[lily.]

Discuss...

[King Gizzard]

Completely against it in every shape and form. Gives someone an easy way out, you ask the majority of people on life sentances for murder and other serious offences and they would probably commit suicide if they could

Don't get the huge rush for ''omg kill the bastards!!''..I don't get the whole ''eye for an eye'' thing...don't stoop to their level in anyway

[Marc]

Good points Nathan, but you've probably not had it happen to you and you'd think differently had anything if like.. your sibling/cousin/parent was murdered in cold blood.

My outside view on it would be the same as Nathan's however if it affected me like above, then I'd want the person to die.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Marc

Good points Nathan, but you've probably not had it happen to you and you'd think differently had anything if like.. your sibling/cousin/parent was murdered in cold blood.

My outside view on it would be the same as Nathan's however if it affected me like above, then I'd want the person to die.

But that's the thing, I don't think you should judge a suitable punishment based on "that could have been my son/brother/etc." it just means you're being guided by an emotional response and I'd honestly like to think I wouldn't support it still, but obviously it's impossible to know..

Like I said in the other thread, I'm definitely against it, it just reduces you down to the same level of the criminal, I don't see how you can kill someone to try and show that killing is wrong, surely that's a fallacy. The only distinction between the two would be a (in my view) misguided sense of justice, and "right". I think it also doesn't leave any room to try and understand why people carry out their crimes, and doesn't leave any room for rehabilitation, which I know a lot on here won't believe or don't think is possible but I really believe it is. A life sentence is enough punishment in my opinion.

Originally Posted by MTVN

But that's the thing, I don't think you should judge a suitable punishment based on "that could have been my son/brother/etc." it just means you're being guided by an emotional response and I'd honestly like to think I wouldn't support it still, but obviously it's impossible to know..

Like I said in the other thread, I'm definitely against it, it just reduces you down to the same level of the criminal, I don't see how you can kill someone to try and show that killing is wrong, surely that's a fallacy. The only distinction between the two would be a (in my view) misguided sense of justice, and "right". I think it also doesn't leave any room to try and understand why people carry out their crimes, and doesn't leave any room for rehabilitation, which I know a lot on here won't believe or don't think is possible but I really believe it is. A life sentence is enough punishment in my opinion.

Excellent post.

[King Gizzard]

I think if I was in the position I would still have the same view point. I would want that person to feel they've suffered not just that they're going to die and not have to deal with the guilt for the rest of their lives

[Shaun]

my cousin was murdered and I'm against the death penalty, so the whole "omg if it happened to you x" angle is bollocks.

[Marc]

I guess my view isn't universal but it's not as if it's obscure so I'm sure some others would think the same.

[Roy Mars III]

Agree with everything that Nathan said. The whole 'eye for an eye' mentality is worrying. Rather have them rot in prison than just kill them and give them the easy way out.

[King Gizzard]

If anything prison conditions should be alot worse and most sentances increased to maximum

If you take away someones life yours should be taken away (not literally, but in the sense of having a life whatsoever)

[Samuel.]

I'm against it, but not because I'd rather see a criminal rot in prison, or because it's an easy way out for them. But because I don't think it's acceptable to be killing anyone for any reason, unless...

Probably alone in thinking this, but I think someone who receives a life sentence in prison, should have the choice of death instead. Having them sit in a prison cell for 20 odd years isn't useful to anyone, unless in the unlikely scenario that they come out of it the other side as a changed person who'll be a benefit to society. Just let them die if they want to.

Though I also agree with rehabilitation. And I guess if someone's committed a crime that warrants a life sentence, they're not going to be 100% stable mentally, thus shouldn't be making a life or death decision. So basically, my idea is flawed

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Nathan

If anything prison conditions should be alot worse and most sentances increased to maximum

This^

Prison as it is now, is a pretty easy ride. I know when people say they get 5 course meals and playstation 3s etc its a load of bollocks...but many in prison have a better life than they had on the outside...how is that punishment?

I know this because a guy I used to go to school with WANTS to be in prison. Everytime he gets released he does stupid things to get back in again...like fake robbing the post office in his hometown and stuff. He doesnt WANT to get away with it, he wants to be caught, and its pathetic. That said, he has been homeless the majority of his life since his mother ****ed off abroad and left him when he was 17...when he originally turned to crime. I used to think he was just an idiot (he probably is tbh) but a few years back during one of his short stints out of jail I was talking to him properly and now I feel sorry for him. He has made mates in there, while he has no mates outside, he gets fed, he gets to socialize etc etc.

This is NOT what we want for criminals. Yeah this lad I know is a petty criminal, not a murderer or whatever (for the minute anyway )and I would like to think the prisons murderers/pedos etc get sent to are worse conditions...but it should be pretty much living hell being in jail. Living on slops and that kinda thing.

Our jails are a holiday camp compared to how it is being in prison in other countries. And dont give me the human rights crap...or 'we are advanced enough to not act like barbarians' because thats the sort of attitude thats got us into this mess in the first place

(But I do not agree wit the death penalty. Mistakes can be, and are made. And theres no going back.)

[CharlieO]

I am kind of against it. But it does work. Singapore - 2nd lowest crime rate in the world because they have the death penalty.

Originally Posted by CharlieO

I am kind of against it. But it does work. Singapore - 2nd lowest crime rate in the world because they have the death penalty.

