If the death penalty was brought back, someone innocent would inevitably be killed at some point
Right-wing blogger Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines) is pushing a Number 10 e-petition to reinstate the death penalty. His campaign has already gained widespread support, from Murdoch newspaper The Sun to Tory MP Philip Davies (from ‘let the disabled be exploited at below the minimum wage’ and ‘can’t we bring back blacking up’ fame). Mr Davies said:
“It’s something where once again the public are a long way ahead of the politicians. I’d go further and restore it for all murderers.”
However, a quick google search and look through the ‘Innocent‘ database finds that murder charges are fairly regularly overturned in the British Courts. People whose original conviction for murder that have been quashed include:
Andrew Adams who was convicted of murdering science teacher Jack Royal in 1990. Members of the jury later come forward to say they had considered evidence not put before the court, the police had been in contact with witnesses during the trial, and that verdicts of not guilty were returned on others involved in the case, inconsistent with Adams’ guilty verdict
Soldier Andrew Evans, who was convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Judith Roberts on the basis of a dream he experienced
Sean Hodgson, who was convicted of the murder of bar worker Theresa de Simone in 1979, and served 27 years despite David Lace confessing to the murder in 1983
Josephine Smith, whose conviction of murder for her husband was changed to manslaughter, after it was established he had repeatedly beat her and subject her to sexual abuse. Smith had originally pleaded guilty to manslaughter
Tony Martin, whose conviction of murder was reduced to manslaughter for shooting burglars who entered his home, which he had done in a ‘blind panic’
And there are dozens more. It seems odd that a libertarian such as Staines thinks that the state is incompetent to do almost anything other than decide who to kill. Under Davies’s policy, all these people would have now been killed by the state in cold blood.
Under Staines’s plan (cop-killers and child murderers would be liable for the death penalty), Andrew Evans would now have been killed.
So what price a life? Is it right that some innocent people are killed so that others receive thier comeuppance? If, as MP Priti Patel believes, deterence did work (which would imply murderers rationally weigh out risks and benefits to actions, and that a life sentence is seen as a fair risk), how many is it OK to kill to ensure that murderers are put off?
All this ‘ends justifies the means’ thinking and trading of lives feels bizarrely stalinist for conservatives and libertarians. If the death penalty is brought back, it is only a matter of time until someone is innocent is killed – an odd outcome to a campaign based on abhorrence of murder.
85 Responses to “Five good reasons why the death penalty should not be reinstated”
Anon E Mouse
My only caveat is that one needs to be SURE of the criminal’s guilt.
I’m still waiting for the WMD to be found in Iraq and if they can lie and deceive people at a Prime Minister level and with the police’s current dealings with the newspapers one would need certainty not reliant on circumstantial evidence…
Dave Citizen
There will always be dinosaurs who want to head back into some kind of eye for an eye knee jerk world. If we want to minimise violent crime let’s look at OECD countries with the lowest levels and see how they do it. Not sure what to do about other types of horrendous acts but please let’s not kid ourselves that killing people will stop more of the same recurring – does it in the USA? I suggest we may need to sacrifice some of those business interests on the dodgy internet sites?!
Sheumais
The death penalty has already been reintroduced, via the Lisbon treaty. It allows for its application in special circumstances, which Syria would find quite useful at the moment.
5 found guilty who were really innocent compares to how many who were guilty and were released to re-offend? I doubt the public’s view of fitting punishment has much in common with our politicians, so, if nothing else, the call for capital punishment’s restoration should bring that to the fore. I will be very surprised if it is ever debated in parliament.
ed
The real mistake here is to confuse guilt/innocence with sentencing. It is for the judge to decide the sentence, and he would do so conscious that sometimes, as in the case of Anders Behring Brevik, there is no doubt about the guilt of the killer. The question for him (as I would frame it) would be whether the killer demonstrated massive disdain and contempt for the victims in the manner of their killing. Cold-blooded killers damage the fabric of society, and society needs to know that they cannot prevail in any way. As a child needs to see the end of a murder mystery when they have seen the beginning, so society needs to see the futility of evil. Should a judge be in any doubt, he should be liable for any injustice in civil courts. A failure would ruin him and I think this would concentrate the mind to avoid injustice occurring. The thing with the death penalty is that sometimes there is just nothing else commensurate with the scale of the crime. Every breath the murderer takes is an exultative exhalation of his rights to live over those of his victims.
Span Ows
Well said Anon E Mouse. Also it is worth pointing out that NONE of the cases quoted in this blogpost would have led to an execution had what “Right-wing blogger” (??!!) Guido Fawkes’s is petitioning for been the actual Law.