Get Geoff Shreeves to interview them and point out in his own special way that they will be locked up for the rest of their life.
Hanging's too good for 'em - so what do you suggest?
Our report last week that there's no evidence capital punishment has an effect on the murder rate in the US of A prompted a lively reader debate on the subject of execution. Just about the only clear conclusion that came from the tussle is that once you've been strapped to a gurney and administered a fatal chemical cocktail, …
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:02 GMT Stratman
I am against capital punishment, but a thought has occurred to me regarding its perceived lack of deterrence in the USA. Could it be the extended time interval between sentencing and execution that is the problem? It has been said that in some US cities among the adherents to certain lifestyles, life expectancy is longer on Death Row than out on the street. By the time an offender takes a needle in the arm for the last time the correlation between offence and punishment has vanished from public perception. If the gap were to be weeks rather than decades, might it be more of a deterrent?
I don't know what the murder rate is in China, but there you're sentenced in the morning and your organs are being harvested that afternoon.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:13 GMT Anonymous Coward 101
Actually, yes. On average, criminals discount the future so much that they are only focussed on the short term and don't worry about the future. Thus, if the time gap between committing a crime and getting punished is large (never mind getting caught), they will be less worried about committing the crime in the first place.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 18:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
"I don't know what the murder rate is in China, but there you're sentenced in the morning and your organs are being harvested that afternoon."
Very practical, those Chinese. But you don't think they stop at the liver, heart, and kidneys, and let the part used corpse occupy a perfectly good grave, do you? I reckon they have the convict's skin for leather (make a nice soft wallet, or comfortable car seats). Blood and bone - mash it and bung it straight in a bag for the garden centres, muscles and meaty looking tissues can be sold to food processors; Stomach, intestines, brain - that can all be exported and sold to butchers in Yorkshire. Fat can be used for soap, lard, or tallow (maybe the NHS should do this for our pie munchers?). And that just leaves a small pile of sinews, eyeballs, nadgers, todger, and ringpiece - perfect for Ronnies.
And you thought the chewy discoloured bit was a gerkhin.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 21:54 GMT Windrose
Deterrence?
China? 1.12 per 100,00 - if we can trust the crowd at Wikipedia.
So despite having (a) capital punishment, (b) really, really FAST capital punishment, it would appear that the Chinese - like most every other human - don't really consider the long-term effects of their actions.
It doesn't work, Stratman, no matter which way we turn the numbers. People simply don't stop to think before stabbing their mate after a drunken row. They don't much think before doing anything much at all. If they did, then the Chinese numbers would be 0.
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Thursday 26th April 2012 11:44 GMT Andy Christ
Re: Deterrence?
Deterrence is not the single issue. The overall consideration might be justice. Why should the state allocate resources to perpetuate the life of one who has taken it from others?
I'm no fan of capital punishment, as no justice system in the world is immune to corruption or incompetency. That said, what does one do with someone like anders behring breivik, about whose actions there is not a shadow of doubt? And he will only get like what, twenty two years or something, for killing seventy seven and injuring scores more? Justice might prefer to err on the side of caution, but in this case the erring seems egregious.
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Friday 27th April 2012 09:24 GMT Windrose
Re: Deterrence?
"And he will only get like what, twenty two years or something, for killing seventy seven and injuring scores more?"
21 years is the maximum possible prison sentence we can give him. Then we can ALSO hand him a "... but we'll have to evaluate you every fifth year after that, to see if you are safe to release first" deal.
That said, we need to keep "justice" and "revenge" firmly apart. What, except the cheering of a few bloodthirsty, will we - society that is - gain from killing off ABB? He ain't gettin' out again, so he won't repeat.
As it is we can pat ourselves on the back and go "Good on us, me old mucker! We've remained philosophically clean!"
I can live with that.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:05 GMT jai
go traditional
I'm all for hang-drawn-and-quartering, like we used to do in the old days. But in this age of reality tv, it makes sense that we'd have a telephone vote to see which convict the hangman pulls the trapdoor on. And also, prior to the hood going on, they could hit the button that starts the Lotto ball machines going.
It'd be much like it was in the medieval days, but instead of everyone having to crowd into a market square to watch, these days the whole nation can tune in on Freeview, the advertising revenue would be huge, which could be cycled back into helping get us out of the recession.
"Aaaaand those are the numbers for this Saturday. The numbers were picked this evening by Lotto Machine Galahad, and convicted child murderer and rapist, Barry "The Butcher" Smythe, who topped the telephone vote. And here comes the hangman, he's putting the noose over Barry's head. Barry gives us all a big grin and a wave, and.... there he goes! See his legs kicking!!"
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:07 GMT Imsimil Berati-Lahn
Put them to good use
One of the reasons for bringing back hanging is that it leaves the remainder of the vital organs in good condition, ready and available for safe and speedy transport, transplant into a more worthy host. Both lethal injection and electric chair (for the most part) render much of the potential organ harvest unusable. Only decapitation offers an equally good preservation of this vital resource.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:54 GMT BristolBachelor
Re: Put them to good use
I think that the heart needs to still be beating when you harvest the organs, so breaking the neck by hanging means you have to be very quick. I would think that the Monty Python "live organ harvest" would make for the most viable organs. (From an entirely objective, however very unpleasant perspective).
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Thursday 26th April 2012 11:54 GMT Andy Christ
Decapitation?
Wouldn't decapitation waste too much blood? IANAD but I imagine such a procedure would hasten the cellular death of the organs one was trying to preserve for transplant.
