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I think that the death sentence will end crime because it will force people to consideder their actions closer. Plus more disipline in schools will help massively.

What are your thoughts?

After thousands of years of people being executed for their crimes, society still hasn't changed it's way.

Not in the least. The death penalty has been around for over 8,000 years in one form of another, it's nothing new and it has had only limited success. The problem is that we don't teach morality, ethics, self responsibility or the worth of individual life anymore and haven't taught it in a very long time. That's what would help more than just killing killers. But, nothing we ever do will stop crime, period. There will always be evil people, bad immoral and cruel people and no amount of "teaching lessons" will stop them from doing bad things.

No offense but I find the notion that the death penalty will stop or drastically deter crime any more than it has or that it's somehow a modern invention all very silly and lacking proper perspective on the nature of humanity our history and the history of law.

Now I am in support of capital punishment and I think that if it were more widespread and used more often on those that deserve it would lower crime rates but not anymore than whatever the lowest point was in modern history.

So you don't think it would at least scare people into doing the right thing and obeying the law?

First I have to ask where you're from? Do they not have the death penalty in your area?

I think it does make many people think twice but not everyone. The death penalty is upheld in many US States and other countries, serious crimes still happen there. It has an effect but it doesn't (nor has it ever) stopped crime.

If someone is bent on going to kill a person, or rape them or something along those lines they're going to do it and no amount of punishment will stop them.

I'm from England and as far as I know we don't really have the death penalty. But I think it would scare people into thinking more about their actions.

Ah, I don't think they do either. And I do think you're right in that it would help deter some crimes but not all of them. I'm not sure why the UK ended the death sentence after using it for so many centuries, doesn't make much sense to me.

I think it was because some guy was proven innocent after being sentenced to death, but that wouldn't happen now with today's methods im sure.

The only person a death penalty is successful in stopping crime with is the one put to death, it is humanity as a whole's nature to destroy each other- such is the stigma of the 'human condition'.

The Death penalty is invoked when someone comits a specific crime. So, I don't think there is not much of a deterrent effect than what people think he death penalty has. It does not, by any means, prevent people from committing a certain crime. For example murder or drug trafficking. No one's going to to hang you for committing theft. Maximum imprisonment and caning is there for other crimes. So, in my opinion, the death penalty has no effect anymore. In the past, it may have had a deterrent effect where people executed in public were shown to be "examples" of what will happen "if" you do "that". It's more of a morbid excitement and joy that people derive from hearing or witnessing or even participating in executing the Death penalty. Nowadays, it does not have such an effect. Media exploits these things. Also, it may be a good excuse to get together to create awareness of certain crimes. All it does is create drama. Maybe the conditions of prison life need not be so "high-tech" as it is now. People/Criminals exploit these good aspects of prison life. So, yeap.

Technically, if we think about it... Criminals seem to follow suite of what the government does. The criminal population thinks that since it is alright for the government and its heirarch, ie judges, police, etc. have the right to commit certain crimes against humanity, then why shouldn't the criminals?

Thus the criminal psychosis at its finest. Blame it on the examples.

SS, I don't think that's right at all. Sure there may be some who are motivated by or try to justify some actions by looking at the crimes committed by some government (like some African cases) but for the most part it has to do with a lack of self control, lack of worth, lack of consideration for individual rights and value and/or a seriously sick mind.

Many years ago I worked in several prisons (working on the psych side) and I never once heard someone seriously try to pass it off on the gov or anything like that.

And has for it being human nature to destroy itself, not at all. The only reason why animals don't do the same (as often as we do, many species definitely commit murder etc) is because they lack the ability to feel certain emotions and don't have free will. We have the ability to decide how we act and respond to some event. If I'm a person who lacks self control and doesn't understand how to deal with pain and say I was married and my wife left me for my best friend, in a jealous rage I might go off and kill one or both of them. It's not because I'm driven by some deep seated need to destroy another human but because I lacked the proper mental stability. And in the case of war, war is a failure of our ability to overcome situations/problems with higher judgment or because we are forced to defend ourselves by a group of people who have taken it upon themselves to act like any common criminal (regardless of their motivation...religion, ethnic reasons etc).

