My lecturer at University is a convicted murderer, he killed a man at 17/18 and while in prison he studied and kept going and is now one if the most highly thought of prisons researchers in the UK.
Story for anybody interested:-
As privatisation forges ahead, Rachel Williams asks whether the pursuit of profit in prison education is failing inmates who most need to learn
www.google.com
Anyway, the punishment model in the UK is predicated on 4 strands:
- Retribution
- Deterrence
- Incapacitation
- Rehabilitaton
Retribution for their indiscretion is administered on them by the courts for 'us' (society) they do so to deter others from committing similar offences. By locking them up it largely incapacitates them and only then after a period of time is when -
theoretically - rehabilitation occurs. This is why you have tarrifs for offences and considerations for parole are made after X years. Its important to stress this isn't automatic release. Its just deemed an appropriate time to ask the question 'is this person sufficiently rehabilitated?' if the person is deemed unfit for release thats when you start reaching the now defunct IPP's or if so sick they're adjudged beyond rehabilitation Whole Life Orders come in.
So, to reintroduce capital punishment you aren't just adding an additional punishment but drastically shifting the punishment ideology that the country currently holds, to the far end of incapacitation (ie killing them) and pushing rehabilitation out of the punishment conversation. Its then hard to argue deterrent and or retribution, on a micro level Tony doesn't think Capital Punishment is proportionate, if there isn't a sense of proportion then that can erode trust and legitimacy scale that opposition to the population and its reintroduction can potentially seriously harm the justice system.
@WolfMan wanted to reply to your point re. murdering again after release. After release all lifers are on lifetime parole so not only is this an avoidable death but it represents systemic failures in parole and probation services before and after their release. The government have butchered probation since 2010. TWF favourite Chris Grayling released Transforming Rehabilitation as Justice Secretary in 2012. Probation was partially privatised and underfunded, the previous National Probation Service was sliced up into 21 'Community Rehabilitation Companies' (read Sodexo etc) HM Inspectorate of Probation has already concluded that overworked staff weren't completing adequate risk assessments and in many cases were supervising 200 offenders instead of the maximum 60. It isn't just the latter victims its failing, released domestic abusers weren't adequately supervised plunging partners and families back into desperate situations (I dare say first time murders happened here too) there was also a 19% increase in suicides by those who should be being supervised by the NPS and CRC's, they were failing victims, staff and offenders alike. In June this year the CRC's were re-absorbed into the NPS. It remains to be seen if there will be better supervision and improvements but what you're talking about is part of the wider picture of Tory austerity. There was mass state abandonment within the justice system. Its why there was also the biggest riots in Prisons (HMP Birmingham, Swaleside, Winchester et al) since 1990 during the last ten years too.
