No No No :( - I could NEVER forgive this and would be screaming from the rooftops for retribution !!! - just thinking about anyone doing this to my kids makes me overwhelmed with anger

Yvonne

I don't think the death penalty is ever justified no matter what the crime.  By applying the death penalty you are murdering another person, if the first murder is wrong how can a state sponsored murder be right?

You also have the problem of innocent people being executed, in the States it is estimated that up to 10% of prisoners on death row may be innocent!  If that is right they may have executed 100 innocent people in the last 30 years.  You also have problems with access to the judicial system eg if you are rich enough to afford a good lawyer you are much more likely not to get a death sentence, so you get one law for the rich another for the poor.

Steve

This should have appeared undr the posts about the death penalty - but it dosen't seem to have!

We put dogs to death if they're vicious and attack people without provocation. How much worse is it when a supposed-civilised human does the same? Why should we pay for their upkeep for decades?

Well said JG !

And if you hang the wrong person as in Christopher Timothy's case   Do you just wave a wand & magic them back to life ?

What about Stefan Kiszko by your stance he would have been hanged for a murder the police knew he didn't commit from day one Simon Hall  would also be dead again convicted despite having an alibi & there being ni proof he was at the scene(there scientific facts for others being there which the police refuse to follow up)

The problem is you cannot make it foolproof somewhere along the line you'll get it wrong and execute an innocent person.  Or you'll get juries finding guilty people innocent because they (the jury or some members of the jury) cannot cope with sentencing someone to death. 

I've done jury service twice and both times there were people on the jury who were reluctant to find a defendant guilty because they felt they would be responsible for ruining their lives.  I can cope with a guilty person going to prison but I personally would not be able to find someone guilty knowing that they would face the death penalty.

Hi Steve

These young men delibratley took a life for no other reason but racial hatred :(

If they get sentenced they could get upto 30 years but could get out way before that so will be in their 40's. They will then have possible another 30 yrs plus to live. The young man they murdered was only 18 years old and had at least anothe 50 years to live so where is the justice in that ? They have shown no remorse which makes it even worse IMHO.

The death penalty to me in this sort of situation is justified and as JG has said why should we pay to keep them in jail for the next possible 30 years ? I would rather my taxes go on a worthwhile cause like research into how to minimise racial crimes to see if some bridges can be built that way :)

I respect your view but wanted to expand on my view as well ;)

Lucy
xx

Well hopefully in this case the judge will apply the at least the minimum tariff which I understand is at least 30 years without the possibility of parole.  In this case one of the men pleaded guilty and the other was found guilty because he started the abuse and supplied the weapon.  One of the problems I have with the death penalty is that people are found not guilty because jurors have to be very sure in their minds if a death penalty will result from a guilty verdict, in this country you have to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt to find a person guilty from my experience on jury service it is very easy to find that doubt if you want to.  If the second defendant had faced the death penalty would he have been found guilty, the jury were out for 3 days so it doesn't look like they were all agreed he was guilty from the start.

Someone else made the point "why should we pay for them to be locked up" which is another argument, in the states it actually costs the tax payer more to execute a person than to keep them locked up.

Steve

BTW Albert Pierrepoint maintained the the Death Penalty was no detererent for murder & as he was the Government's hangman he was in a position to know

As this thread has moved away from the original question posed, I have locked it until I get time to branch it. Please do not start another thread. It will return when I get time.