L.O.L. GA, I consider that when they dropped the Atom bomb on Hiroshima, that was a good example of a deterrant:p so I do know what it means.

In all seriousness, you probably couldn’t be more wrong.

What do you think the word means?

D,N,A. over the last decade has made it virtualy impossible for the test results to be wrong.

Impossible, eh?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1322077/False-DNA-test-led-father-to-reject-daughter.html
http://www.experiencedcriminallawyers.com/dna-evidence-in-criminal-cases-can-be-falsified-and-manufactured/
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/08/fabricating_dna.html

I didn’t say they were funny, just that no-one had mentioned them. 😉

No-one has mentioned Ken Dodd or Will Hay.

Astounding…..

The one big advantage of the death penalty is of course…they cannot re-offend ! And as moggy posted – its much cheaper than life imprisonment !!

The big disadvantage of the death penalty is that, if the wrong person has been convicted, another innocent life has been lost.

You’re surely not going to tell us that miscarriages of justice never happen, are you?

O.K. Oh wise obie canobie, can you suggest a deterrent that would work, if what I think is the ultimate is wrong.

P.S. It’s very unusual for you to get involved in forum topics, have I touched upon a raw nerve somewhere along the line?;)

The perception (correct or otherwise) that being caught and subsequently punished was inevitable would go some way towards it.

If you really don’t believe you’ll ever be made to suffer the consequences, the nature of the punishment for your crime is irrelevant.

I’ve been sitting watching Cardiff vs Swansea on the PC and then listening to Liverpool vs Chelsea on the radio so I’ve been sitting in front of the computer for most of the afternoon.

It takes a lot more than someone who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “deterrent” to touch a raw nerve with me. :p

Just this week, a guy in prison for life attacked and killed a female correctional officer in the prison chapel.
This state (the way it’s run in the US, each state has its own laws) has a death penalty but it’s very rarely used (about once every 10-15 years) so it didn’t deter him, however, I’d imagine it would deter others.

I’d hate to be a corrections officer surrounded by guys in for life (often with no chance of parole) with nothing left to lose and no death penalty.
I’d imagine some would just as soon kill you before lunch.

Interesting anecdotes.

But you’re talking as though the death penalty were a deterrent to the kind of behaviour you describe.

It clearly isn’t, otherwise such things would never happen in countries where the death penalty still exists.

It probably is a very effective form of vengeance, but that’s a different kettle of fish altogether.

In your 2nd point in countries where the penalty is in use and is used MUST be a deterrant, even the most stupid criminal would have to think what could happen should he kill somewon in a robbery, and knowing he faces the death penalty if caught.

And yet, criminals are tried and found guilty of capital crimes and are executed.

That’s not how a deterrent works, my friend.

See?

That was easy, wasn’t it? 🙂