We continue to kill and harm each other not because it's out nature but because we as a species are not mature enough to deal with things differently. We no longer have a strong foundation of morals, we are surrounded by the glamorization of violence (be it things like rap, continual exposure to other forms of media or living in a country where the only way to survive is to join some guerrilla faction and so on) and in other cases the value of life has been removed from our psyche for generations. It only makes sense that we continually harm one another.

It doesn't help either when there's some defeatist mindset either, oh we're all going to die one day, humans are no good anyway etc.

The death sentence will make no difference. I certainly agree that humanity is pretty bad.

The death sentence would not deter someone that is a sociopath or psychopath. These people have no morals anyway and it wouldn't make a bit of difference in their decision to murder someone.

"i think it was cos some guy was proven innocent after being sentenced to death but that wudnt happen now with todays methods im sure"

umm no. there were hundreds of falsely accused people executed from everywhere. ie Salem Witch Trials.


"todays methods" are still flawed. everyone makes mistakes.

but the death penalty should be used more although i think crime would be the same most places.

Jack the Ripper killed 13 people(allegedly) knowing the penalty was death if he got caught.

The United States is the only country in the 'western world' that still has the death penalty. We (the USA) also have the highest crime rate.

I'm not convinced it helps. I also don't think it is in our nature to kill. Just because some cultures do, that doesn't mean all do- there are peaceful tribes out there that Westerners consider 'uncivilized', yet they do not murder like so many do in the USA.

Perhaps the death penalty would be more effective if the execution were public?

There should be a cable channel devoted to not only the executions, but with cams devoted to viewing how the criminals live on death row.

thats a great idea. and let the families decide thier fate. why not a colliseum deathmatch lol

I think that those effected by it should be able to exact the justice. Not as a vigilanty but to participate in the execution and they should make it public to show society will no longer tolerate this conduct.

Thing is, the death sentence is pretty final...even one innocent person put to death is one too many.

One cannot legislate for the insane.

The death penalty doesn't deter criminality-all it does is temporarily satiate societies appetite for vengence. In the 50's, kidnapping was a death penalty offense...until some legislator with half a brain realized that more kidnap victims were being killed because the perpetratos figured they had nothing to lose in adding murder to their crime (get rid of the witness); I'm not saying we should do away with the death penalty for murderers based on that thought, I'm just saying that the death penalty should be for serial killers and mass murderers only. If a guy robs a convenience store and things get hot and he shoots and kills someone, putting him to death isn't going to deter robbery. I think a greater deterent would be to let them sit in prison for the rest of their lives thinking about what they did and their hopeless situation as a result. They ought to make documentaries about life sentence prisoners and show them in schools regularly-this is what will happen to you if you kill during a botched robbery or car-jacking or whatever. The media has romanticized prison life and most wannabe thugs think its cool to go to prison, until they're actually there.

i support the death sentence due to the fact that prisons r over crowding its a better solution as opposed to releasing dangerous ppl back into the population

I say kill them, I know that sounds harsh but it will lower the crime rate

I really think the death sentance should be reintroduced into the uk. there is no point in locking people up forever. If they have done somthing truely evil they should just be taken care of....(and killed)

Its mean, but better then letting them out after thirty years and letting loads of crap happened again because, woops that pentioner is still a crazy person.

If death would deter so many people from crimes, the question I have to ask why so many are sitting on death row.

Yep, kill em for the price of a bullet, not because it stops crime it doesnt but it costs over 60 thousand a year for a Cat- A prisoner.(X30 = 1.8 million for an arsehole)
Derrrr....thats why I hate do gooders.
Torture is quite effective and thats why the Arabs have 1/3 our crime rate....you know, they smash your fingers if yew steal and its a great spectator sport.
We can't afford the luxury of being nice- bring back rats, stale bread and dripping water...
Or yew can build Sea defences for free...your choice.

It's impossible to have a thread like this without some that begin to bash what other people believe. Not everyone is able to make a basic comment and leave it at that, it always turns offensive to people- and that's why threads of a political nature are not allowed in the main forum. Here we attempted to let one slide- and it just ain't happenin'.