishment, especially for those who have commited horrible crimes like premediatated murder, rape and child abuse. i do think though that there would have to be no doubt whatsoever that the person commited the crime though.