Death Penalty/Capital Punishment : Your Say!

First off I want to start by proudly announcing that I am a Singaporean and I support every right thing that my country does even though some other countries might not like it. Trying to be objective here, I'd like to discuss the issue of death penalty or the capital punishment.

The Background:

SINGAPORE, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- Singapore executed convicted Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van at Changi Prison at dawn Friday after numerous attempts, including repeated pleas from the Australian government, to save him from the gallows proved futile.

Singapore stood firm on the conviction and refused clemency for Nguyen who was sentenced to death for trafficking in 396.2gm of pure heroin in Singapore in 2002.

"Mr Nguyen failed in his appeals to the Court of Appeal and to the President for clemency. The sentence was carried out this morning at Changi Prison," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement at 7.08am, about an hour after the execution.

Nguyen, 25, of Vietnamese descent, was charged with importation of 396.2gm of diamorphine or pure heroin into Singapore, under Section 7 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, which carries the death penalty.

Source

Singapore's execution of Australian Nguyen Tuong Van sparked much dissaproval and outcry by Australians.

Result:

Execution was carried on and Nguyen was executed on friday 2nd Oct 2005.

Austalia Weeps For Heroin Smuggler Executed In Singapore

I'm not trying to be biased or anything but Australia has three other similar cases in Indonesia, Vietnam and another in Thailand I think.

I think that every county has their own sovereignty rights to have whatever laws they see fit for their people. If countries is to gang up and say "we want you to change that law of yours", they have no right and shall not be entertained.

Death penalty shouldn't be abolish in my view. It's a complicated matter with many loose holes in it. The innocent could be executed and no one can stop this. There is no such thing as an innocence detector. Should one be killed(if you want to put it that way) so that hundreds other may live? I'd say definitely yes.

My point is should death penalty be abolish?

The death penalty should only be used in cases where death was casued by the actions of the criminal. Putting someone to death for anything less is pretty barbaric, as far as I'm concerned.

A lot of people criticize the US for using the death penalty, but at least we only use it for capital crimes (so far), and there is always a near-endless series of appeals before the actual sentance is carried out, sometimes taking ten years or more.

absolutely in any situation: no one has the right to take anothers life, no matter what the crime. What gives an individual the right to say whether a person lives or dies? this is something i very strongly believe in. The laws that we all live by today are to keep order, but they are made up by our equals. if someone commits murder there is no use in taking away their life, you are simply commiting another murder! Lock them away in prison if they are a danger to society. what gives a government the right to decide who lives or dies? NOTHING!

I have to agree with the others here, To me the death penelty should only be used in the case of someone taking a life of another, and even then should have to be proved beyond doubt,

There are to many storys of people being found not guilty after years of being on death row, That makes me very uncomfotable about the whole death penalty idea,

I only support it for murder, certainly not for drugs (in fact I think all drugs should be completely legal).

Even in murder cases, it should be reserved for the most heinous of murders, not a crime of passion etc.

I do not support death penalty.
The lone exception is the execution of the Nazi beast Eichmann.

I do not trust the state with my life or anyone elses for that matter. The death penalty is a crime against humanity.

If you get charged with a capitol crime and the state decides to ask for death, they have unlimited resources to prove you are guilty while you get a lawyer so stupid they can't make it in the real world so become public defenders.

ONLY the poor are executed while the rich like OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson and more politicians then I can name walk away from any number of serious offenses simply because they can buy their way out of it.

The death penalty executes the poor and often times innocent, but does nothing in the way of true justice.

Just my thoughts,

Wupy

[edit on 4-12-2005 by mrwupy]

Why not take time to consider the realistic benefits of Murder.

In the United States if you commit murder, in most States you will recieve a private cell, free medical care, free meals (3 per day) plus snacks that you can buy with the daily pay you get for being a convicted criminal. You have access to physical training equipment and a better Law Library than most Attorneys have. Of course the down side is that your appeals may run out after 10 years or so, but the Supreme Court may always turn around and commute your sentence to Life in Prison or better yet ... kill the Death Penalty.

