YOUR thoughts on the death penalty.

[Hagar]

I think everyone knows where I stand on this subject. As I said right at the beginning of this thread:

I once believed in the death penalty for murder & some other crimes. I have since changed my mind

I not only believed in it but did so just as passionately as some of you arguing for it here. I disagreed with them revoking it but have since changed my mind & now believe just as passionately that this was the right thing to do. Nobody forced me to believe it & my mind wasn't changed by any arguments for or against. I considered it over a period of time & came to my own decision.

I also respect others for having opposite views & disagreeing on this type of subject never inflluenced who I choose as friends or my attitudes towards them. They think differently to me - so what? Many people do. The circumstances where they live might be completely different to my own & they make their own judgements. i have no right to interefere, & they are as entitled to their views as I am to mine. There's no need for mud-slinging or abuse & no room for it in a civilised discussion.

I'm no saint & when I read about the things these despicable criminals do I could take up a gun & shoot them myself. Shooting is too good for them I would like to make them suffer like their victims. This is a gut reaction & doesn't change my views. Nobody but me can do that.

[Woodlouse2002]

As I said, if you want a death penalty, let it be a firing squad of your judge and jury. At least then you'd be sure they'd all thought long and hard about it.

[Scorpiоn]

In a black & white world where all is truthful, the death penalty would be a great punishment to remove societies stains, but unfortunately there exists a concept called "lying."  As such, capital punishment should be reserved only for when the accussed absolutely must be removed from society.  Capital punishment should be a service to society, not revenge.

As a thought, I've always believed that if you are to be put to death, you should be able to elect the form.  I personally find the injection much more dreadful and a firing squad.

Much has been said already, so I think I'd like to restrain my point to the reliability of evidence.  Too much nowadays people just blindly assept something because some sort of authority figure said it (President, newscaster, actor).  This applies to DNA as well.  I've seen DNA mentioned a few times, but keep in mind DNA is no fail-safe.  Houston has an investigation going on over errors involving all sorts of cases with DNA evidence, including death row cases.  No doubt numerous innocents have been put to death.

[Hagar]

Although I feel as I do, one thing sticks in my craw about some of these low-lifes. When they've been found guilty with no doubt at all & they even admit to their crimes they show no remorse or admit, even to themsleves, that they did anything wrong. Some parents of children that had been murdered never found out what happened to their bodies. I think that is cruelty in the extreme but all the time their killers were alive they held out some hope that they would repent & allow them to grieve properly.

[Saitek]

I think it is this which greives me. Just read this news thread of a boy my age. Now I know this is manslaughter and not murder and slightly different - but it's just that I read it and thought of the topic. He has been convicted of maslaughter. I guess he'll get 3 years max. Only 2 will be spent in prison.

I find the father of the victim very disturbing:

Perfect. Justice has been served. Now I would like to erect some kind of monument to Dave's memory in the churchyard.

I'm sorry, but when the sentence comes out Friday I think I'll need to be sick somewhere if I'm not before.

Whoops fogot the link: Here.

[Craig.]

Well if you want really poor justice desicions. A guy here killed a kid of 5 i think while drunk behind the wheel of a car. He got two months in prison, because there was some mess up in the process. I will try to find a link. Although official reason is given as Lack of evidence. If that was the case the guy wouldnt have gone to prison at all.

[Hagar]

I'm sure we could all quote many similar cases. A young boy was knocked down & killed not far from where I'm sitting by an illegal immigrant in an untaxed & uninsured car. He got 2 months imprisonment for a minor offence which he'd already served while on remand so he walked free. He wasn't even charged with dangerous driving as he was apparently within the speed limit. The boy apparently ran out in the road in front of him & he didn't even see him.

It's Ben's thread but although these cases are terribly upsetting I don't think they're relevant to the topic. That's unless you're suggesting they should be executed.

[Saitek]

Your right.. but I couldn't help  thinking of the topic I dunno why. There are much worse cases too. Anyway, pretty late here... goodnight all...

