Just watching this, maybe I'm going soft but found it emotional & touching. All very eloquent, almost as some deserved a break. Perhaps some do.
or perhaps they are murderers/rapists etc who've had time to mellow as they realise they're going to die. I'm not sure their victims families would be so forgiving :wink:
Indeed it would be interesting to visit the crime scene of their oeuvre to get an idea of what they had done to end up on Death Row (not that I'm in favour of the death penalty). There was a sad programme on French TV last night about a clearly psychopathic young guy who had ostensibly fallen in love with the daughter of a well-off family. The relationship was off and on for 10 years (he was 20 and she 14 when it started). The boyfriend ended up living with the family, although the father didn't like him much. Anyway, the father goes to Spain to open the family holiday home for the year, and the boyfriend, having been jilted (finally) by the daughter is supposed to leave the family home. Instead of which he shot the mother, the two sisters and finally his girlfriend, before shooting her through the heart with a crossbow he had just bought for the purpose. The father thus lost his wife and three daughters. I can imagine that the father will be waiting for the psycho when he gets out of prison (which he will). Indeed he has professed as much. None of the daughters were over 24 and they were all good-looking with everything to live for. I can't imagine ever forgiving a crime of that nature (whether i'm in favour of the death penalty or not).
Agreed Nick, but very well portrayed & a good fly on the wall programme. Alas it would appear there that life/death means just that, unlike here. But they have 20 years or more to exhaust all possibilities of doubt. But innocent folk have still been executed.
In those circumstances I would imagine most normal men would do something to ensure they were in that prison to administer their own rightful justice. I would
Your chances of ending up in the same prison would be slim. But I am sure that revenge is a dish best served cold.
I watched this too. A good fly on the wall I too felt sad for all involved The guy at the end was asked will you be remorseful or resentful He replied of course I will feel remorse but I have spent time being told that killing someone is not the right thing to do but yet they will poison me and kill me for that I will be resentful He went in cocky not giving a damn thinking he was indestructible. Being where he is suddenly dawned on him that being there and on his own wasn't so cool.
I have no sympathy for any of them. No remorse shown or true regret. Regret for being on death row maybe but not a word for the victim. Im not for the death penalty (maybe because no member of my family to date has been murdered) but I thought Trevor was master of the bleeding obvious during his narration an questioning. All of those inmates knew the consequences of what they did. $5 for the lives of two elderly woman. May change our minds about death penalty if they were our mums or nans.
I think increasingly some people are struggling to link their actions with potential consequences. I also think the relentless onslaught from TV, film and video games desensitises us to violence. A muslim colleague was telling me that sharia was merciful and kind because it's harshness acted as a real deterent.
John, I don't think we want to be taking advice on punishment from people who throw acid in the faces of their daughters or sisters because of some small indiscretion.
Would we have the same views if convicted paedos were to suffer the death penalty.....? .............latent comment. AL
Didn't watch it, but like StickeyWicket says, they only seem to regret getting caught. once had to sit through a transatlantic flight next to one of those crazy wimmin who become pen friends of death row blokes. She was on her way to see her wrong-done-to newly found beloved. Apparently, the poor little treasure was as innocent as my nine year old??? What makes a person so drawn to this kind of person, and is so hypnotised to believe every word from their 'jailbird'? not sure who was most crazy, him or her?
Regardless of the circumstances of crimes, I am worried that the emphasis always seems skewed to the perpetrators rather than the victims. Small numbers of innocent folks may have been executed, and I am not saying that does not matter, but how many innocent folks have been murdered by people who have spent years on death row? How much is spent on housing, feeding, defending them? As always in life and business, it is about getting the right balance. In my view, the balance is not right. I agree that alleged offenders have the right to a fair trial. I think it is even more important that innocent folks have the right not to be raped or murdered. I go about my life living within the law. I have no sympathy whatsoever for what happens to those who do not. All my sympathy lies with the innocent victims and their families.
Having an hour or so to reflect, it is a TV prog and as such maybe a tad contrived. The lad at 13 been locked up for 37 years so far. That is a difficult one. But some are very good at portraying the hard done by attitude. But this prog is all about the perpetrators and not the victims which on a programme like this is kind of easy to forget. Still an interesting prog tho' & Mr Mc D is just excellent in his demeanor.
He is a likeable, moderate, intelligent, educated Pakistani national, think more Imran Kahn than Abu Hamza, I don't think he would agree with throwing acid in anybody's face. We once had an interesting conversation about the way the words of the Koran were hijacked and misinterpreted by fundamentalists for their own ends, however there was no questioning the authenticity of the word of god, only it's interpretation. If people are going to be executed is it reasonable to keep them on death row for 20 years ? Would it not be better to establish guilt to the necessary standard and quickly move to execution if that is the verdict ? I certainly think so. I think I have mentioned before the stated views of Lord Justice Denning, when he was Master of the Rolls, that 'executing the occasional innocent man was a price worth paying for the deterent value to others'. Presumably it was unlikely that he or a member of his family would have to pay that price. Scary stuff from a senior member of the Judiciary.
Seems the Americans love a bit of mental torture too, hence the long waiting for death. Or as they are as religious as any Shaia (spellimg) state is this a way to aim at driving repentance after such a period of reflection that once they attend the gates they can still be forgiven their sins?
I was very much under the impression that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent. If it does, it's the first I've heard of it.
Wow, its so refreshing to see decent structured comments on what can be an emotive subject, so full marks guys! Secondly, its a very tough one, and I'm split by it. Part of me thinks the death penalty is wrong on two counts - its impossible to pardon a corpse if it later turns out they were innocent, and secondly taking a life doesn't undo the first crime. There is a 'however' though..... if anyone were to take the life of a family member, especially my nieces, I would happily spend the rest of my life behind bars to end that person. Two mutually incompatible viewpoints...
I'm torn on this one. I can understand those that have lost a loved one wanting revenge and, to use what seems to be a common saying these days, "closure". If I'd lost a loved one I'd probably want to see the murderer sentenced to death as well. However, on the other hand, part of me says two wrongs don't make a right and, despite huge advances in forensics, there are those still wrongly convicted of murder sent to prison. If one innocent person perished in prison due to being wrongly convicted, that means the death penalty simply doesn't work.
