Source 3: From a British school textbook. By the 20th century there was a move away from tough punishments of earlier periods. In 1948, the UN Declaration of Human Rights helped to change attitudes and by the 1960s the number of hangings was down to around 8 a year. The last woman to be hanged, Ruth Ellis, was executed in 1955. In 1957, the death penalty applied to only five types of murder: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Murder whilst carrying out theft Murder by shooting Murder whilst resisting arrest Murder of a police officer A repeat murder.
Yet there was some unfairness even I the 1957 law: why was murder by shooting worse than killing by strangling or poison? The last two people to be executed in Britain were hanged in 1964. Capital punishment was abolished in 1965 for all offences except piracy and high treason in time of war. In 1969, after a trial period of five years, capital punishment was abolished permanently by 343 votes to 185. In recent years the death penalty has been cleared contrary to human rights and in 1998 it was completely removed.
Source 4: Poll on British e-petition site, August, 2011
A Japanese argument
This is a rather quirky argument, and not normally put forward. Japan uses the death penalty sparingly, executing approximately 3 prisoners per year. A unique justification for keeping capital punishment has been put forward by some Japanese psychologists who argue that it has an important psychological part to play in the life of the Japanese, who live under severe stress and pressure in the workplace. The argument goes that the death penalty reinforces the belief that bad things happen to those who deserve it. This reinforces the contrary belief; that good things will happen to those who are 'good'. In this way, the existence of capital punishment provides a psychological release from conformity and overwork by reinforcing the hope that there will be a reward in due time. Oddly, this argument seems to be backed up by Japanese public opinion. Those who are in favour currently comprise 81% of the population, or that is the official statistic. Nonetheless there is also a small but increasingly vociferous abolitionist movement in Japan.
Arguments for the death penalty (to oppose abolition)
If someone murders someone else, they have given up their human rights, including the one to stay alive themselves
Retribution - the punishment should 'fit the crime' - if you have killed someone, you should be killed too
It has a deterrent effect - giving a killer the death sentence will stop them - and others - doing it again
Life imprisonment is expensive, in some ways even more cruel than capital punishment
Criminals would be more likely to carry guns if there was no danger of them being hanged for killing
The very small chance of executing the wrong person is balanced by the benefits to society of putting off other murderers
The Japanese ‘consequentialist’ Argument
Arguments against the death penalty (to support abolition)
The death penalty goes against our most basic human right - the right to life. It is a barbaric and uncivilised act
Being killed by lethal injection or being electrocuted is not always smooth and painless, sometimes it causes a painful death
No-one has ever proven with numbers that killing murderers stops other people committing similar crimes
Mistakes are sometimes made in the law - what if someone is killed who is actually innocent?
Other countries had abolished capital punishment without a noticeable increase in crime (was the rise in murders in Britain just a coincidence?)
Most murders happen on the spur of the moment, so capital punishment is not a deterrent
Miscarriages of justice Timothy Evans: hanged 9 March 1950. Timothy was a van driver who, with his wife, was a lodger in the house of John Christie. Evans’ wife became pregnant and Christie offered to perform an abortion. However, Christie was a serial killer who had already murdered several women. He told Evans that the abortion had been a failure and his wife had died. Out of guilt, Evans confessed to murder. His story was obviously untrue, and he changed it several times but was convicted and hanged. Three years late, Christie was convicted of other murders and it became clear that Evans had not been a murderer. He was posthumously pardoned in 1965.
Derek Bentley: hanged 28 January 1953. Derek Bentley, aged 19 (but judged to have a mental age of 10), and Chris Craig, aged 16, were burgling a warehouse in London in 1952. Craig shot and killed a policeman who was trying to arrest them, but Bentley had, according to the police, shouted ‘Let him have it!’. There was uncertainty over exactly what Bentley might have meant; to kill the policeman or let him have the gun. Craig was too young to be hanged but Bentley was found guilty of murder, although the jury asked for mercy for him. A crowd gathered outside the Houses of Parliament chanting ‘Bentley must not die!’, however their efforts were in vain and Bentley was hanged. He was posthumously pardoned in 1998.
Jon Venables: Venables and his friend Robert Thompson were only ten when they killed two-yearold James Bulger in 1993, after abducting him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool. They were jailed but released with new identities after serving eight years, without spending a day in an adult prison. In 2010, however, it emerged Venables, 32, was back behind bars for breaking the conditions of his release by downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse, some involving victims as young as two. He was jailed for a further two years before being released again in 2013. Journalist and child protection expert Mark WilliamsThomas found Venables’ online dating profile in a joint investigation with the Sunday Mirror. Some have argued that his sentence was too light and has led to him reoffending.