Should the death penalty be re-introduced in the United Kingdom?

[Lewis]

I want it back. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

As much as I prefer for them to rot in prison, a lot of people live better lives in prison lmao. Its so stupid...

[shiver]

just bring it in
get rid of these idiots who are in n out of prison all the time, if u cant function relatively normally in society then what need is there for u hun.

the law is a JOKE. it needs to be tougher it is an effective way of stopping crime. these days it is just a slap on the wrist n off most people go again to the next crime.

[iBlueBox]

I want it back. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

As much as I prefer for them to rot in prison, a lot of people live better lives in prison lmao. Its so stupid...

How about 'Thou shall not kill'.

I've got mixed views on this, we did this in Ethics & Philosophy.

[Pegle]

In Philosophy and Ethics a few weeks ago we watched a program about the most humane method of death for the death penalty. It was using a chamber were you forget your about to die and just die of Hypoxia.

I don't mind what we have, but the law needs to be tougher either way.

[Lewis]

How about 'Thou shall not kill'.

I've got mixed views on this, we did this in Ethics & Philosophy.

Thou shall not kill is a rule, and once this rule is broken a new rule comes into place for this person. An eye for an eye.

[Plod]

No.

- Revenge =/= Justice

- DNA evidence isn't perfect. It only tells who was at the scene of a crime, not necessarily who committed it. Whenever there's a chance of accidentally executing an innocent person who can't be brought back to life, the risk is not just worth it.

- Can give "martyr" status to certain criminals and terrorists and thus escalate the problem.

- Killing people is wrong, yet we should kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?

- The convicted criminal may be the lowest scumbag on earth but in most cases they still have loved ones. Mums, dads, siblings, wives/husbands, children.. killing them doesn't just "punish" them, it punishes their family for life. Is this fair?

- In a civilised society with all the correct checks and balances in place (such as the right to appeal) it works out more expensive than life imprisonment.

- IMO, I would rather be swiftly executed than spend the rest of my natural life in prison spending 23 hours a day in a cell (Cat A prisons are this strict) and being vulnerable to getting my head smashed in or my eyes cut out or being scalded or whatever just for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. Go figure. Ignore the ******** you read in the Daily Mail about "holiday camps" and how expensive prison places are. This isn't because they're full of luxaries - which only well behaved prisoners on enhanced get btw and usually thats only things like second hand PlayStations or old TVs or curtains and it can be easily taken away, but it's because of the amount of security needed to maintain a prisoner and (as much as some people may not like this) keep them from harming themselves or others. But like I said, even so, this works out cheaper than executing them. Go figure.

[Ardemax]

In my eyes the death penalty is "revenge" rather than "justice". But what the heck, to save the prolonged arguments, the death penalty is a lot cheaper and should be an option for the worst of the worst kind of criminals.

[Fuseless]

I want it back. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

As much as I prefer for them to rot in prison, a lot of people live better lives in prison lmao. Its so stupid...

Couldn't of put it better myself.
And with the advances in science in recent years, chances of putting someone on death row for a crime they have not committed are a lot slimmer then they use to be.

[GommeInc]

In my eyes the death penalty is "revenge" rather than "justice". But what the heck, to save the prolonged arguments, the death penalty is a lot cheaper and should be an option for the worst of the worst kind of criminals.

Technically it's more expensive. In this country with just imprisonment as the most severe punishment, the case is "shelved", but if you're on death row the case is constantly being investigated to achieve the goal of beyond doubt that the individual is guilty - not forgetting the assessments and checks to whatever equipment is being used to make sure it's done painlessly and quickly, police time involve, constant badgering of witnesses and family and the continual assessment of the court. Not forgetting those on death row won't be killed immediately, they spend ages locked away before it actually happens.

If prisons were harsher, with very limited amenities and basic entertainment, it would be a lot cheaper than the death penalty especially if they were for actual life imprisonment. But unfortunately our prison system is a bit too luxurious for its own good, making it expensive to run, and repeat offenders will keep committing crimes because it's better to be inside than out. Let us not forget that most repeat offenders are imprisoned for crimes that will never warrant the death penalty, unless you want to kill people who have committed theft and burglary - which completely destroys "an eye for an eye" and turns it more into "an eye for a toe nail" in comparison.

[Plod]

If prisons were harsher, with very limited amenities and basic entertainment, it would be a lot cheaper than the death penalty especially if they were for actual life imprisonment. But unfortunately our prison system is a bit too luxurious for its own good, making it expensive to run, and repeat offenders will keep committing crimes because it's better to be inside than out. Let us not forget that most repeat offenders are imprisoned for crimes that will never warrant the death penalty, unless you want to kill people who have committed theft and burglary - which completely destroys "an eye for an eye" and turns it more into "an eye for a toe nail" in comparison.

Sorry to veer off-topic, but....

1. Imprisonment already is cheaper than the death penalty.

2. All prisons are different, and catagorised to reflect this. A-Cat and B-Cat prisons hold the (theoretically) most dangerous prisoners and have the highest security measures in place. Security is the No. 1 reason why it costs so much to house prisoners, not because they're some kind of holiday camps which you are trying to infer and have no evidence to back up. Also, A-Cat and B-Cat prisons have considerably less luxuries and privileges than C-Cat and Open Prisons which are actually cheaper to run.

3. Repeat offenders end up back in a life of crime because our rehabilitation system, to be frank, is ****e. Prisons are chronically underfunded and understaffed, which has an adverse effect on education and work programmes which in some prisons have been cut. There's also the issue that education classes in prisons receive less allowance than prison work, such as cleaners, so there's little incentive to bother. Another issue is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the CRB system which shows no mercy. In this country you can't be prevented from a wide range of jobs for simply having an investigation run on you by the police, even if it results in no charge, it is still a black mark on your record which can be legally disclosed. People with petty records are never given the chance to have their records forgotten, more jobs these days require a standard or enhanced CRB check where convictions always have to be disclosed, even if they are 20 years old and spent.

So, logically, repeat offenders may decide they want to go on the straight and narrow, but when they quickly learn they cannot even get a menial job and have to rely on state handouts, many go back into crime to supplement their income. Not because they enjoy prison. The only ones that "enjoy" prison are the ones that have been locked up for so long (30+ years) that they're institutionalised beyond repair and are only comfortable with prison discipline, this would be true even if prisons resembled the Shawshank Penitentiary in Shawshank Redemption. Exact same reason why some people can't cope living out of the military or a psychiatric hospital after being in so long and end up homeless or/and committing suicide or in another institution (there's a shocking number of ex-forces veterans now in prison).

BTW I don't say this to "feel sorry" for people in prison, but it's not hard to see that our entire system needs an overhaul. Personally I think we should look to emulate countries like Norway, Sweden or the Netherlands rather than what we have now, or worse, the USA.

There's quite a few books/studies on the subject, I suggest Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diaries. They might be 10 years old now, but there's a few insightful home truths and facts in those.