Originally Posted by koshatnik

That's the most misinformed piece of thinking I've heard in a long time. Death penalty is not a deterrant to crime. People comit serious crimes due to financial and sociological poverty, mental health issues, substance dependence or lack of attainable social goals. Killing a murder solves nothing. The murder victim is still dead. Nothing has been addressed. What needs to be looked at are the underlying problems that contribute to high crime levels, not punishing crime harshly that has already been commited. Society is to blame for crime and its society that needs to look at itself and address the issue.

In the 18th and 19th century in Britain, even the most innocuous crimes were dealt with harshly - children were deported to australia for stealing a loaf of bread, and an adult could be hanged for doing the same thing. Didn't stop crime. If people are hungry enough and desperate enough, no deterrent is strong enough to will stop someone. What needs to be done is to look at what can effectively prevent the crime to start with. There is an adage that states: "its better to have a fence at the top of the cliff than an ambulance at the bottom."

The death penalty solves zilch.