China parades foreign Mekong killers before execution

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by August

I'm no fan of the death penalty for the same reason. You just can't trust the state not to screw up or even deliberately scapegoat an innocent man. But the mistake, if there is one, is in the execution itself, not in the lead up to it.

If it were up to me all convicted criminals would be paraded through the streets before beginning their sentence. Give the public a chance to toss a few rotten pieces of fruit and maybe a slap or three and publicly shame the miscreant before sentence is carried out.

Why stop there? Why not bring back the guillotine for some public blood fest?

Seriously, if I felt that there were no innocents behind bars I could become ruthless, but there are too many people serving time for the crimes of others.

[August]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Why stop there? Why not bring back the guillotine for some public blood fest?

Because that would be a death penalty that I said I oppose in the very quote you posted.

Seriously, if I felt that there were no innocents behind bars I could become ruthless, but there are too many people serving time for the crimes of others.

Sure there are. But I still think public shaming is a valid deterrent tactic. We send criminals to jail with the idea that only the government really disapproves of their actions. They need to know that disapproval also comes from their community as well.