Indonesia to execute six drug offenders

[robvalue]

I think a death sentence for drug trafficking is too harsh. I would reserve this ultimate deterrent probably just for murder, and used at the judge's discretion in airtight cases only. I remember Ricky Gervais made a good point, that if you expand the death penalty past murder, you can get a situation where people are more likely to use deadly force to avoid capture or to remove witnesses because they're already facing the death penalty for a non-murder crime.

[Norman Humann]

Stricter punishment doesn't necessarily deter criminals. As if drug dealers were afraid of death.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm against the death penalty in almost every circumstance. First, I think that life in prison is by far worse. Secondly, mistakes cannot be rectified at all. False imprisonment can be at least partially rectified by release and financial and social reparation -- lump sum payment for lost wages, free education to assist reintegration, and so on -- but you can't fix a DP sentence once it's carried out.

The bastards running the "justice system" in the US aren't much better.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/louis...th-of-pot/

Louisiana man gets life in prison for selling $20 worth of pot

Mandatory minimum sentencing is lazy justice, resulting in the increasing inhumanity of our legal system.

[Anomalocaris]

When in another country, we have to paly by their rules, if we don't then we shouldn't complain whatever the outcome is. They went into that country thinking they could fool that country, but who really is the fool ?.

Really?? Because it's another country the laws are somehow okay?

Yes.

[c172]

I'm for Indonesia's sovereignty, but I'd raise hell if there was a similar DP situation here. As well, it makes me want to boycott Indonesia somehow. I just hope this doesn't turn Aussies more racist against invividuals from Indonesia.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm for Indonesia's sovereignty, but I'd raise hell if there was a similar DP situation here. As well, it makes me want to boycott Indonesia somehow. I just hope this doesn't turn Aussies more racist against invividuals from Indonesia.

I've said for years that I won't buy a Chinese-built guitar because I don't want to support a system that maintains prisoners of conscience and other injustices. I feel the same way about Indonesia.

[robvalue]

The thing about the death penalty is you have to weigh up all the problems with not executing airtight murder cases:

1) If they are released or they escape, needless innocents may die.

2) The tax payer has to fund them being kept alive.

3) The prisons are fuller so that there's less room for other crimes and sentences end up being reduced artificially.

4) Another reason probably. Not at my best today.

I know it's far from clear cut, but I come down slightly on the side of the DP not as punishment, but to protect society from those who have proven unsafe to ever be in it.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The thing about the death penalty is you have to weigh up all the problems with not executing airtight murder cases:

1) If they are released or they escape, needless innocents may die.

Prison escapes are incredibly rare, especially from maximum security facilities.

2) The tax payer has to fund them being kept alive.

The appeals process makes Death Row the most expensive form of imprisonment. The fact that a crime may be treated capitally means that the trial costs are dramatically higher, as well.

But frankly, even if the death penalty is cheaper overall, I'd still rather pay a little more to ensure that irreversible injustice is not committed in my name.

3) The prisons are fuller so that there's less room for other crimes and sentences end up being reduced artificially.

The total imprisoned population in America in 2013 was 1.574 million. The number on Death Row awaiting execution was 2,979 -- i.e., .0018%. Even if we killed every one of them today, we wouldn't open up much room. Of course, the US actually executes 30 - 50 prisoners a year, so you can see that in real numbers, the beds opened up by the DP are far lower.

Note also that this point goes to expenses as well; we don't save very much money, as a proportion of the prison budgets -- if any at all, given the immense legal expenses borne by the state for the indigent defendants.

4) Another reason probably. Not at my best today.

I know it's far from clear cut, but I come down slightly on the side of the DP not as punishment, but to protect society from those who have proven unsafe to ever be in it.

I agree that there's a place for the death penalty, and you're right: dead convicts don't recidivate. But I also want to ensure that our justice system is as fair as possible, and this penalty is one of the extreme examples of its unfairness, both in terms of how it's applied racially, as well as the inherent inability to rectify the unfairness at a later date.

[Norman Humann]

Let's not forget that when fighting monsters, one must take care not to become a monster as well. Murdering murderers is still immoral.

[DeistPaladin]

Its their own fault, they knew what would happen and they took the gamble, and so they should pay for their gamble.