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Do you support the death penalty? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world to c/askuk@feddit.uk

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Last time I looked a majority of Brits support the death penalty. Which personally I've always found quite disturbing considering all the problems with it.

But 5 mins on any subreddit and you have people frothing at the mouth to hang every criminal.

Which if even more disturbing.

So what do you think?

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[–] TheMongoose@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago

For certain crimes I'd be OK with it provided you can prove with 100% certainty that they are guilty. Not 'beyond reasonable doubt' or any other legal terminology. If there is any chance at all that they might be innocent, you cannot execute them.

But they'd have to be people who are dangerous to the rest of society, completely unrepentant and ideally having been through the rehabilitation process unsuccessfully before. You know the type. Those that don't want to change. Those that even in prison are a danger to others.

Off the top of my head I can't think of anyone over the last decade who'd meet that criteria, and in general terms I think I judge a society without the death penalty as more civilised than one that does condone the state killing it's own citizens.

So while in theory I'd be OK with it, it's safer for it not to be a tool available. When you have a hammer, every problem starts looking like a nail etc.

Plus the general public are absolutely not to be trusted with it, and I can't imagine the sort of pressure that might be put on judges in high profile cases. Better for it not to be an option.