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Capital Punishment


Capital Punishment  

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Keep it simple - in cases where the crime is considered heinous enough (not for Joe Public to determine this) and the likelihood of rehabilitation is considered (by the experts - yes, I know) to be zero then Capital Punishment it is.  Why would anyone argue against this?  On the basis that mistakes can be made?  Yes, they can but that's the beauty of our legal system - beyond all  reasonable doubt which, these days, is a pretty firm test.   Those who use the "mistakes can be made" argument are therefore saying it's OK to lock someone up for 20 years by mistake because you can let them out when the mistake is uncovered - that's not a compelling argument for me.

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1 minute ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

 


Thought it would be obvious then.

Just for the avoidance of doubt, neither the death penalty or locking someone up incorrectly for 20 years are acceptable.

 

I agree.  which is why I find the suggestion that we shouldn't impose Capital Punishment because mistakes can be made uncompelling; the same mistakes can be made under the current system but there is no suggestion to abolish it.  I don't think my assumption is at all unreasonable or absurd.

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I agree.  which is why I find the suggestion that we shouldn't impose Capital Punishment because mistakes can be made uncompelling; the same mistakes can be made under the current system but there is no suggestion to abolish it.  I don't think my assumption is at all unreasonable or absurd.


If someone has been in prison for 20 years and are later found to be innocent, then they can be released, and some attempt to make amends can be made.

If they’ve been put to death and are later found to be innocent, then that’s that.

I’d say the first option is far preferable.

That does not mean that it should be acceptable that mistaken convictions happen, but they do.
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1 hour ago, hk blues said:

Keep it simple - in cases where the crime is considered heinous enough (not for Joe Public to determine this) and the likelihood of rehabilitation is considered (by the experts - yes, I know) to be zero then Capital Punishment it is.  Why would anyone argue against this?  On the basis that mistakes can be made?  Yes, they can but that's the beauty of our legal system - beyond all  reasonable doubt which, these days, is a pretty firm test.   Those who use the "mistakes can be made" argument are therefore saying it's OK to lock someone up for 20 years by mistake because you can let them out when the mistake is uncovered - that's not a compelling argument for me.

So your argument basically boils down to "yeah mistakes can be made, but being locked up wrongly is also bad so, y'know, f**k it"?

Literally no-one thinks it's ok to wrongly lock someone up for 20 years, it's just preferable to murdering them.

The "beyond all reasonable doubt" point is, frankly, a stupid one and I don't understand why people keep making it.

The standard for criminal trials is "beyond a reasonable doubt" already. People are still wrongly imprisoned. The only difference if we had the death penalty would be that we wouldn't be able to let them out, compensate them etc.

Your first argument is actually a better one. If you're willing to let innocent people die to see terrorists or whoever hang then just say so.

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hk blues is at it. Nobody can be that obtuse, surely.

I'm surprised nobody's brought up the idea of limiting appeals to save money and avoid the US-style Death Row scenario, where folk can sit rotting away for decades until the state murders them. That's always a popular argument among folk who like to break humans lives down into dollars and cents.

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7 minutes ago, killiefan27 said:

So your argument basically boils down to "yeah mistakes can be made, but being locked up wrongly is also bad so, y'know, f**k it"?

Literally no-one thinks it's ok to wrongly lock someone up for 20 years, it's just preferable to murdering them.

The "beyond all reasonable doubt" point is, frankly, a stupid one and I don't understand why people keep making it.

The standard for criminal trials is "beyond a reasonable doubt" already. People are still wrongly imprisoned. The only difference if we had the death penalty would be that we wouldn't be able to let them out, compensate them etc.

Your first argument is actually a better one. If you're willing to let innocent people die to see terrorists or whoever hang then just say so.

Your first sentence is rather simplistic and assumes everything is black or white - with no grey areas.  

Beyond All Reasonable Doubt is a tried and tested legal principle  - that might be why people keep referring to it, hardly stupid.

People are still wrongly imprisoned, that's not being disputed.  But I don't accept it as being  the point at which all discussion or debate on Capital Punishment comes to an end with no further discussion encouraged.

You've made a huge leap with that last sentence - and fallen on your arse!

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