Should capital punishment be brought back?

[thenry]

The only thing that would improve with capital punishment is prison spaces being freed up. Is that good enough reason to get the wheel spinning? Factor in reproduction of offspring falling into the same circle of life

Yesterday when it was announced 3 new prisons will be built and offenders kept out of prison just made me sick with the thought of sentences to death being logical for more space. Whether I agree with it or not means little. Is there any other way other than heading towards a disaster, back to square one with prisons being once again full.

Theres no prospects other than hard graft. This isn't how life will prosper.

Good points, but best made in a new thread rather than one from 2012 … hitting reply on 13-year-old comments can get confusing.

New thread created.

[thenry]

Please could you add an anonymous poll

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce809e3gd1xo

13 May 2025

A man who has served almost 38 years in prison for the murder of a woman has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal after new DNA evidence emerged.

Peter Sullivan was jailed over the 1986 killing of 21-year-old barmaid Diane Sindall, who was subjected to a frenzied sexual attack in Birkenhead, Merseyside, as she walked home from a shift.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - the statutory body set up to investigate potential miscarriages of justice - had referred Mr Sullivan's case back to the appeal court last year after fresh testing found a DNA profile pointing to an unknown attacker in semen samples preserved from the crime scene.

Mr Sullivan, appearing on video-link from HMP Wakefield, sobbed and held his hand over his mouth as he was told he would be released.

Now aged 68, he is believed to be the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice involving a living prisoner in British legal history.

[thenry]

If the Police want to kill innocent people that's up to them. They are who arrest and charge people for crimes. I don't see it as a death penalty issue.

Originally Posted by thenry

If the Police want to kill innocent people that's up to them. They are who arrest and charge people for crimes. I don't see it as a death penalty issue.

That’s not how it works…

[thenry]

Please tell me more. Is it the CPS who charge individuals? May be they should be held accountable.

[daveeb]

Originally Posted by thenry

If the Police want to kill innocent people that's up to them. They are who arrest and charge people for crimes. I don't see it as a death penalty issue.

Police arrest, CPS give a thumbs up or down, judge directs, jury decides. A possibility of a death penalty sentence could potentially make jurors less likely to convict, regardless of that I think it's a terrible idea as illustrated by Hugh above.

Poll added.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by thenry

Please tell me more. Is it the CPS who charge individuals? May be they should be held accountable.

And if that were the case (which it isn’t) how would you hold them accountable ?

Execute the CPS for authorising the charge ?
Execute the forensic scientist who screwed the DNA evidence up ?
Execute the jury for convicting based on the evidence that they made their decision
Execute the judge for passing the death sentence based on sentencing guidelines.

Unless you can ensure that 100% of convictions are safe then the death penalty has no place in a modern civilised society.

[thenry]

I'd blacklist them. Go back to the drawing board amateurs playing with life.

[downquark1]

Yes, but should be limited to very clear cases.

Originally Posted by downquark1

Yes, but should be limited to very clear cases.

And therein lies the problem.

Criminal guilt is established in court ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. What higher legal test would you propose to be even more certain? And if there is a higher test that can reasonably be applied, why is it not applied already to all cases, so that we are certain we are not incarcerating innocent people?

[downquark1]

These are largely solved problems. You can put multiple charges to the jury, explain which the death penalty can be considered. It is then the judge who decides the punishment - with multiple levels of appeal.

It is of course always technically possible you kill an innocent person, but that is probably far less likely than getting murdered in prison at this point. The objections to it are largely hand wringing or some very committed pacifist principle.

[thenry]

Not reinventing the wheel is critical. None of that we live we learn nonsense. People is positions of power should know their place in society otherwise bring about a criminal case as well as blacklisted.