Should australia re-introdice the death penalty?

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holly

Rather than reintroducing the death penalty I would prefer contributing to the cost of locking them up and throwing away the key and never to be released, which is a longer and slower death

Edit- In reply to your additional details on the Bali Bombers who seem to have the right to still spruke their insanity on national tv they should get the same as previously mentioned
but with the added addition of a permanant mouth gag, never to be seen again.

FFS what's with the names?

@ aflumpire: Life imprisonment without possibility of parole or further contact with co-conspirators.

For those who say life imprisonment cannot equal the horror of the crime, of course it can't. But killing or injuring more people is not going to bring your loved one back, nothing will do that I am sorry to say.

~*~*~*~

No, absolutely not.

Every time I see how the death penalty is used in the US and other countries it sickens me at the amount of error and bigotry that is involved.

Like anyone else, I am sickened and appalled by horrific crimes, and often feel like I'd like to punish the criminals with some horrible fate.

But making revenge into a legal penalty is not the way to advance our society.

Cheers :-)

Susan S

Australians who are thinking about this should first take a look at the death penalty system in action, in the US. They may realize that the only purpose it serves is retribution or revenge, it is seriously (and intrinsically) flawed in application and that there is a serious and continuing risk of executing innocent people. And, it costs much more than life in prison.

130 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, canâ€™t guarantee we wonâ€™t execute innocent people. If someone is convicted and later found innocent you can release him from prison, but not from the grave.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reliable study shows the death penalty deters others. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in those that donâ€™t.

Life without parole, on the books in 48 states, also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is not a picnic. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.

The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. (upfront=before and during the initial trial)

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

Families of murder victims are not unanimous about the death penalty. However, even families who have supported the death penalty in principal have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute innocent people.

Sources:

Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.

FBI http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_04.html

The Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/COcosttestimony.pdf page 3 and 4 on why the death penalty is so expensive

http://www.njadp.org/forms/signon-survivor.html for statements of victimsâ€™ families

Ozmaniac

No, it don't think we should reintroduce the death penalty, but I do think that we should have life sentences that mean NEVER to be released under any circumstances.

People sentenced to life should have no contact with their families, friends or fellow perpetrators: it should be as if they are already dead. That would be a worse punishment than death and that's as it should be. Death is too good for terrorists, mass murderers, child killers and the other criminals who would receive the genuine life sentences.

I'm not actually against the death penalty on moral grounds, but think a) it's an easy way out for some criminals and b) there have been many instances of wrongful conviction where someone has been executed only to have it discovered years later that they were innocent.

I'm in two minds about the death penalty for the Bali bombers. I'm concerned that their loony co-religionists will make martyrs of them if they're executed, but I also feel that if they're left alive, it will only be a matter of time before they're released and until then they'll have a very easy time in jail. If they were sentenced to life under the circumstances I've described, then no but that's not going to happen, so on balance - execute them and others like them.

ll_jenny_ll here

Murder is a MISTAKE?? the taking of a life.. the removal of somebody else's loved ones .. is a MISTAKE.. oh come on Bekka......

When I was young ... I was very anti-death penalty ...and extremely glad we didn't have the death penalty ... .

Then .. .In the 80's and 90's there were some particularily nasty and vile crimes ... many concerning little children and many concering women .. two names come to mind ANITA COBBY AND JANINE BALDING ... their killers are still in gaol ... living breathing eating .. while the families of those two women will forever grieve for them....
then In 1991... I was working in a shopping centre , and a girl who worked in another shop needed a lift home one night as her B/friend's car broke down .. she asked one of the guys from the butcher's for a lift ....He murdered her .. .she was 18 .. she was full of life .. and she SHOULD STILL BE ALIVE TODAY (RIP JODY) .... he was out in eight years .. ( wonder what the techincalities and legalities of naming him here would be ... )
.....
some people forfeit the right to breath ,

other one's are Martin Bryant , Ivan Milat , that disgusting little rat Julian Knight, and the frankston serial killer .... some should be flogged within an inch of their life .. BEFORE being executed...

sorry if that sounds barbaric .. , but as you said .. THAT'S ME

Daydreamer

I'll go for the death penalty. It costs too much to keep these sort of people for the rest of their life. Also, jails are too lenient, TV, computers, etc etc. No, they dont deserve to live.

bekka (:

nobody should be killed by the death penalty.
i am totally with the catholic churches view, and the person that kills another person should not die because of their mistake.

A person who murders another person should be put into jail for life as in until thy die, not for 25 years and they should not be let out for parolle and have no visitatioon rights what so ever.

Seriously, what would you rather do..? get the easy way out and be killed or do it tough and spend the rest of your life in a dinghy jail cell with no contact at all from the outside world?

Conlin

Prisoners should get the same treatment and mercy that they showed their victims.

I don't recall mass murderers getting stabbed multiple times as their death penalty.

Treat others as you would like to be treated, whatever someone does to someone else it should happen to them.

Did child molesters show any restraint when they raped their innocent victims. No, why should these 'people' that aren't worth the dirt on my shoes be given any mercy as to their actions.

They laugh when they are released for the pitiful sentences they get, and what's worse is my hard earned money, I pay in taxes is being used to house this trash.

I say screw them. Why should we show restraint when they clearly didn't show any when they mercilessly harassed or slaughtered their victims.

The time they have in jail does not compare to the agony and deep sadness that overwhelms you when you see your best friends murderer released after a measly 10 years on a technicality, their punishment simply doesn't compare to the torture and mental anguish they inflict upon their victims family.

Edit: Have you people even been to a jail, they learn more skills of thievery etc. than anywhere prison is not the answer these people need to be dealt with. They have no respect for anyoen else they are sociopaths.

Whoa

I too agree it should. Some people find the laws here are too lenient and think they can do whatever they want without getting into too much trouble. They are taking advantage of our laws.

These people don't deserve to live. They don't deserve to be fed and given the luxury of being in jail. It is still a luxury because they get visits from their loved ones etc. It is a waste of money and time.

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