Death Penalty: Would it work?

[spooky3]

Death Penalty definately does work, they're usually dead at the end of it.

 

Doesn't prevent the original crime though!

[spooky3]

The thought I just had was...

 

We love excitement, we're born and bred for the rush, the thrill... Go on jump out of that plane, ride the rapids, race the fast cars... etc

 

Surely raising the stakes of a crime just raises the effort put in, e.g. worse outcome?

[boyfriday]

I can't fault your logic and I like the way you think.

 

I suspect the believers in god will recognise it as the ultimate divine intervention.

[vResistance]

No but thats not here.

Thats a different country with a different way of life and still has the old wild west coursing through its veins. Look at americas constitution for the reason it does not work over there.

 

I agree with that,most countries that have it are too far down the road probably for it to make much difference.

Why wait till then ?

I think also it should be only used after a public debate with all possible evidence submitted,whether it makes the government look bad or not.

For instance,though the government and media have assumed those four ALLEGED bombers guilty of the murders,the evidence they have would not stand up in a genuine court as evidence.

Could we trust all evidence would be heard in court ? Not with what we've got at the moment i suspect.

[crookesey]

Then this is not a valid counter argument since we are talking about an unknown.

 

I know of one person who was wrongly executed and that was Timothy Evans 60 years ago. In the United States I know of no one in the same period who was wrongly put to death.

There is no high percentage therefore and only one name hardly justification for abolishing the death penalty on those grounds.

The British system of execution so soon after sentence was the reason for Evans wrongful execution. Had this happened in America Evans would have waited several years for sentence to be carried out and then when Christie was arrested but a few years later and confessed to the murders of Evans wife and child Evans would have been promptly released.

Evans in effect was a victim of the flawed British system of try em, sentence em and hang em right away.

 

Incorrect, David Bentley was wrongly executed for the following reasons.

 

He didn't kill the police officer.

 

He was accused of saying " Let him have it Chris", to the actual murderer, 17 years old Christopher Craig. Did he mean shoot or hand over the weapon?

 

He was educationally backward with a mental age of 11.

 

He received a posthumous pardon in July 1993 and on 30th July 1998 the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction for murder.

 

I rest my case.

[evildrneil]

I know of one person who was wrongly executed and that was Timothy Evans 60 years ago. In the United States I know of no one in the same period who was wrongly put to death.

 

Take a look at:

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20070804222621/http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/innocent.html

[boyfriday]

Research done by Columbia University investigating nearly 6000 capital cases between 1973-95 showed that 2/3rds were seriously flawed.

 

These are extracts from the study:

 

"Central Findings:

 

- Nationally the overall rate of prejudicial error in capital cases was 68% - i.e., courts found serious reversible error in nearly 7 out of 10 capital cases that were fully reviewed during the study period.

 

- Capital trials produce so many mistakes that it takes three judicial inspections to catch them, leaving doubt whether we do catch them all. After state courts threw out 47% of death sentences due to serious flaws, a later federal review found "serious error" (error undermining the reliability of the outcome) in 40% of the remaining sentences.

 

- Of the 2,370 death sentences thrown out due to serious error, 90% were overturned by state judges, many of whom were the very judges who imposed the death sentence in the first place. However, a substantial number of the capital judgments they let through to the federal stage were still seriously flawed.

 

- The most common errors (prompting a majority of reversals at the state post-conviction stage) were (a) incompetent defense lawyers who failed to look for or recognize important evidence of innocence or mitigating factors; and (b) police or prosecutors who suppressed evidence."

 

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/summary-columbia-university-study-prof-james-s-liebman

[TJC1]

Or just check it out on wikipedia under 'capital punishment'. Many, many people have been wrongly executed.

China alone, it runs into the thousands. Thats why capital punishment was abolished in this country, because were a civilised, liberal country with a good history of progressive legislation. Long may it continue.

[boyfriday]

Another potential problem is that you will invariably have jurors reluctant to convict if they believe the outcome will be execution for the defendant, so 'guilty' murderers could potentially walk free.

[boyfriday]

Or just check it out on wikipedia under 'capital punishment'. Many, many people have been wrongly executed.

China alone, it runs into the thousands. Thats why capital punishment was abolished in this country, because were a civilised, liberal country with a good history of progressive legislation. Long may it continue.

 

Amen to that.