To be appalled by the latest execution in the US.

And they always will.

Yes the claim was that the wrongful convictions that Annie quite rightly mentioned were a long time ago. The example of the rape conviction and the post office convictions show that this happens in the modern day.

Germanshepherdsmum

What difference would DNA have made to the Post Office convictions?

I didn't say it would have made any difference in those particular instances- I was merely pointing out that wrongful convictions can and still do happen.

My understanding of the situation regarding the drugs required to administer a lethal dose isn’t that there is a shortage as such. I heard it discussed on a news report earlier and it was stated that pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to supply the drugs to be used for executions.

What difference would DNA have made to the Post Office convictions?

if more murderers, rapists, child abusers were executed then these criminals would think twice about what they are doing

And yet, the murder rate (by all metrics including per head of population) is higher in states with the death penalty than in those without it. My source is the FBI, who collect and publish this info annually.

The argument against executing rapists/abusers (of any age victim) in states which have the death penalty is that it incentivises murder - no point leaving a victim who could potentially identify you alive, when you won’t receive a worse punishment if you kill them.

The death penalty is barbaric, it does nothing to help the victim, and it doesn’t act as a deterrent (Alabama, where the case this thread is about) has consistently has one of the highest murder rates in the US).

Yes thats true the post office cases are even later than the case myself and GSM mentioned

WonderfulLife

We have DNA now there is no need for a wrong person to be put in prison or executed. You are talking about the past when there wasn't DNA but that is how they are catching murderers of the past now.

Tell that to all the postmasters who were wrongfully convicted! I know it's not murder - but wrongful convictions can and still do happen, DNA notwithstanding. Don't get me wrong, if one of my loved ones was murdered, then yes, I would want vengeance - and I would want the person responsible for their death to suffer, but that is an understandable reaction and not the kind of justice we have come to expect from a supposedly civilised society.

If Life imprisonment actually meant life, this debate wouldn't even arise. Not a holiday camp type Life either.

Yes, I was typing when your post came up so hadn’t seen it.

It's probably the same case GSM, it was a rape conviction.

WonderfulLife

We have DNA now there is no need for a wrong person to be put in prison or executed. You are talking about the past when there wasn't DNA but that is how they are catching murderers of the past now.

Remember the recent case of the innocent man who had been in prison for many years because DNA evidence had been withheld? Of course he would have been long dead by the time the truth came to light if your system had been in place.

WonderfulLife

No we do not have a good justice system. Paedophiles are set free to live where they have carried out their disgusting habits. Thieves get a slap on their hands and get told to be good boys and girls. There are not enough prisons to house all these law breakers so they are let go to commit other crimes. If a murderer was executed then he cannot do it again. All child abusers should face the death penalty and before that put them in the stocks in the middle of the city with a card around their neck stating child rapist and watch everyone in that city take their revenge out on him. This is what we need to ensure criminals are afraid of being caught and put in cosy little cells where they can play snooker, watch TV etc. etc. We used to have the Cat o nine tails, bring that back as well.

I am not afraid to say that I hope all rapists and murderers in prisons die a slow, painful death. If it had happened to your children I wonder what you would feel like.

There are some countries which would deliver what you want. Do you seriously want to see the UK join them? Of course if you are a woman you will be subjugated and have few if any rights.

Why do people persist in talking about deterrents. We all know that in previous centuries people were hanged (often children) for poaching. If they weren't hanged they were sent to the penal colonies in Australia. Deterrents don't work because no one thinks that they will be caught. Either that or the perpetrators are mentally ill.

What are you talking about. They have just released a man for wrongful conviction for a crime that took place in 2003.

Aveline

Capital punishment apart, it seems odd that a more straightforward method couldn't be found. How is it possible for animals to be put down with a simple injection? I gather the necessary chemicals are hard to source but that seems ridiculous in this day and age.
What a mess!

My beautiful dog Ruby was put to sleep a couple of weeks ago. She had an anaesthetic injection followed by the lethal dose once she was asleep. She did not suffer at all.

I don't see why the same system cannot be used in America for executions. My DH has a theory that the Americans (those who support capital punishment) want to see/know that the murderer has suffered.

I will speak to more about the death penalty but as far as I am concerned, if more murderers, rapists, child abusers were executed then these criminals would think twice about what they are doing. Sex trafficking has increased, child abuse has increased, murder has increased. There are not enough prisons to put them in. Life is no longer life they get parole and do it all again. These criminals are unafraid of prison.

All of those are many years ago, you are going back before DNA, there is no reason now why they would convict the wrong person.

But even if you call it vengeance, it is really justice, because they would get what they deserve, they killed someone so they should be killed. The bible says, An Eye for an Eye.

No, he deserved what he got.

We have DNA now there is no need for a wrong person to be put in prison or executed. You are talking about the past when there wasn't DNA but that is how they are catching murderers of the past now.

Totally barbaric. He had been in prison for more than 30 years, plus they had already tried to execute him. Not punishment enough?

Yes I do want vengeance because that would be justice to me.

No we do not have a good justice system. Paedophiles are set free to live where they have carried out their disgusting habits. Thieves get a slap on their hands and get told to be good boys and girls. There are not enough prisons to house all these law breakers so they are let go to commit other crimes. If a murderer was executed then he cannot do it again. All child abusers should face the death penalty and before that put them in the stocks in the middle of the city with a card around their neck stating child rapist and watch everyone in that city take their revenge out on him. This is what we need to ensure criminals are afraid of being caught and put in cosy little cells where they can play snooker, watch TV etc. etc. We used to have the Cat o nine tails, bring that back as well.

I am not afraid to say that I hope all rapists and murderers in prisons die a slow, painful death. If it had happened to your children I wonder what you would feel like.

Just one person wrongly executed is enough to say the death penalty should never, ever be resorted to. There have been several of these dreadful mistakes. Enough said.