Death penalty - can it be justified?

[Gavin Scott]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and ... 348685.stm

[Jovis]

I saw that article last week. I found it terrible. Perhaps some of you think it's modern and no different to other methods of announcing such things, but I disagree.

[Gavin Scott]

I saw that article last week. I found it terrible. Perhaps some of you think it's modern and no different to other methods of announcing such things, but I disagree.

I accept he has a job to do; but to tweet it on a social network is debasing to humanity.

I found it quite sickening.

[Chie]

Well I'd have to counterpoint that with the rise of gun ownership, gang culture, rise in general population, shorter tempers, and weird goings on in the village of Midsomer.

Gun ownership has fallen,

Gangs have always existed,

The statistics are per million of population, meaning that population size is irrelevant,

People are far better at tempering their behaviour now than they were in the mid-20th Century. (Please note this is a personal estimation which should not be interpreted as some kind of fact.)

[Pete]

I suspect statistics have improved somewhat too over time, meaning that "more murders" might mean "more detected murders"

[Alexia]

Well I'd have to counterpoint that with the rise of gun ownership, gang culture, rise in general population, shorter tempers, and weird goings on in the village of Midsomer.

Gun ownership has fallen,

Registered gun ownership maybe. How many illegal guns are on our streets?

Gangs have always existed,

Yes, but not in the "protect my postcode", "ride around on bikes shooting 9-year old Everton fans" way.

The statistics are per million of population, meaning that population size is irrelevant,

But the very fact that there are more people generally means that there are more likely to be more murderers and ergo more victims.

People are far better at tempering their behaviour now than they were in the mid-20th Century. (Please note this is a personal estimation which should not be interpreted as some kind of fact.)

Yes, because in the 1930s they were saying "I'm guna shit you up man"....

[Chie]

But the very fact that there are more people generally means that there are more likely to be more murderers and ergo more victims.

If the murder rate is presently 15 per million and the population suddenly doubles, there won't be 30 murders per million, it will still be 15. So, you can't cite a population increase as one of the reasons why the murder rate per million of population has risen since the death penalty was abolished.

Yes, because in the 1930s they were saying "I'm guna shit you up man"....

They might have said "I iz gunna merk u up well gud, innit. aiiiiiiiii."

In 2002, there were 97 murders involving guns in England and Wales. Last year there were only 39.

http://www.gun-control-network.org/GF05.htm

The overall number of killings last year was the lowest for 20 years (but still twice the number of killings per million there were in 1965).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8153392.stm