Comments | johnckirk: (без темы)

johnckirk

(Untitled)

Dec 27, 2003 23:03

First up, I hope everyone had a good Christmas break. I was in work until Wednesday (Christmas Eve), but now I'm off until next weekend (back on Monday 5th), so that's a nice break.

I've recently updated my website, and I'm now working on getting my book errata online. This is useful in a wider context, since I'm figuring out SVG, MathML, and XML ( Read more... )

christmas, cat, postgrad, justice, films

Comments 8

bazzalisk December 27 2003, 15:08:32 UTC

(I'd cheerfully see him executed)

Realy? I may not be entirely familiar with the situation, but as I understand it this man is no longer a risk, since he will most certainly never get an oportunity to act again - so on what grounds would execution be apropriate?

johnckirk December 27 2003, 15:11:24 UTC

Basically, if he's never going to be released from prison, then I wonder whether it's really a good use of money to spend X thousand pounds per year keeping him there. I can understand the theory that this is the mark of a civilised society. On the other hands, there are plenty of other things that would also signify civilisation (e.g. no hunger, no disease, education for all), and there's only a limited amount of money to go around, so it's a question of priorities.

I'm not saying that I'll be out campaigning for a change in the law, to bring back the death penalty. Simply that if he was killed, it wouldn't bother me. Ditto if he managed to commit suicide when a guard wasn't paying attention.

bazzalisk December 27 2003, 15:15:57 UTC

Suicide I see no problem with ... I feel that preventing prisoners from killing themselves is perverse - but to kill him denies him the chance to change - and I cannot see any grounds for ever doing that unless one absolutely has to in order to protect society.

johnckirk December 27 2003, 15:33:03 UTC

Have you ever read "The Demolished Man" (by Alfred Bester)? There's a scene at the end of that where one character basically says "The death penalty was a really stupid idea, and I'm glad we got rid of it. If you're smart enough to plan a crime like this, then you could be a great asset to society once you're rehabilitated." I can understand that approach. Similarly, one of my favourite comics (before it got cancelled) was "Thunderbolts" (where a bunch of former super-villains seek redemption by turning hero ( ... )

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