Vote totals:
Yes:
8%
No:
92%
Neutral:
0%
DEBATE: THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
It acts as a major deterrent
It acts as a major deterrent
"The prospect of spending life in prison may be a larger deterrent." – face reality please. They will sit there every minute of every day not giving a thought to the hard earned tax money that so many good people have worked for to enable them to live within THEIR ‘human’ rights which they so blithely destroyed without another thought. They have access to more luxuries etc than some people who’ve never done anyone any harm have/will ever have. Look up the meaning of justice, it’s tough because it’s a N-E-C-E-S-S-I-T-Y.
The prospect of spending life in prison may be a larger deterrent.
Further more, with the sort of criminals who would get the death penalty, deterrence is rarely an issue. Either people think they’ll get away with it, or they don’t consider the consequences at all. If you’re in enough of a rage to murder in cold blood, you aren’t going to be thinking about the consequences – it’s not like these people are thinking ‘well, worst comes to worst, I spend the rest of my life in a maximum security detention facility…" If they were in the position to consider what they were doing, most of them would think twice anyway. Those people who do think about what they’re doing usually put thought into not getting caught, rather than worrying about what will happen if they do.
The US still has the death penalty, and there has been no significant deterrent effect there, with a homicide rate far greater than in the UK. Not to mention the large number of documented cases where prisoners on death row have been proved innocent, although sometimes too late. The saying goes ‘its better to set a hundred guilty men free than imprison one single innocent man’. It has happened before in every country that innocent people have been put behind bars but if you the kill that person it is impossible to make it right.
Also, I have a problem with the stat killing people as a deterrent. If it is wrong to kill then the state shouldn’t do it either.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
It protects society from harmful criminals
It protects society from harmful criminals
If the alternative of a life imprisonment term actually meant life then that would also serve to protect society.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
British prisons are overcrowded
British prisons are overcrowded
Reinstating the death penalty would take a lot of resources. This may result in there being less funding for building new prison space.
The proportion of prisoners for whom the death penalty might be applicable is very small. Suggesting culling murderers as a way of reducing overcrowding is plainly ludicrous. The solution to overcrowding lies in more community service, less custodial sentences for non dangerous criminals and a program of prison building and refurbishment as well as tackling the social issues that cause people to become criminals in the first place. Surely, reducing the number of crimes and criminals is a better use of resources than slaughtering people after the damage has been done and they have committed a crime!
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
It is the only fair punishment for crime such as murder
It is the only fair punishment for crime such as murder
A life (meaning life) imprisonment is a perfectly apt punishment for murder. Removing a person’s liberties and simple life pleasures for the rest of their lives forms a extended punishment whereas once a person is dead, that’s the end of that.
Apart from that it is hardly a moral punishment – How can a country kill a person to show people that killing people is wrong?
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
Peaodofiles deserve to die for their crimes, they can never be rehabilitated
- Overcrowding in jails lead to overworked police wardens
- Which leads to judges in despair;
- Which leads to no faith in those we put the trust of our lives to it’s in their helpless hands;
- Which leads to wasted tax money that could be used to help decent suffering people.
Obviously the verdict must be right and just. That being so, wipe out the scum
of society who plague and cause unbearable pain and suffering upon good innocent people and children, not just now – their sickening actions will have far reaching consequences for decades to come.
Child abusers are the worst type of criminals, but the death penalty does nothing to remove that problem from society.
Child abusers are the least likely to be deterred by punishment of any type. Many have been abused themselves and don’t see their crimes for what they are, and others say that they did what they did because they couldn’t help themselves. The death penalty is unlikely to prevent child abuse any more than a mandatory life sentence.
It also costs more money to execute a person than incarcerate them for life. Given that we’re using the American model, and giving people all available chances for appeal, the chances are these people will end up waiting to be executed for years. You end up paying to lock people up for decades, plus the costs of the numerous appeals, plus the cost of the facilities. Child abusers are often emotionally damaged, victims themselves, etc, and hence there is no end of grounds for appeal. This is money we could be spending on helping abused children or putting back into society, rather than trying to deal with our disgust with an ineffective quick-fix solution like this.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
Innocent people may be put to death if wrongly convicted
The long and complex processes involved in cases of such high status mean that the chance of being wrongly convicted for a crime such as murder are extremely low. DNA evidence and new scientific advances make proving cases much easier.
Further, those sentenced to death have ample opportunity to appeal against that sentence, up until the day of execution (looking at America as a model).
Judges will not apply the death penalty where there is even some doubt as to the strength of the conviction, as it is so vital that no innocent lives are taken.
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"If the lives of the seven innocent people alone were saved by not having the death penalty, then this is reason enough to banish it forever." If the number of innocent lives saved but having executed potential re-offending murderers outweighs the number innocent lives lost through miscarriage of justice, then surely this suffices as endorsement.
Innocent people may be put to death if wrongly convicted.
The claim that the chances of beingly wrongly convicted are low is laughable given recent events in British justice. The Birmingham 6 would have been executed. Stephan Klijsko would have been executed – the fact that there was ample evidence for his release many years before it was secured was happily ignored by sucessive judges. If the lives of the seven innocent people alone were saved by not having the death penalty, then this is reason enough to banish it forever.
Furthermore, if a jury is told that their verdict is the difference between life and death for the accused, and if they have such a stringent criteria to meet before they can reach a guilt verdict, they’re more likely to return an innocent verdict. Part of the reason that the death penalty was abandoned in the UK was that so many criminals who should have at least been locked up were set free, because juries were always able to find a reasonable doubt rather than kill someone.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
It is a cruel and immoral punishment
The punishment is for a cruel and immoral act carried out by the convicted person. It is therefore not unfair.
It is a cruel and immoral punishment.
Punishing like with like isn’t how our justice system works. When someone steals a TV we don’t take their TV we as well, we remove them from society. Likewise, those who commit fraud we don’t fine them comparable amounts to the money they defrauded.
Further, defining murder as bad and then murdering someone in cold blood (i.e. execution) is hypocritical.
It is also expressly prohibited by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Britain is a signatory.
The point to the left avoids this point. It was never said that this was an unfair punishment. Read the point here again, and either delete your comment, or write a less flawed one.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
The death penalty is more expensive for the taxpayer than life imprisonment
Cost has never been an issue when it comes to dealing with crime. The justice system happily carries out expensive, lengthy trials that result in not guilty verdicts and doesn’t complain that money has been wasted; just because something costs money doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Carrying out justice is the only thing that matters, and cost is irrelevant.
The death penalty is more expensive for the taxpayer than life imprisonment, when the cost of several appeals are factored in. In America, the average convict spends eleven years in prison awaiting execution, simply because the appeals process takes so long. As well as the cost of locking people up for so long, there will be huge costs incurred as a result of the appeals process which the State will have to bear.
THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE REINSTATED IN THE UK
It doesn’t do anything to bring back the victim
Nor does a prison sentence. However it may give the victim’s family more of a sense of closure. The family will know that, unlike prison sentences that can be cut short by a mixture of good behaviour and government incompetence, the murderer will never be a threat to another human being again. The death penalty is the ultimate form of vindication.
It may not do anything to bring back the victim, but by God, there won’t be a second one!
It doesn’t do anything to bring back the victim