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| Originally Posted by Urban996 Sorry Phil,
Not sure I can agree with you here. Yes, I fully take your point that we expect Police to stand up and protect us with nothing more than their uniform to protect them, and despite all complaints we constantly hear, I'm grateful to them for the work they do, and I'm happy to live in a society where I'm not afraid of the Police themselves, but I have to ask, does the death penalty work as a deterrant? I think not.
Take the US as an example - it's been cited further on in this thread - Everyone has the right to bear arms, and plenty of people carry weapons, and there is also the death penalty to act as a deterrent, so why do people still kill each other? Do they stop on the brink of pulling the trigger and think, oh hang on, I might get a lethal injection for this? Some might, but then they are more than likely the ones who wouldn't do it in the first place. The fact is, in the US, they regularly execute people, so the death penalty is hardly acting as a deterrent.
It may well be people with liberal attitudes who have allowed the criminal to take over from the man in the street, but that has nothing to do with the killing people - prison is a soft option for most crimes these days. Proper sentancing, life meaning life, and old-fashioned tough conditions inside I am all in favour of, but please don't try to suggest to me that anyone has the supreme authority to order the taking of another human life.
Martin |
Martin
I can't realistically ever see the death penalty coming back and I think we are close enough on all your other sentencing ideas to vote for you as Home Secretary. When can you start?
Phil