If you get all this ... CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have beat the system and given others a reason to hate you for ever, your victim is forever dead and Jesus will still forgive you if you ask nicely and go to Heaven.

Now where is the real crime against humanity?

Originally posted by 2stepsfromtop
Why not take time to consider the realistic benefits of Murder.

In the United States if you commit murder, in most States you will recieve a private cell, free medical care, free meals (3 per day) plus snacks that you can buy with the daily pay you get for being a convicted criminal. You have access to physical training equipment and a better Law Library than most Attorneys have. Of course the down side is that your appeals may run out after 10 years or so, but the Supreme Court may always turn around and commute your sentence to Life in Prison or better yet ... kill the Death Penalty.

If you get all this ... CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have beat the system and given others a reason to hate you for ever, your victim is forever dead and Jesus will still forgive you if you ask nicely and go to Heaven.

Now where is the real crime against humanity?

U make prison sound so fun I wanna go!
Why on earth do I put myself through work every day, to pay bills and work for people Ic an't stand when I can simply go to jail

lol please, if we're talking about Australian prison, fair enough (they have ICE CREAM machines!!! and swimming pools and cool stufff like that here where I live I know many a person who go straight back to jail, simply because it's easier than actual life) But jail in America ? pfffft c'mon now.

God does notforgive murderers, he punishes murderers, like those executing people as a "punishment", yup they too will be punished.

yeah it's a vicious cycle

And I hear hell is alot worse than jail, but oh well, they want capital punishment, let them do it!! They only have to answer to God.

I strongly oppose it.

I support the death penalty for people who commit especially heinous murders, and I also support it for repeat sex offenders - child molesters and serial rapists...ones who show a repeat pattern of violent victimization.

"People" that betray the very social contract that the rest of us agreed to. Sometimes the things that are right, aren't always the same things that are correct. And in this case, we live in a world filled with bullies and barbarians. Sometimes we just have to thin the herd.

Is it right? No.
Is it correct? Yes.

Originally posted by brimstone735
I support the death penalty for people who commit especially heinous murders, and I also support it for repeat sex offenders - child molesters and serial rapists...ones who show a repeat pattern of violent victimization.

Wouldn't something like castration work for the sex offenders ? Wouldn't that be a punishment worse than death for them ?

I do have somewhat mixed emotions on this subject at times, I too sometimes think people who do bad things need not deserve to live for taking life and innocence etc ... but who is one human, no matter of their 'authority' or 'position' (as we are all only human in God's eyes) to decide whether another lives or dies ?

I support the death penalty for death induced crimes, crimes against children, & violent sex crimes. I do not support the death penalty for any other reason. I especially do not support the death penalty when it is carried out in such a barbaric fashion, such as hanging or by firing squad.

We are supposed to be a civilised society & if there is to be a death penalty then it is my belief that it should be carried out as humanely as possible. There is no need to stoop lower than the criminals act when they are to be put to death. It makes us no better than them.


I have something to say to you about how Australians really feel about the recent hanging of Truong Van Nguyen. You are listening way too much to media hype about this. There was NO minute silence from the Australian Govt at the time of the hanging ( 9am here ), & the many polls that were done here gave a fifty-fifty split about how we as a nation felt about this. We all know that polls can be manipulated, don't we? We also know that just because the media are reporting that we are AL outraged, doesn't make it a fact. In fact, the majority of Australians actually supported the right of the Singaporean Govt to punish Van Nguyen under their laws, because that's where he was caught with the heroin.............which was bound for Australia.

We do not support drug dealers, & we have been severely misrepresented by our media...........who are in the minority & are also extremely leftist in their views.

Amongst the Australians who were for Van Nguyen being punished for his crime, there was also a noticable split in opinions. Many actually wanted him to be hanged, yet others like myself felt that this barbaric.

Once again it is the squeaky wheel that makes the most noise, but it doesn't mean the whole country is feeling the same way. Australia is full of minority groups that get heard because they make alot of noise.



I feel that Van Truong should have recieved a maximum prison term, but I don't feel that the punishment fitted the crime in this case.

