Shall we hang dem?
Ok, mek see if I can come up with a post. Weekend been arite so far…at least we haven’t had any more rain. However, not sure how long dat going last as Alpha comes into the area. (BTW, is Alpha a rude bwoy or a sistah? I not so sure, dats why me asking? 
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Now, to the meat of the post. It has been a while since I have done one of dem kinda posts where the topic is controversial and people tend to have strong feelings for or against. You know, things like termination of pregnancy, race issues etc. Actually, I have no problem with healthy discussion and differeing viewpoints, just be decent in how you argue….cool?
So, with that in mind, what I am going to chat about is the death penalty, by hanging. Apparently our Prime Minister, PJ, made a speech to the nation recently where he announced some new initiatives to try to combat crime in our land (won’t be the first time such tings have taken place). Now, I must admit that I had heard about his plan to address the nation, but I really made no effort to listen to or tek it een. Why you ask? Well, IMHO, he ‘aint a great speaker….I find he makes me sleepy….so, I never heard what he had to say.
Pripsing the Gleaner today, I see the headlines mentioned that he is planning to have chat with the JLP Opposition about the possibility of reintroducing the death penalty by hanging here. OK, so I suppose I should start the discussion with my thoughts.
I cannot say I oppose hanging 100%. There are some things to consider though. There have been many reports that in countries where crime is high and they do hang, that the imposition of the death penalty has not made any significant change in the level of crime. In addition, what about the individual who may be convicted of a serious crime wrongfully, and lose their life for something that they did not do? Sure, it can happen, can’t it? You are accused of a crime, it comes to trial, you’re found guilty based on the evidence, and sentencing is passed. Then of course, there is the religious side of things. Many will argue that we should leave decisions regarding life and death to God…..that we really do not have the right to take life. Well, I am known well to state my position regarding termination of pregnancy. Where that is concerned, I do feel that a woman in certain situations should be allowed the right to choose. I have also stated many times that I do not feel that termination of pregnancy should be used as a contraceptive method. Fine, nutten further on that. That’s a blog post done by me many moons ago. Hence, I don’t think that argument changes my viewpoint on the matter.
So, where do we go from here? It is no question that the business of violent crime, lawlessness and disorder is a big problem facing our nation. And, the decent citizens of this nation suffer at the hands of those who perpetrate these crimes, both here and abroad. Many of us have lost family, close friends…..or have seen and heard the stories about the carnage that is going on here. It must get to the man with the coldest of hearts when innocent children, women and men are being killed. We also suffer at the ports of entry of many countries where all Jamaiacans are looked upon as the spawn of the devil…or close to it. (Good haffi suffah fe de bad!) So, let us say we decide not to implement the death penalty. What then are we going to do? Sure, improving socio-economic opportunities and empowering people with skills can help….but is this enough?
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this…and somehow I think it will take years to make a final decision. But, the question still remains….shall we hang dem? I would love to hear what y’all have to say…..specially de legal man dem like Ri. Share you thoughts nuh. And, have a good rest of the weekend.
October 23rd, 2005 at 7:24 pm I’m not comfortable with the death penalty. But the breed of criminal running roughshod over Jamaica right now, and who put us at the top of the heap in the world for homicides per capita, deserve it. To be honest, I dread reading the Jamaican news every day. It seems to go from one horror to the next, especially the heartless rape and murder of children. What manner of beasts are these that would do such things? I also read in today’s paper about the arrest of a policeman who’s suspected to be part of a gang targeting returning residents. Is it any wonder so many of us dread coming home. And why many who’ve made the mistake are selling off at a loss and returning, forever lost in the Babylon called farrin!
October 24th, 2005 at 12:27 am Never was comfortable with “A death for a death”, and if it was to be re-impemented now it is simply too little too late. De horse dun gaan tru de gate aready! The real problem is (as Golding has pointed out), the people inclined to do these things now know they can GET AWAY WITH IT. That is the big problem. Too little cops, too many crimes. If they new it was highly probable that they would get caught more than half of those crimes would have never occurred. But you kill Winston Doe from down de Lane you will most likely live to kill again in Jamaica. My 2 (Jamaican) cents.
October 24th, 2005 at 6:32 am The death penalty makes me squeamish because I see our method in the Caribbean as barbaric.I think if we gonna keep the death penalty we should move towards the lethal injection.Another problem I have with the death penalty is that it doesn’t serve as a deterrent since the crime rates remain the same.So I’d go for live without parole.
