Excerpted from Kitana’s blog here.
My father and B are both of the opinion tt I am sometimes too emotional for my own good. I feel sadness too easily. I’d only attended one judgment for a murder trial, and during tt trial the holding had been culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which was a rather joyous occasion. And the only trial I’d attended where the defendent had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to jail; I became rather sad when I watched them slip the handcuffs onto his wrists as his wife watched attempting bravely to blink her tears back. I knew tt it was temporary and tt he would be released shortly and well, he had to do the time for the crime I suppose, but from what I’d seen of him I’d thought tt he was a good man, and I always felt sad if I saw good people go to jail.
Read the full article on Kitana’s blog.
There are two reasons for punishing an offender: rehabilitation and deterrence.
Rehabilitation is out as dead people can’t be rehabilitated. And, if we apply the death penalty as a deterrent, should we make the death as long and as painful as possible. And, oh yes, the deterrent would be more effective if the execution is carried out in public. We should perhaps revert to the very effective practice of public hanging, drawing and quartering, Or, perhaps, chopping off an arm and a leg. Without anesthesia, of course.
Yes, if we’re going to kill people, let’s do it the Singapore way – in extremis! Anything worth doing is worth doing well.