What I don't understand is why your Government could not allow an old lady to hug her son just one more time before they had to put him to death. She is the one who suffers every day now because of this.


I personally shed a tear at 9am on 2nd December, not for Van Truong, but for the human race as a whole, that we should still use hanging & the firing squad to put people to death. Those tears were also for a mother who will never hug her son ever again.

Originally posted by ImJaded

Wouldn't something like castration work for the sex offenders ? Wouldn't that be a punishment worse than death for them ?

no, there have been cases of castrated sex offenders who still come back and sexually abuse children. just because you no longer have a sexual organ doesn not mean that a devious person can not come up with other sick and twisted ways to abuse someone.

Personally, I am a bit liberal when it comes to drugs, as I see their use as a personal choice and not something to be regulated by the government. I fully support the death penalty in cases of murder, rape and treason.

HOWEVER, this idiot picked Singapore of all the places in the world to sell drugs. Frankly, if you are within a nation and choose to ignore their laws, you should except that if you are caught you will pay their price.

[edit on 5-12-2005 by American Mad Man]

My view is simple:

"It's better to let 100 guilty men go free than to execute 1 inocent man" (no idea who said that!)

And given George's recent history I hold to this even more strongly than ever.

Really? And, had we released Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy and the rest of those multiple murderers, would you like to be the one to keep track of the innocent people who are murdered? And, keep in mind, these people aren't being silently passed on to the other side with chemicals, but are being brutally killed.

I love it when the queasy-love causes even more pain, but the irony is missed.

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
I love it when the queasy-love causes even more pain, but the irony is missed.

I love it when irony is missed, too. I see a hell of a lot of it happening on these threads. Your post, however, shows no irony.

That statment (originally made by another) is the basis for one view against capital punishment, and if you execute an innocent man, what makes you different to Dharma?

Oh, wait, your innocent man went painlessly into the next world with the aid of a few chemicals, so it's okay then.

"Sorry, Mrs X, we now know your husband was innocent and would sincerely like to pardon him, but there's one small problem, we already killed him, but, on the upside, it was a painless death. Have a nice day."

"Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" That's for the Christians out there who support the death penalty.

The original statement is then translated into the real world with terms of life imprisonment. I have no problem with people dying of old age in prison.

To quote Superman (Dan Jurgens, I think): "Dead men can't make restitution."

Say, was the man executed for "the trial of the century" ie the Lindbergh baby, proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt?

What about an example a little closer to (my) home, Ron Ryan?

And which part of riding the lightning is painless?

Originally posted by snafu7700
no, there have been cases of castrated sex offenders who still come back and sexually abuse children. just because you no longer have a sexual organ doesn not mean that a devious person can not come up with other sick and twisted ways to abuse someone.

But if they're in jail ... well I don't want to even approach where that could go but thanks I idn't know that it has been tried and failed.

I'd like to second what Figjam said regarding Australians and the Van Nguyen case, we all know the rules and the consequences of drugs in Singapore and Indonesia and such countries who do not tolerate this behaviour yet all we hear in the news is of this young person or that one getting caught over there and then they want our sympathy when they get caught ? When another one was just on the news for the same thing ? please, not everybody weeped. Those who did were only horrified because he was going to be killed, not because of what he did. If he had been let off like what's-that-heffa's-name ? Leslie, hardly anybody would have given him a 2nd thought (unless of course he faked religion while trying to get off the charges, she got more than her 15 minutes but that's now old news too, not even a month later). C'mon now.

What about the next person who is successful in bringing not only that amount of heroin but more into the country ? nevermind, that's off topic but just something I thought of when I first heard of all this.

I must admit not letting his mum hug him was harsh, just unecessary really.

Now problem, Howl, I'll try and keep tabs of how many innocent people would get whacked when the 1% turn out to be the Ted Bundys.

By the way, learn the Bible before you quote it. The Bible also says to act right because the government was given the sword for a reason.
I'm sure that reason wasn't to pick stuff out of its teeth.

[edit on 5-12-2005 by Thomas Crowne]

Guys we Beat This Topic To Death in this thread here.

Hey thats pretty funny