October 24th, 2005 at 12:36 pm Normally I would not agree with the death penalty.. but with the breed of criminal that now exits in JA and have completely take over…I say hang dem claat!!! It should be a public hanging too so that the others can see it…lethal injection too civil for them…When I read about that little girl that gunmen burn down her house with her family members trapped inside and who then turned their guns on other residents trying to rescue the family after hearing their screams..I saw hang dem X2….
October 24th, 2005 at 1:25 pm I woman believe that yuh do de crime, yuh do the time and the consquences of the time should correspond with the crime. So alla dem bad boy dem dat running bout de place like them think dem in de wild wild west, dem need ah hanging tuh rathid. The criminals nowadays have no mercy for human life. When dem running bout in broad daylight, in neighborhoods, school zones and dem places so shooting up de place. I say hang in and hang em high.
October 24th, 2005 at 6:07 pm horse gone thru gate yes! but do we need it anyway? since the police do this service anyway on the regular? come on, how many people get shot in the toe by police yet “died on the way to hospital”?
October 25th, 2005 at 1:15 am Doc Boy that is a touchy topic. And no exposition on it can leave all who hear or read it satisfied. Capital punishment is of course viewed by most as the most serious punishment man can impose criminally. I think it should be reserved for terrorism, and more heinous circumstances, such as genocide, rape/killing, where victims are the very old, young or comparably weak, etc., kidnap/murder is another example. The US has several degrees of homicide (whereas Caribbean islands tend to only have manslaughter and murder)some US states have vol. m/s, invol m/s, 1st deg murder, 2nd degree murder, and even Capital Murder, because they have a separate system of Federal Law. Along with each of these types of homicide charge come different tariffs of sentence. So death or not is really too simplistic. I believe one needs to take each case in turn and treat it accordingly. So what P.J. (who is a QC and should know) could propose, is an amendment of the law to introduce to categories of homicide, along with sentence tariffs for each, rather than just say, boy let me go a check Brucie so dat we can start hang alla dem.. zeen!
October 25th, 2005 at 11:50 am Ri, in Jamaica, they have at least manslaughter, murder and capital murder.
October 25th, 2005 at 5:31 pm If we are all about retribution and believe that the moral wrath of society demands that criminals pay a price proportional to their crime then perhaps their is room for the death penalty. The death penalty would however be only that: a debt owed by the criminal to society and nothing more as statistically it doesn’t seem to be a deterrent to murder. Under a rational expectations model of the legal system the punishment for murder must be weighted sufficiently to create more costs than benefits for the reasonable human being. The threat of state sanctioned death is negligible in Jamaica and is not sufficient to create more costs than benefits. In the crimes we are trying to deter, the stakes are already high and the potential rewards are lucrative. Hanging is just neither here nor there for these criminals risk their lives and face death everyday. The more appropriate remedy would be to increase the probability that a criminal will be apprehended. Who fears the law if the chances of being made accountable to it are low? I feel that hanging is a facade unless we call a spade a spade and just say it is to make people feel better. As when we hang these criminals there are many that replace them. We have eliminated the criminal but the weapon he wielded eventually finds its way into someone else’s hand. Which brings me to the obvious: the long term solution is not in removing the criminals, its in removing the guns. Its not in hanging, it’s in creating more legitimate economic opportunity for the poor. Any other solution is just a mere temporary band aid. Even in choosing a band aid - I would not chose capital punishment as the blood will continue to gush anyway. We need to improve our crime fighting force and increase the probabilities that criminals will be caught in their actions.
October 25th, 2005 at 11:21 pm for a fellow like me that support looters i have this to say
October 26th, 2005 at 8:59 am Gracias to all for the comments…I borrowoing a laptop here….computer in hospital at a most inconvenient time. Anyway, I hear those for and against the hanging…all points valid.
October 26th, 2005 at 7:27 pm I would say that the hanging reimplimentation should be used as a lat diteched effort, this means that, first the police force needs to set higher objectives is catching criminals and secondly the court must do its part in deterring criminals and secondly I beleive that they should privatise some of the prisons and as a result more will be built without the state having to invest alot . Then based on the nature of the crime and they can prove that person did it without any reasonable doubt then that person should be exterminated.
October 27th, 2005 at 7:59 pm Yeah hanging is not the answer, but it can be a deterrent. and in jamaica wi have to try all posibilities to reduce the escallating crime problem.