In part I believe in the death penalty especially for crimes against innocent children. There is absolutely no excuse, ever to hurt a child and these people need to punished for their crime. It may make people think twice about committing the crime if they know that the death penalty is attached. These days it is very rare that the wrong person is arrested and charged with a crime, there is too much technology to proove things and also to proove the person may be innocent. I also agree that when they sentence people to a "Death Penalty" it is a bit of a joke when you look at how long it actually is before the actual "Death" is implemented. Having said all this I also believe in rehabilitation and believe that some people can be cured of their sickness. I do not believe in chance after chance for repeat offenders and it is these people that deserve a harsher sentence.

Sharkfin..as you pointed out and Celivia picked up on..there could be that danger of kill the child anyway if the death penalty applied for being caught..Mickijo mentioned castration..Im not sure that its actually applied anymore..I would love to know however..as it would be something that could be lobbyed for as a first line of defence..Im not speaking of chemical castration, im speaking of surgical.

So you do have a very strong point there Sharkfin..

I do however believe there is a case for repeat offenders of violent crimes against children in this area.

Deborah,
Yes some criminals have been on death row for about 20 years- it has happened that people were found innocent while on death row. But you are correct that with all the DNA testing etc, mistakes are not so common. Still, I am against death penalty- I’ll explain further in a moment. Your rehabilitation point is worthwhile discussing further (but I’m lacking time right now, we should keep this in mind, though.)

OZGIRL
…when the rights of peadophiles take precedence over the rights of children.”
Good point, I agree, and that’s why I really think that the system is inadequate and should be updated.

Like Mickijo says, it would be a good thing is ‘life’ actually means ‘for the rest of the prisoner’s life until he naturally dies’.
Some criminals should have no right to walk free- not ever! I would like to see them rot in jail and/or get the chopping board out!

But because I highly value civil liberty I simply cannot agree in priciple to bringing back the death penalty not even in extreme cases.
I think that Australia should move forward, not backward.
I agree that the punishment should fit the crime, and that can only happen when our judicial system gets a make-over.
I also don’t believe that the death penalty deters others from committing the crime. And the only example it sets is that it is OK to kill some people in some cases.

Continued

It is already bad enough that we have a legal system that is inadequate, and I believe that adding the death penalty to this the system would make it even more retarded.
The only wise option would be to make real improvements and corrections to the failing system.

Another reason why I find capital punishment immoral is because I strongly believe that the severity of a crime does not necessarily determine who gets executed- race and money come into the picture as well. It is the wealthy, influential or powerful white men who will be given more lenient sentences than the poor black fellows. For the same crime, one may walk again, the other may be put to death.

Mickijo, I agree that prisoners are a drain on the tax payer, but did you know that the death penalty is more costly? I once read an article in where it was explained that it costs at least triple to execute someone than to lock up that person for life. I wish I had kept that article.

If all the money we ‘saved’ by locking someone up for life was spent wisely, for example on prevention of crime, more education for legislators and on improving the system, our system would not be as disgraceful as it is now!

I agree that killing a criminal will not deter others from commiting the same crime, but somehow we have to be able to stop crimes against children. Yes I too agree that keeping them in jail for "LIFE" without the option of parole would be punishment enough for some. That would have to mean though that they never ever ever walk free again. Yes the death penalty would retard us but sometimes there just seems to be no other option.

i DO NOT belive in the death penalty for two reasons

1: it cost more to kill some1 then it is to keep them in prison 4 life

2: nothing is worth taking a life 4

keep them in 4 life if need b but dont kill them