A Case for Capital Punishment
What Does it Take?
As I've said here often enough, our criminal justice system is rather weak when it comes to handing out sentences to law breakers. I have shown enough examples of what might be termed minor crime and the ridiculous sentences meted out for these crimes. Thank God PM Harper has vowed to crack down on crime and make sentences tougher. In a lot of cases, he really doesn't have to do this. Just take away the options the judges have at their disposal and eliminate minimum sentencing. Let the perps serve a full sentence with no allowance given for time served waiting for trial and no time off for good behavior. Mandatory parole should be eliminated and cons who might rejoin society should attend mandatory classes, while still in prison, to help assimilate them back to the world where they may enjoy some rights and privileges again.
Unfortunately, we still seem to have a need for capital punishment. I know a bunch of liberals will disagree with me on this, but I say they are out of touch. How can you possibly justify keeping the Paul Bernardos and Clifford Olsens behind bars for the rest of their lives at an estimated cost of $84,000/year, each? You've already said that they are not fit to return to society, so why not do them and us a favour and spend even $1000 to dispatch them to the hell they so rightfully deserve?
Criminologists argue that capital punishment isn't a deterrent. They probably just haven't seen it effectively applied. I think it certainly "deterred" serial killer Ted Bundy. And remember Timothy McVeigh, who blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City? He was given a lethal injection five years ago - and hasn't blown up anything since. The death penalty should be viewed as pest control rather than state sanctioned murder. When a cockroach gets into your home, you break out the Raid - you don't place it nicely outside your front door and pray that it won't find its way back in.
How much time is a little girl's life worth in Canada? In Cecilia Zhang's case it's 15 years. That's what Mr. Justice Bruce Durno handed out to Min Chen, 15 years before he is able to apply for parole. It's significantly lower than no eligibility for 25 years that goes with a first-degree murder conviction. Despite assertions he may be deported back to China and face further discipline, our PC House leader said he also fears we are going to be stuck with Chen. "Why wasn't the deportation arranged as a stipulation to the plea bargain?" he asked. But Chen's lawyer said his client has "never been in trouble before, and he's made a huge mistake - that has to be recognized." What also has to be recognized is the murderer snuck into the Zhang's North York home, took Cecilia from her room forcibly and the next time she was seen, she was rotting in a Mississauga ravine. All of this happened, apparently, so Chen could arrange a marriage of convenience and stay in Canada.
Here is a case for capital punishment. China doesn't care about Chen, otherwise they would have screamed to have him tried at home, under their laws. This wouldn't be a bad thing as they would not have given him a chance to plea bargain down to second degree murder. If found guilty of first degree murder, his sentence would have been swift and final. Here in Canada, he gets a plea bargain, will be able to apply for refugee status and will, in all likelihood marry a Canadian in order to stay in the country. For $10.00 worth of rope from Home hardware and about $500.00 for lumber to build a scaffold, we can save ourselves a lot of aggravation.
Published by Youranter
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2 Comments
Post a CommentRobert, thank for your point of view. Please explain to me how it is cheaper to spend $84,000 per year on a prisoner for life than it is to execute him? Over here, the government automatically pays for any prisoner appeal, so that cost is added to his upkeep. Of course, in the States, life means life. Here it means a max of 25 years with eligibility for parole after 15. Bernardo and Olsen are specifice examples of 'dangerous offenders', a label not easily given, and will die in prison. Olsen was finally told he cannot file anymore lawsuits as all his previous ones were frivilous and costing the government (me, the taxpayer) too much money. Bernardo was sentenced when he was about 35 years old. I think I can execute him for a lot less than the $3.36 million it willl cost if he lives to age 75. I appreciate you writing. The purpose of these blogs is to stir debate, and I like seeing other points of view.
I am not familiar with Canadian law but in the U.S. it is more cost effective to keep someone in prison for life than put him/her to death. Our constitution includes a "due process" clause which requires the government to fund the appeals of a death row prisoner if he/she is indigent. Further the death penalty, as applied in the U.S., has been proven to be discriminatory. Also, making fun of deterrence may be cute but it ignores a series of studies which have proven that adjacent jurisdictions which have different death penalty statutes show no difference in murder rates. Your examples, while evoking the visceral, are merely isolated inncidents not true empirical data.