I'm delighted it's been reopened as it gives me the chance to reply to direct questions. One thing I hate more than anything is when a thread is locked before I have a chance to reply. This is terribly frustrating & often gives the wrong impression to anyone reading it. I would rather the whole thing was deleted. I have no wish to offend anyone & always try to put over my points clearly. I know some people will passionately disagree which is why this topic is considered a tad risky.
does the death penalty have to be a DETERRENT? To my mind it is a PUNISHMENT and that justifies it's use when there is no doubt that the perpetrator is guilty of taking another's life.
I think there are three reasons for a criminal sentence. One is to remove offenders from society to prevent them reoffending. Two is to punish the offender & three is to act as a deterrent for others contemplating the same thing. A fourth might be to rehabilitate the offender so they stand a chance when their sentence is finished.
Whether the sentence fits the crime is another area altogether. I feel that sentencing is generally too soft in this country today & there is too much talk about the offenders' Human Rights. Some of these crimes are so terrible they gave up any Human Rights as far as I'm concerned. For a society to succeed you must have rules & everyone must abide by them. It's up to the judiciary to make sure these rules are enforced when offenders are brought to book. If I'm to belive the media too many habitual criminals are released on parole only to immediately reoffend. This needs looking into immediately. One of the reasons is there are simply not enough places for them in prisons. If this is the case more prisons should be built. This might not be the solution but nobody seems capable of thinking of another way.
I would say the the death penalty is both a punishment and a deterrent. It does prevent people form doing it, that is a known fact
I would like to see your evidence for that Ben. All the time there's a risk of one innocent person being executed I'm against the death penalty.