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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17210285This is interesting. It seems that the cost may erode the use of the death penalty in the USA instead of any moral objections.
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:14 pm |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm Posts: 8767 Location: behind the sofa
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Surely still cheaper than the cost of keeping them alive indefinitely?
_________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:23 pm |
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belchingmatt
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 3:16 am Posts: 6146 Location: Middle Earth
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The cost of killing them is massive once you take into account legal fees over an easy 10 year period. If it is therefore cheaper to keep them alive in prison for life than to execute them then it should be an easy decision to make. I don't even see why the cost of the actual execution has been considered here at all.
_________________ Dive like a fish, drink like a fish!
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If one is diving so close to the limits that +/- 1% will make a difference then the error has already been made.
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:41 pm |
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l3v1ck
What's a life?
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:21 am Posts: 12700 Location: The Right Side of the Pennines (metaphorically & geographically)
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Just make them do hard labour for life. There's no killing involved so less appeals and lower costs, they'd be doing something useful for society and it would be seen as a harsh punishment and might just put people off murder (though having said that the death penalty never did).
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:37 pm |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm Posts: 8767 Location: behind the sofa
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2 reasons. Firstly, depending on what you mean by "hard labour" then I think it's probably against international law. Secondly, the use of slave labour gives them unfair economic. If they're sowing mail sacks, they'll undercut the existing mail sack supplier who will go out of business.
_________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:22 pm |
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l3v1ck
What's a life?
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:21 am Posts: 12700 Location: The Right Side of the Pennines (metaphorically & geographically)
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Don't the yanks have prisoners digging drainage ditches next to roads etc. I'm not talking about being chained to a rock with a hammer.
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:48 pm |
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lumbthelesser
Occasionally has a life
Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 11:38 pm Posts: 442 Location: Manchester
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TBH, it probably won't dent China's revenue from exports that much 
_________________ According to a recent poll, over 70% of Americans don't believe Trump's hair was born in the USA.
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:59 pm |
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MrStevenRogers
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:44 pm Posts: 4860
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a rope and gallows are cheap and can be used time and time again ...
_________________ Hope this helps . . . Steve ...
Nothing known travels faster than light, except bad news ... HP Pavilion 24" AiO. Ryzen7u. 32GB/1TB M2. Windows 11 Home ...
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:19 am |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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The drugs and actual cost of killing the person is a drop in the ocean when compared to the legal costs that a prisoner goes through before the deed is done. They have to be sure that they are 100% certain that the person to be executed carried out the crime. In some cases, prisoners on death row have been there for over 20 years. There is a big cost for that, not just in various hearings, appeals, etc. but also in keeping them. Might as well just give a life sentence and be done with it. It would be cheaper.
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:23 am |
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jonlumb
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:44 pm Posts: 4141 Location: Exeter
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There's already a massive amount of that going on in America. I don't have an exhaustive list, but there are certain areas where the prison service has a complete monopoly due to their non-existent labour costs. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is the making of number plates for cars, but the program I saw on the subject did list a fair few other things.
_________________ "The woman is a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma I've had sex with."
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:56 am |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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Was that QI? They certainly alluded to the fact that the USA has a massive slave labour population due to the high prison population and the work prisoners do for practically nothing. EDIT: YouTubery of the clip I’m referring to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScBC2nZ1 ... re=related
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:59 pm |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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A lot of US prisons are run by private companies. It actually pays them to ensure they have a regular flow of felons in order to maintain their profits and pay their directors and shareholders. I wonder how long it'll be before it is mooted here. There's already talk of putting routine police work out to tender. I don't want to live in a country where every public service can be had for the right price, yet it seems to be the way we're headed whatever we think about it. 
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:22 pm |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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You know the Tories don’t like the public sector at all, and if they had their way it would not exist at all. If there’s no way to make a profit from it, they just aren’t interested.
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Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:00 pm |
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