Double standards are alive and well when it comes to grandstanding on the death penalty and cruelty.

The Government, the media and the do-gooders have all spoken out against the death penalty that is hanging over the heads of two Australian drug traffickers.

The same parties have spoken out recently against the cruel treatment of wild animals in the training of greyhounds. The perpetrating trainers face life expulsion from greyhound racing.

It is surprising that the author, an ethicist, fails to acknowledge that around 100,000 unborn children who are completely innocent and defenceless, are subjected to the death penalty by way of abortion each year in Australia.

Although it is known that unborn children can feel pain as early as 20 weeks after fertilisation, there is no recognition of the cruelty they suffer in the termination process. What’s more, in Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT, unborn child killing is legal right up to full term of pregnancy.

Then there are those in the community who scream blue murder when wild animals are culled for over-population reasons, yet endorse the culling of unborn children of female gender.

To add insult to injury, the killers of the innocents and the accessories to the killing get away scot-free. Not only are the perpetrators not condemned by the responsible State or Territory government, but the Federal Government comes to the party by subsidising expenses incurred.

To Rhian.

The "National Research Council" could have been composed by Arjay, Yebiga, and Susieoncrack, for all I know.

The premise is, that the death penalty is no deterrent. The criminal underworld do not believe that for a second. They are not idealists such as yourself. They tend to be practical people who know the value of threatening to kill anybody who informs on them, or who will act as a witness against them.

It stands to reason that some people will be deterred from engaging in criminal behaviour, if the penalty is severe enough to make them think again. Here in NSW, it costs State Rail $60 million dollars p.a. to repair damage caused by graffiti vandalism to trains and railway infrastructure. Singapore does not have that problem. Offenders caught spraying graffiti in Singapore are flogged. Result? No more graffiti in Singapore. I don't have a problem with the concept of first offenders and young offenders being given a second chance. But there has to be a point where crimes are becoming to disruptive of society, and humanitarian concerns are seen as just too ineffective and expensive to effectively combat them, especially with repeat offenders.

I have already named four offenders who were jailed for murder, and who re offended killing five more women and children after release. Others I can name have been sentenced to long prison sentences only to kill other inmates, or even prison officers, in jail. One child rapist murderer in Victoria and was considered so dangerous that the Victorian government illegally kept him in jail after the conclusion of his sentence. Another child rapist/murderer in Queensland bragged to other inmates how he looked forward to doing it again after release. The governor of his jail made him serve every single minute of his 25 year sentence before the law compelled the governor to release the child killer.

These mutants should not be breathing.

LEGO

You say “The "National Research Council" could have been composed by Arjay, Yebiga, and Susieoncrack, for all I know.” But a moment googling would show it is in fact composed of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research Council. It is a well-respected source of expert independent policy advice and analysis.

In some cases, life imprisonment should mean exactly that. For the most serious offences, and where there is a significant chance of reoffending, the offender should stay in jail until they die (of natural causes).

The alternative to the death penalty for the most serious crimes is life imprisonment, not freedom. So your underworld analogy doesn’t work – the mafia don’t operate maximum security prisons.

The question is whether the prospect of execution is more of a deterrent than the prospect of a life in jail. There are many reasons that it might not be. A life in jail is a horrible prospect – arguably worse than death. Many murders are committed in the heat of the moment with little regard for consequences, or with such strong motives that even the severest of penalties won’t deter. Criminals typically overestimate their ability to evade detection. Even for the most serious crimes, the probability of receiving a death sentence is small, and the probability of it actually being carried out even smaller. It is usually many years, sometimes decades, between sentencing and execution.

Rhian,these two were caught with kilos strapped to their bodies, how on earth could they ever be found not guilty.

Raycom, the two are not the same. Besides, abortion is nit murder as they are not born and if they were, they would be celertating their 1st birthday in about three months.

But, had these two escaped capture and the drugs made the streets, many unborn may well have been killed and/or deformed all with no care to these two.

Rules are rules and you can't get caught knowing the rules then cry wolf.

The media have a lot to answer for here and may I suggest in the future the indo governments should inform us thatntheynhave executed drug smugglers, rather than suggesting they're going to.

Hi there IS MISE...

Yes indeed, it's one of the least desirable parts of the job I'm afraid. And to say one gets use to it, is not altogether truthful, particularly when one needs to handle small children, who've been the subject of brutal murder.

Indeed, I seem to vaguely remember the murder of that Emu Plains prison warder, who if I recall was slaughtered while he slept ? Perhaps I'm wrong, I had nothing to do with the investigation, in fact I don't think I was even in the job in those days ?

The smell is another feature that never seems to leave you either, and even months after an event, a certain odour can trigger a memory of some awful vision to do with a crime of extreme violence.

Though IS MISE, you're a soldier in the Korean War, you and your platoon colleagues would've had similar experiences too, I would imagine ? Some memories are really hideous, so much so you take 'em to bed with you, days after the event ?

Some killers I've had to deal with, are beyond any compassion, any resemblance to a human being. A case for execution could very easily be made. But why ? Why allow these bastards the luxury of escaping punishment, by a quick merciful hanging ? Much better to have them languish in maximum security gaol for the rest of their natural lives !