Ben

[Saitek]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/4337895.stm

What did I say? 3 years. Wrong they get 18 months. They'll be out at the end of 12 months.  >:(
I know this is supposed to be manslaughter. I have a different opinion. Imagine this was your son who had died.

Justice has departed from our society.

[Craig.]

Ben you cant use the argument, imagine it was your relative in these cases. If they did that in the courts of course a jury is going to be swayed. You just cant use it as an argument if you want it to be fair. I know where your coming from but to keep it neautral you just cant.

[Saitek]

Oh don't get me wrong - I wasn't saying this in light of the death penalty exactly - more to do with ligth sentencing. If I wanted to pick a murder case I would look elsewhere on the news - plenty of them - but it's just that I note the sentencing is so light.

[Hagar]

I think the sentencing is a different issue Ben. That is decided by the judge after considering the jury's verdict & all the circumstances of the case. The sentences are laid out in the laws of the country which the judge is limited to, depending on the crime & what the defendant was charged with.

While I think some of these sentences are far too lenient that makes no difference. Your original topic was on the death sentence. This is decided by the politicians who make the laws & in the case of the UK was revoked by an overwhelming majority on a free non-party vote.

However horrifying this particular case might be I'm sure those lads did not intend to kill that poor boy. If they had they would have been charged with murder. From what I read they might be bullies but they regret what they did & probably will for the rest of their lives. We all do stupid things which we regret afterwards & I could tell you a few things I'm ashamed of doing when I was young - & not so young come to that. Fortunately they don't usually have fatal results or hurt anyone. This is sometimes more a matter of luck than judgement, especially if you're under the influence of alcohol or drugs. I note that the father of the victim is quoted as saying he's satisfied with the verdict & sentence.

PS. If you're contemplating a career in criminal law I think you will have to learn not to become emotionally involved. Stand back & look at the thing dispassionately without being influenced by your natural feelings.

[commoner]

We continue to quote specific cases and even then disagree with each other regarding what sentence should be meted out to the culprit/s...what chance do we have then of arriving some acceptable  solution which would cover all cases.

 I would like you to look at this recent case and await with great interest your thoughts on what should be done with these three "human beings" here in the 21st century...commoner  :o

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sout ... 337153.stm

[Saitek]

Yeah read that yesterday. That would be more appropriate for this thread. It's just that in criminal law I am only interested in the sentencing.
Bu no Doug, I hope to go into the Financial world and an A-level in law should just be a handy tool to have. My sister might be going into it though. But that has nothing to do with the thread either. I think I'm going off topic.

But that case Commoner is very outstanding among the worst of cases and they'll all be out before they are 30.

I found the sentencing bit of law the most interesting, but it also makes me very anoyed to. Nothing to do with being emotional Doug, just expressing the cold and hollow feeling I have inside.

[Hagar]

I almost quoted this case myself Commoner. I think the sentence is correct providing Life means Life. I have to wonder what possessed these young people to make them do something as dreadful as that. Never in my whole life would I ever have dreamed of doing anything like that to another human being, even a murderer.

These are the guilty parties.

John Sawdon, Jermaine James, both 17, and 16-year-old Rebecca Peeters.

Peeters was 15 at the time of the murder.

This is what they did.

Mr Justice Andrew Smith, at Sheffield Crown Court, told the trio their offence was chilling.

"You knew he would be defenceless.

"You found him in a tent and set about him mercilessly. He couldn't escape.

"You all chased him and caught him and continued the attack."

The motive for the three teenagers' attack is unclear
Mr Hurst, who suffered learning difficulties, was kicked, stamped on and had a plastic bag put over his head as well as being attacked with the agricultural scythes.

The court heard the trio left the largest scythe embedded in their victim's neck.

"You intended to kill him. It was the cruellest of all crimes and perhaps the more terrible because teenagers committed it," the judge added.

It might sound corny but what is this world coming to?