When is capital punishment ever justifiable?

[PrincessBandit]

Thinking about the men who have just been executed for drug offences, I wondered why anyone would put themselves in that position knowing the consequences. Regardless of whether you agre with a country's right to impose capital punishment surely you would not flout their laws when you could end up on the wrong side of them?
It got me thinking about whether there is any crime that is bad enough to warrant someone's life being taken. Oh sure, human nature is such that when you personalise the effects of heinous crimes (e.g. "what if it happened to my son/sister/uncle/daughter") our grief would demand justice or revenge, depending on how noble you wanted to be.
But is there really a line which can be drawn in the sand to say at what point a crime crosses over into the ultimate punishment bracket?
My heart goes out to the families who now have to grieve not only for what their sons have done but also now they've lost their lives as a consequence.

What crimes do you feel are bad enough to deserve execution?

[Ocean1]

What crimes do you feel are bad enough to deserve execution?

The third one.

After the first two they've already demonstrated they're not willing or capable of living with the rest of us.

[unstuck]

The good old usa have just admitted that the fbi have been getting their evidence wrong for years, and people have been executed on that evidence.

And I guess it depends on your interpretation of punishment, when you have people, myself included, who do not hold the belief that death is a BAD thing.

[Akzle]

teh 'justice' system is punitive.
Capital 'punishment'? Hardeharhar.

But certain people should be executed.

[jonbuoy]

Serial/Sadistic killers.

[TheDemonLord]

The first thing to add to this is that time and time again the Death Penalty has shown to not be a detterant.

For me however - I support the Death Penalty - there is a certain class of criminal who poses such a risk to civilisation should they ever be freed, that the only option is execution:

Serial killers
Serial Rapists
Serial pedophiles
Serial Drink Drivers


(okay the last one is a bit harsh, but when you hear of people on their 4th or 5th DUI, it is clear they aren't getting the hint and are therefore too stupid to live on this planet)

[Akzle]

Serial/Sadistic killers.

shirley then 'the state' (by extention a democratic majority of people) BECOME serial killers...

Wheres the line for sadism? Your theory seems pretty sadistic to me.

[unstuck]

To me, with the belief I hold, the only ones who are punished in an execution are the people left behind, like family, and other loved ones.
Why punish them for something they didn't do.

[Katman]

As a sideline to the topic (because I can't be arsed starting a new thread), I'm highly amused at Julie Bishop's claim that "there will be consequences".

Almost half a million West Papuans have been murdered by Indonesian occupying forces and there's not been a peep out of the Australian or New Zealand Governments.

Spineless fucks.

[Akzle]

The first thing to add to this is that time and time again the Death Penalty has shown to not be a detterant.

For me however - I support the Death Penalty - there is a certain class of criminal who poses such a risk to civilisation should they ever be freed, that the only option is execution:

Serial killers
Serial Rapists
Serial pedophiles
Serial Drink Drivers


(okay the last one is a bit harsh, but when you hear of people on their 4th or 5th DUI, it is clear they aren't getting the hint and are therefore too stupid to live on this planet)

what if i serially drink drive, never get caught, and never drive into anything?

[Crasherfromwayback]

As a sideline to the topic (because I can't be arsed starting a new thread), I'm highly amused at Julie Bishop's claim that "there will be consequences".

Almost half a million West Papuans have be murdered by Indonesian occupying forces and there's not been a peep out of the Australian or New Zealand Governments.

Spineless fucks.

https://www.facebook.com/22683870748...=1&pnref=story

[p.dath]

The third one.

After the first two they've already demonstrated they're not willing or capable of living with the rest of us.

I'm a fan of the three strikes policy as well for general criminal Justice.


With regard to the death penalty, if the crime was murder and there is no doubt and it was pre-meditated then execute the person.

[MisterD]

Never. Deliberately killing another human being is murder, whether you're a person or a country, and whether your justification is "I don't like them and I think I can get away with it", "they're bad, and the rules I invented say that's ok" or "God told me to".

[TheDemonLord]

Never. Deliberately killing another human being is murder, whether you're a person or a country, and whether your justification is "I don't like them and I think I can get away with it", "they're bad, and the rules I invented say that's ok" or "God told me to".

You see, I never rationalise the Death Penalty using any of those arguements - for me it is always a case that there are certain people who pose such a risk to society that the possibility of them coming into contact with society again poses a risk so high that execution is preferred

[oldrider]

Human kind accepts war as if it is normal - our country has been celebrating 100 years of history and it's foundation of the nation just this weekend!

We (NZ) have just deployed troops to train people for war in Iraq - how capital is that? - double standards anybody?