Of course the most efficient method would simply entail the "donor" making involuntary contributions until entirely depleted of resources, without first being offed.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:07 GMT g e
Bring back The Games
Yep, Gladiatorial combat Running Man style
I also advocate this for footballist
fanshooligans... one field with a 25ft electric fence, Arsehole City fans enter from one side while Rapist United fans enter from the other. Big box of bats and machetes in the middle.Last one standing goes through to the next round.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:11 GMT ISYS
Inhumane but they deserve it....
How about making them watch an endless loop of the Un-necessarilly long pause between 'And the winner is......' and the anouncement. If the video could contain a close up of the orange presenter with expression that says 'I am about to anounce the exact date of armageddon' so much the better. Be sure to include the 'fake smile through the tears' of the loser informing everyone 'you haven't seen the last of me'
I'm sure the convict would rip out their own eyeballs and stuff them in their ears so that they could no longer see or hear the above!
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:12 GMT 0765794e08
Banish them from society
I like the idea of ‘banishment’.
Find some large, fairly inhospitable, uninhabited island safely away from the mainland, and simply banish murderers to it. They could be dropped in by parachute. There would be no infrastructure of any kind on the island - the murderers would have to fend for themselves, and live off the land.
Probably best to limit it to male murderers to keep the population in check. The space duly released in the prison system would allow for proper ‘life’ sentences for female murderers.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 21:44 GMT Why Not?
Re: Banish them from society
Don't forget it wasn't just Australia
HMP America was also popular. They don't like being reminded for some reason.
We closed it down with our American tax office when the new natives got restless.
Most of these options don't allow reversal if (as is very likely there will be in some cases) there has been a miscarriage of justice.
I think the real issue is streaming the prisoners based on severity and status of their case (separate people who haven't been convicted or paid their council tax from mass murderers).
Those that have been convicted of serious crimes should be segregated in US style super prisons. No contact, no association, no fresh air, no escape just their perspex cell.
It would be like a walking death, mentally horrifying. Build plenty of those and lengthen sentences for any pre meditated violence if you are willing to kill another Society doesn't want you back.
Where the reason for minor offences are obvious e.g. illiteracy, drug addiction. Then efforts should be made to correct those. If you fail a random drug test you aren't getting out of prison. Good work has been done with victims confronting offenders, many criminals don't realise the damage they do.
3rd strike on serious crimes means all your sentences and possible sentences go to max. 15 year minimum stretches, if they haven't learnt by the third time they aren't going to. Obviously Prostitution or failing to pay minimal taxes 3 times would be more lenient.
Though if you are only interested in joke options,
Looped Simon Cowell, BBC parliament or Corrie would make most intelligent murders self terminate.
Attempting to get an issue resolved via many PC manufacturers best shored helpdesks might also save on syringe costs.
Tell someone you had an accident in the last 3 years then you will be plagued 24*7.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:14 GMT Derk
Hang'em high - make a Dead mans Newtons Cradle
I really don't care if prisons and the death penalty does not deter them from re-offending. Once they are in prison they are not on the streets, no longer free to commit more crime.
For very dangerous (Multiple Murderers) types, I'd tell them, that you go on the organ donation list, whilst in prison. What ever organ is needed will be taken. If you die? tough should have thought about that before you did the crime. Your remains will be used to further medical knowledge.
For repeat continual offenders? Welcome to the drug trials, and they are not the drugs you are thinking about.
For minor crimes? Education is required, together with hard labour. They will eventually look forward to learning.
I'd select a nice mix of rapists, murderers, thieves, and allow them to be re-habilated in the homes of lefty bleeding heart liberals types. Perhaps televise it too. This week little Tarquin's plan to show Roger the rapist that he is loved has unforeseen consequences. Tom's efforts to entice Buba to read the Guardian need a re-think, and medical treatment by a proctologist.
Paris...because she knows all about crime, punishment and "insertion"
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:22 GMT Rameses Niblick the Third (KKWWMT)
Prison 101
How has no-one mentioned this yet? Like the 1984 room of the same denomination, Prison 101 sees you locked away with your all time worst fear. When the prisoner gets desensitised to it, move on to their second worst, until they are a gibbering shell of human wreckage.
With this in mind, I should like to take the opportunity to publicly and candidly announce that I am terrified of naked, large-breasted women. Terrified.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:24 GMT Andrew James
- Force them to live with no human contact for the rest of their lives.
- Play a combination of old modem connection, and Sinclair ZX Spectrum game loading sounds 24 hours a day with corresponding flashing lights.
- Put a digital display on the wall to show days, hours, minutes & seconds since they first entered the room.
- Only feed them the sort of stuff they would get on the international space station, recycled urine included.
- Make the cell a cube measuring approx 8 feet in each dimension.
Sooner or later they will take their own lives by banging their heads against the wall hard enough to do some serious harm.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 18:56 GMT Peter Johnstone
Re: Prison power...
Reminds me of an old episode of the Lexx, prisoners on the planet fire had to continually cycle and operate hand pumps to circulate cooling air. Those that didn't want to cooperate were given an incentive. Their heads were put in a guillotine like contraption that decapitated them when they stopped pumping. Works for me.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012 15:32 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Does anyone else find it sinister that in the same week that a company is launched to mine asteroids, our Register overlords are planning a replacement for the death penalty? There's clearly some conspiracy going on at the top echelons of the tech industry - and El Reg are involved.
Seeing as Australia appears to be full, or at least no longer accepting deliveries... I suggest transportation to the platinum mines on Ceres. Mining robots are just so much more expensive than convict labour.
Also, if we're finally going to use space, and move towards the future promised in all good science fiction, then we need to add the correct dystopian elements as well. The future usually seems to involve the poor space colonists being slaves to the big corporations, until they get eaten by aliens of course.
This topic is closed for new posts.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