America - the states with the death penalties have some of the highest crime rates. It's a bit of a myth that it acts as a deterrent.

[lostalex]

If we knew for sure that murderers and child molesters were guilty, i have no problem with the death penalty.

If all of them are guilty of what they are accussed of i have no problem with the death penalty.

But many cases, you cannot be sure they are guilty, so i am against it.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by lostalex

If we knew for sure that murderers and child molesters were guilty, i have no problem with the death penalty.

If all of them are guilty of what they are accussed of i have no problem with the death penalty.

But many cases, you cannot be sure they are guilty, so i am against it.

Yeah, I agree with this.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Its a good thing and saves money. Life is cheap and easily created as is death. Dont let years of religious lies make us think that life is this precious gift bollocks.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Its a good thing and saves money. Life is cheap and easily created as is death. Dont let years of religious lies make us think that life is this precious gift bollocks.

You don't need to be religious to think life is a precious gift.

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Its a good thing and saves money. Life is cheap and easily created as is death. Dont let years of religious lies make us think that life is this precious gift bollocks.

I'm an anti-theist, but I don't believe in the death penalty.

[nicole_burks]

I don't necessarily disagree with it. I believe it is useful in some cases, but not all.


I just looked up if my state does the death penalty, and they do.

Lethal injection is the sole method. (On October 5, 2001, the Georgia Supreme Court held that the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment and struck down the state's use of the method)

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

[Roy Mars III]

Originally Posted by nicole_burks

I don't necessarily disagree with it. I believe it is useful in some cases, but not all.


I just looked up if my state does the death penalty, and they do.


http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

Most states only use lethal ejection. And the states who do still have the electric chair, let the prisoner chose between lethal enjection and the chair. And in Utah you can still be killed by a firing squad if you want.

[nicole_burks]

Originally Posted by Roy Mars III

Most states only use lethal ejection. And the states who do still have the electric chair, let the prisoner chose between lethal enjection and the chair. And in Utah you can still be killed by a firing squad if you want.

New Hampshire allows hanging

New Hampshire- Authorizes hanging only if lethal injection cannot be given.

[Z]

Tough question. My main opposition to it is that for every time they get it right (and by that I mean condemn someone who is guilty) there are countless cases of them getting it wrong... and that is truly horrible, to think that someone who didn't even commit the crime has been killed in response to said crime. I don't know. I think with some crimes, rehab is possible, but those are crimes that don't involve the plotting and execution of someone's death. When it comes to people who have done that, I think they're beyond redemption.

To actually kill another human being on purpose is the worst kind of crime. Among other things, it suggests that the murderer doesn't value life, they think whoever they killed is beneath them in some way, and they don't therefore value life like the rest of society does. I don't want to say I'm for capital punishment, because of my hesistance when it comes to whether or not somebody committed a crime... but I agree with the concept.

[Jack_]

I oppose it completely. It's a disgusting, hypocritical, inhumane attempt at 'justice' which has so many flaws that I see no positive reasoning as to its implementation.

First and foremost, it's a complete cop-out of a punishment for the criminal. Why on earth would anyone want someone's suffering to be stopped after a few minutes, when there's the option of having them suffer their entire lives? And as Nathan said most criminals on life sentences would choose suicide over actually fulfilling their sentence anyway, I know I would.

Not only that but the message it sends out is not only full of hypocrisy, but it's essentially saying that it's perfectly acceptable to murder, which it isn't. The whole concept of it just panders to the blood thirsty morons who scream and wail 'kill the evil twat!!!' every time a case is reported. And of course, there's occasions where people have been innocently executed, which is unforgivable if you ask me.

If it were down to me I'd have prisons made tougher and sentences extended, they're not perfect at the moment but they're a much better place to send criminals for real justice than executing them on the spot. I find the whole idea and the fact that some people are so desperate for others to be killed extremely disturbing.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Jack_

I oppose it completely. It's a disgusting, hypocritical, inhumane attempt at 'justice' which has so many flaws that I see no positive reasoning as to its implementation.

First and foremost, it's a complete cop-out of a punishment for the criminal. Why on earth would anyone want someone's suffering to be stopped after a few minutes, when there's the option of having them suffer their entire lives? And as Nathan said most criminals on life sentences would choose suicide over actually fulfilling their sentence anyway, I know I would.

Not only that but the message it sends out is not only full of hypocrisy, but it's essentially saying that it's perfectly acceptable to murder, which it isn't. The whole concept of it just panders to the blood thirsty morons who scream and wail 'kill the evil twat!!!' every time a case is reported. And of course, there's occasions where people have been innocently executed, which is unforgivable if you ask me.

If it were down to me I'd have prisons made tougher and sentences extended, they're not perfect at the moment but they're a much better place to send criminals for real justice than executing them on the spot. I find the whole idea and the fact that some people are so desperate for others to be killed extremely disturbing.

But the ENTIRE concept of justice is guided by human emotions. Deciding to just lock someone away in a cell to prolong their suffering is JUST as irrational as ending their life because it's a decision made by other people because of something one or more persons has done to another person or persons. People are the be all and end all of justice. The difference between capital punishment and long term jail sentences is that you can slightly undo a jail sentence... but that person has still lost a chunk of their life to not being free.