Is death too good for them? (Capital punishment)

Member Name: alocin

Product:	Capital punishment
Date:	14/06/03 (1070 review reads)
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Imagine your entire family and your small children had been tortured and then killed. The person responsible had been found and convicted of murder. They are not repentant - they are not sorry for what they did. What would you like to happen to this person? Life imprisonment - your children aren't alowed to live their lives, but the person responsible gets to live and they get a TV and socialising time. Maybe even visits out of prison. Is this right? Or what about exectution. The state enacting it's revenge on your behalf. It might take 10 or 15 years but the killer will have their life ended for their crimes. They can't come back. Or how about killing them yourself, with your bare hands? Is this what murderers should face? Who should decide - can any one person decide such a question, or even a society?

My position on capital punishment varies, depending on the case, how rational I am feeling and the time of the month. Part of me agrees with pro-capital punishment groups. The murderer has taken a life, maybe more than one and often in horific circumstances. They deserve the ultimate punishment, and they have no rights left. It is lenient of society to end their lives in clean, controled circumstances and not to turn them over to the victims revenge-seeking relatives, who would I'm sure not be so concerned. For certain crimes where guilt is not in question, and the circumstances were horrific then people should be executed.

However there is the ever-present worry of miscarriages of justice. Mistakes. People being "set-up" with forced confessions and forged evidence. Once capital punishment is carried out the person cannot be brought back with an apology if new evidence is found. An innocent person has lost their life - we return to murder. Also should any group of people have the say over someone's life? Who has given them the power to decide to end a person's existence? I do not think that people can make such dec
isions in a rational enough way to be sure that justice is being done. Capital punishment is a confusing area and I do not think that people can hold such a power over fellow human beings.

But murderers - proper murderers where the killer went out with a intention to kill - should also not be allowed to serve a few years then be released. Where there is still a risk to the public they should be detained, and where they are not repentant they should be detained. Where there are mitigating circumstances such as provocation, diminished responsibility or mercy-killings then discretionary sentences should be passed, but for the worst life should be life. They should not be allowed to be free after what they have done.

Capital punishment is too risky, and there are ethical issues over who has the right to hold such power. Life should be life for the worst murderers, and those who are still a risk or not repentant. Others should be treated as their individual case allows, making concesions where necessary. Where it is possible to forgive, society should so they should be given a chance to atone for their actions. After release maybe they should enter a process where they work to help scoiety, a kind of life sentence of community service. It cannot replace the victims but it would be a start.

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