Do you support the Death Penalty

[Tender Branson]

No. Some excerpts of my lenghty debate on this topic a while back:

Compare Germany/France and Colombia/South Africa. Both do not have the death penalty. Germany/France have homicide rates of 1-2/100.000 while Colombia/South Africa have rates of 50-80/100.000

Now compare Singapore/South Korea/Japan (countries with DP) with Jamaica (with DP). While the first group has a homicide rate of 1-2/100.000, Jamaica has a rate of 40 homicides per 100.000

So what do Germany/France/Singapore/Japan/South Korea as well as Colombia/South Africa/Jamaica have in common ?

The 1. group has a functional social security net, more or less low unemployment and a peaceful society.

The second group of states experiences civil war, racism, high unemployment, high gunownership etc. and the real problems of high homicide rates are a matter of poverty and misery or a culture of violence (see Guatemala).

[Tender Branson]

There´s also a resolution on the DP coming up in the UN in a few weeks:

UNITED NATIONS - European Union and other countries opposed to the death penalty are to launch a fresh bid in coming weeks to have the UN General Assembly pass a resolution urging an end to it, diplomats said.

Two previous similar attempts failed, due partly to opposition from the United States, where many states still perform executions, but a diplomat familiar with the campaign said this time the text would tone down the demand.

Instead of asking outright for abolition, a draft obtained by Reuters calls on countries that put criminals to death to "establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty."

It calls application of the death penalty "a denial of human dignity and integrity," says it "provides no added value in terms of deterrence" and notes that "any miscarriage or failure of justice in its implementation is irreversible and irreparable."

Unlike Security Council resolutions, those passed by the General Assembly are not binding, but they have moral force.

The diplomat said sponsors of the resolution would hold an informal meeting later this week before circulating it to a General Assembly committee. The aim was to have a vote by mid-November by the full Assembly, where a simple majority of the 192 member states is needed.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10471596

[Tender Branson]

72 countries push for UN moratorium on death penalty

New York, 2 Nov. (AKI) - The UN General Assembly has received a draft resolution signed by 72 countries calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty - one of the most controversial issues dividing the world body.

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi began a push for a UN resolution to ban capital punishment worldwide in January, after the execution of toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The planned resolution has faced resistance from Asian and Middle Eastern countries which along with the United States carry out the highest number of executions annually.

The resolution was circulated late on Thursday in the UN's human rights committee. It has been co-authored by 36 countries including the 27 EU member states, and has the support of 72 countries.

The draft is due to be voted on by the committee in mid-November.

If the resolution passes in the committee, the 192 nation UN General Assembly will vote on it in mid-December, where it requires the backing of 97 countries to pass.

Italy hopes to use its influence when it next month becomes rotating president of the UN Security Council to convince a further 25 countries to support the resolution.

The resolution, if passed in the assembly is non-binding, but will carry moral and political weight.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1504751114

[Tender Branson]

No, because it does not deter, it's completely cost ineffective, human rights abusing and racially biased. Not to mention the possibility of executing an innocent.

Look at the statistics:

1980 is a good year to compare the 2007 numbers because in all 3 states I use, the homicide rate peaked in this year.

TX (death penalty): 1980 (16.9 murders/100.000) 2007 (5.9 murders) drop: 65%

New York (no death penalty, has not executed anyone for at least the last 45 years):

1980 (12.7 murders/100.000) 2007 (4.2 murders) drop: 67%

If you think NY does not count, because it had a DP statute for at least until 2005) then use

Hawaii: (no death penalty): 1980 (8.7 murders/100.000) 2007 (1.7 murders) drop: 81%

And the fact that murder rates are generally lower in states/countries that have no death penalty than states/countries who have (except if you are living in an epic fail country like Colombia or South Africa with a culture of violence and social dispair).