What crimes would warrant the death penalty ?

[eek]

Running a tax avoidance scheme…

[Zigenare]

Running a tax avoidance scheme…

Tax avoidance isn't a crime.

[NotAllThere]

Tax avoidance isn't a crime.

Ok, running a tax avoidance scheme that turns out not to work.

[NotAllThere]

First thing on the list should be politicians lying.

That will either mean we’ll never have the death penalty, or we’ll have honest politicians, or at least fewer of the current crooks.

On election politicians should be immediately arrested and confined for the term of the parliament. Just saves time and effort in the long run.

[vetran]

You mean like the Lee Rigby murderers?

Well the evidence is irrefutable maybe we should consider it? However making nutters into Martyrs is a bit of an own goal.

[ladymuck]

The problem with lifelong incarceration is that it is very expensive. Chopping their heads off / hanging / whatever is a lot cheaper.

[d000hg]

Tax avoidance isn't a crime.

He didn't say people who avoid tax should be punished.

Agree until we can be absolutely sure that they committed the crime the death sentence is no go.

But it's OK to lock someone up for their entire adult life if we're not sure?

I'm not morally against it but as pointed out, it's fraught with practical and operational difficulties. I don't remember the stats from the US but the average person put to death has been on Death Row for IIRC over a decade (so you're still paying a fortune) and has something like a 90% chance of being black.
Of course other countries enact it far more 'efficiently' but are hardly examples to the world for fair trials, etc.

[TheDude]

You mean like the Lee Rigby murderers?

Why should they be treated differently to any other murderers?

[vetran]

The problem with lifelong incarceration is that it is very expensive. Chopping their heads off / hanging / whatever is a lot cheaper.

sticking their heads back on and compensating the families is more expensive/impossible.

Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that “the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”

I do wonder why we don't use tagging more and have more automated prisons. Seems they are considering more tagging and early release now.

However it seems the tagging was written by people who didn't do a great job.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...m-say-auditors

A failed government plan to transform the system for electronically tagging offenders wasted £98m of taxpayers’ money, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said attempts to upgrade HM Prison & Probation Service’s (HMPPS) tagging system were abandoned in March after 11 years and a net spend of £153m.

Ministers still do not know if electronically tagging criminals is helping to cut reoffending because of failings in the system, the NAO report says.

Tagging non violent / dangerous prisoners seems sensible. If you failed to pay your council tax / TV license Prison is probably not the best choice.

[vetran]

Why should they be treated differently to any other murderers?

NLUK was pointing out there was no argument they were guilty, my point was if that was the case then I supported capital punishment but he is right making Martyrs is a bad idea.