Boston Bomber

[jock strap]

This topic goes into the same scenario as the Mrs asking you if she has put on weight and does my arse look big in this dress.

Totally no-win and a load of grief.

[Rossy]

There's also the obvious point that the death penalty in the USA is not a deterrent. They still have pretty much the highest crime and murder rates in the developed world.

So what's the point of it then ? In America it's' still there in some States because these right-wing lunatics believe biblically in an eye for an eye.

I disagree entirely on a modern day justice system being based on revenge.

[Angus_Young]

There's also the obvious point that the death penalty in the USA is not a deterrent. They still have pretty much the highest crime and murder rates in the developed world.

So what's the point of it then ? In America it's' still there in some States because these right-wing lunatics believe biblically in an eye for an eye.

I disagree entirely on a modern day justice system being based on revenge.

Maybe the victims? That's surely what justice should be about?

Be interesting to hear your views of it was one of your family members involved. I don't mean that to be argumentative btw more playing devils advocate. . I think I lot of our views on justice in this country are skewed due to it being incredibly lenient.

To give an example if a member of my family was murdered and the person that did it was walking the streets 6 years later I can't honestly say that I would be able to live with it without doing something mental.

If on the other hand they were jailed for the rest of their lives or put to death I would at least have some kind of closure. Yes there is an element of revenge in my own views but in terms of the law? They took someone's life, they had to give up theirs as punishment. Seems fair to me?

[Stapes]

I remember a few years back watching a programme called 30 Days In May where an English lawyer, now quite famous, defended a black American and tried to prove his innocence as his execution loomed. He had people telling him who committed the crime (maybe even the murderer, I can't remember) and despite what was compelling evidence of innocence they went ahead and executed him anyway. Which highlights that it is nothing to do with justice and everything to do with sating their own bloodlust driven by revenge. Which is not a mindset upon which a judicial system should be founded.

And if anyone gets a chance to read Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking you won't regret it. A truly brilliant narrative on why state-supported execution is wrong.

[Jon Cutler]

I remember a few years back watching a programme called 30 Days In May where an English lawyer, now quite famous, defended a black American and tried to prove his innocence as his execution loomed. He had people telling him who committed the crime (maybe even the murderer, I can't remember) and despite what was compelling evidence of innocence they went ahead and executed him anyway. Which highlights that it is nothing to do with justice and everything to do with sating their own bloodlust driven by revenge. Which is not a mindset upon which a judicial system should be founded.

And if anyone gets a chance to read Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking you won't regret it. A truly brilliant narrative on why state-supported execution is wrong.

Mind of watching it as well, compelling documentary, way back when the BBC used to do good 1s

Can watch it here

[Ormond]

The Green Mile. Big John Coffee was innocent. Tom Hanks knew it.

[Rossy]

Maybe the victims? That's surely what justice should be about?

Be interesting to hear your views of it was one of your family members involved. I don't mean that to be argumentative btw more playing devils advocate. . I think I lot of our views on justice in this country are skewed due to it being incredibly lenient.

To give an example if a member of my family was murdered and the person that did it was walking the streets 6 years later I can't honestly say that I would be able to live with it without doing something mental.

If on the other hand they were jailed for the rest of their lives or put to death I would at least have some kind of closure. Yes there is an element of revenge in my own views but in terms of the law? They took someone's life, they had to give up theirs as punishment. Seems fair to me?

Nope.

Justice should be about justice.....not revenge.

If you want Sharia law, go and live in Saudi Arabia.

Btw, there are many hundreds of murders in Boston and Massachusetts that don't attract the death penalty.....this sentence was handed down because the crime was emotive and publicised the world over.

Is this guys crime worse than a murder that took place last night in Boston ? Why should one attract the death penalty, and the other won't ?

If there are othet nutters out there, will a death sentence put them off ? No, it won't.

No humane society should have the death penalty these days...it's barbaric.

[thplinth]

What is justice?

Crime & Punishment. These are axiomatic.

Right now incarceration and denial of freedom is the punishment. Personally I'd rather face a humane end than spend 40 years locked in a cell 23 hours a day with other people very likely to be violent and / or mentally ill.

So why shouldn't death be the 'ultimate punishment'.

Justice is not about revenge but it does necessarily involve punishment. Otherwise there is no sense of justice. This is undeniable.

[Orraloon]

What is justice?

Crime & Punishment. These are axiomatic.

Right now incarceration and denial of freedom is the punishment. Personally I'd rather face a humane end than spend 40 years locked in a cell 23 hours a day with other people very likely to be violent and / or mentally ill.

So why shouldn't death be the 'ultimate punishment'.

Justice is not about revenge but it does necessarily involve punishment. Otherwise there is no sense of justice. This is undeniable.

i'm not sure it should be about punishment at all. It should be about protecting the public from possible future crimes that the person may commit. Part of that would mean time in jail to asses how dangerous the person is and maybe some more time for rehabilitation purposes. Some folk will never be rehabilitated though so they may need to kept in jail forever. I do think that some prison sentences are too short. For example, I'm not sure that rapists can be "cured" of their "illness" in 6 to 8 years if ever. Too many of them get out and commit the same crime again.

State execution is never going to be acceptable for me. All it does is normalise and make the taking of somebody else's life acceptable under certain circumstances defined by the social standards of the time. Civilised societies should not legalise the taking of people's lives. Of course we often make the mistake of thinking that we live in a civilised society. I don't think we do.

[kumnio]

Deterrent, revenge, justice, rehabilitation are all words that people can twist to suit their support or disagreement with the death penalty.

I have a strange view of the death penalty, im not against it for any moral reason, there are people who commit crimes so heinous that its possibly a fitting punishment. However humans are prone to making mistakes, so eventually some poor guy will be executed, who would been innocent, so I dont think its right to be used.

Prison isnt a deterrent for plenty of criminals, they still commit crimes. 99% of people wont think about committing a crime that could result in a death penalty, somehow I dont think the risk of lethal injection, prison etc played heavily on the minds of Tsarnaev, or the previously mentioned McVeigh etc

Tsarnaev probably deserves to die, Im glad its not my call though, I doubt Id be comfortable making that decision.

As Mindimoo also mentions above the glorification of takings someones life is incredibly weird to me, the scenes when Bin Laden was executed, Hussein was hung etc, these just seem incredibly wrong to me. But I say that as someone unaffected by their actions.