Death Penalty In Australia

The last person to be executed in Australia was Ronald Ryan at Pentridge Prison, Victoria in 1967.These figures are valid until 1985 when the death penalty was officially abolished by all states in Australia. The abolition of the death penalty occurred at a different time in each state, with Queensland being the first state to abolish capital punishment in 1922. This was followed by New South Wales in 1955, Tasmania in 1968, Northern Territory and Australia Capital Territory in 1973, Victoria in 1975, South Australia in 1976, and finally Western Australia was the last state to abolish capital punishment in 1984. Under Commonwealth law, the death penalty was abolished in 1973 by s.4 of the Death Penalty Abolition Act, 1973, which states "A person is not liable for the punishment of death for any offence".

The pros for the death penalty are convicting are those with serious crimes such as torture rape and murder. Capital punishment over time has become more humane because it was done by injections instead of methods used in the past. Capital punishment is the only way to stop crimes. It is believed that the threat of capital punishment reduces violent crimes. Executing convicted murders, save society money instead of keeping them in jail. The death penalty is a just and proper way of handling convicted murderers. Family’s that have lost a loved one

Australian society has ultimately rejected the idea of the practice of capital punishment making a return into the Australian law books. However, events such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Bali bombings have ensured that the spotlight once again shines on the controversial subject. I am in favour of the practice returning to Australia for heinous crimes such as murder, child molestation, serial rapists, and people who commit acts of animal cruelty. This is because:

Now many would think what type of pros can you receive the death penalty? One pro would be retribution this is just to make sure that the person takes full reasonability of the crime they committed and know that they are being punished for it. The next one would be deterrence which will help them understand that they should engage in no form of a crime because of the consequences behind it, however, I don’t believe that it actually works all the time because many individuals learn the consequences of a crime in elementary school from DARE. Less damage is adopted to prevent more now this can mean different levels to many. Well, a criminal is like the flu, they are an airborne virus to society. They affect everyone’s life rather they realize it or not. The death penalty is actually cheaper than what people think. Society pays less for individual who are sentenced death than those who are not. The death penalty eliminates all the negative on society if a person kills someone we never have to worry about that person again because they will be put to death and never have a chance to hurt society

The death penalty is a controversial topic in the United States today and has been for a number of years. The death penalty was overturned and then reinstated in the United States during the 1970's due to questions concerning its fairness. The death penalty began to be reinstated slowly, but the rate of executions has increased during the 1990's. There are a number of arguments for and against the death penalty. Many death penalty supporters feel that the death penalty reduces crime because it deters people from committing murder if they know that they will receive the death penalty if they are caught. Others in favor of the death penalty feel that even if it doesn't deter others from committing crimes, it will eliminate

After abolition of capital punishment in Australia, the imprisonment is considered as severe penalty. Life imprisonment is imposed mostly in cases of murders after considering the severity and circumstances of crime. Prisoners are to serve long period of their lives in jail with no hope or less hope to be released. The term life imprisonment changes jurisdiction to jurisdiction or state to state, as it can be sentence until death, twenty years or indeterminate period. The uncertainty here becomes more cruel. A few dies in prison committing suicide or natural death in prisons due to stressful and unnatural environment of prison. A long term isolation also changes attitude and behaviour in such a way that these prisoners become incapable to survive in normal society. Offenders who serve long time in prisons are also discriminated in our society whether in relation to social activities in community or employment matters. In Australia aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are victims of such discrimination and it can be the reason behind their growing population in Australian prisons. Thus life time sentencing has become an inhumane penalty and subject of important consideration at international level. Even harsh conditions results in higher rates of

No one has been executed in Australia since the 2nd of February in 1967. The last incident of execution was when a man named Ronald Ryan was found guilty of shooting a prison guard in an attempt to escape the jail. He was hung in Melbourne. Queensland put an end to the death penalty in 1922. Tasmania did the same in 1968, The federal government ended the death penalty in 1973. Some countries still have the death penalty, the top three countries with the highest execution rate are: China, United states and Pakistan. In South Australia, forty-four hangings took place in the Adelaide Gaol. The society agreed that the death penalty wasn’t the right way to go so in 1976 the Criminal Law Consolidation Act was modified, changing the death penalty

The use of the death penalty has brought peace of mind to our citizens. Though through the mid nineteen sixties until the early nineteen eighties only about six death penalties actually took effect. When the number of executions dropped, the murder rate rose from 5.6 per 100,000 people to 10.2 which is almost double the murder rate. A society cannot live in fear but needs to live in reassurance and protection. As of nineteen ninety-nine, the murder rate dropped dramatically to 5.7 because the execution rate increased to 47 executions. Pearce, Matt. "Counterpoint: Defending The Death Penalty." Points Of View: Death Penalty (2014): 6. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. This demonstrates the deterrent effect capital punishment has on society. The result is deterrence shows if one kills then one will be punished for their actions and crime.

In fact, implementing capital punishment is much more expensive than life imprisonment. In a government with capital punishment, both the trial and appeal process are much more expensive in comparison to noncapital cases as the trials are generally longer and more complex. Australian lawyers estimate that a single capital punishment case could cost taxpayers around $5.5 million while life imprisonment approximately costs $1.5 million.2 Saving money should not be an argument in retaining capital punishment. If Australia re-instated capital punishment, Federal and State taxes would need to be increased, all community services would be drastically cut, more hidden taxes would be introduced and finally all essential services and local government costs would also increase. This exemplifies how life imprisonment should be the only option for offences as it not only costs millions less, it also still ensures that the public is protected and the money saved could be spent on programs that actually improve the communities in which we live. This highlights how international jurisdictions for various reasons should, in majority of cases, follow Australia’s example and abolish capital punishment for murder and all crimes, however in some cases including repeat offenders such as Peter Dupas capital punishment could be a more effective punishment.

Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin were the last two people to be killed executed due to capital punishment on December 11, 1962. Ronald Turpin was convicted of killing an officer when he stopped him after escaping a robbery. Arthur Lucas was convicted of murdering an undercover officer from Detroit in Toronto. After this in 1976, capital punishment was replaced, it went from execution to a life sentence without a possibility of parole for 25 years. The House of Commons voted for this bill to be passed. Although capital punishment it was removed from the Canadian criminal code it still remained in the Canadian National Defence Act for the most serious military offences such as treason and mutiny. In 1987, The bill was almost reintroduced by the Canadian House of Commons but was defeated in a vote. Finally, in 1998 the Canadian National Defence act abolished the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without parole before 25 years. This was the end of capital punishment in Canada forever. Although capital punishment is now completely illegal in Canada, it is legal in 32 states in America. Unlike Canada who only used one method of execution, America has used many more

The most important reason why the death penalty should not be abolished is because we need capital punishment for those cases in which a killer is beyond redemption. “Some claim lift without parole is an appropriate alternative to the death penalty” (23). Others say if you kill, you should be killed or if you commit a crime that is bad that you should be killed. “According to Gallup polls, 60 percent of Americans support the death penalty for a person convicted of murder” (23). Therefore more than half of Americans are for the death penalty/capital

Capital punishment can be a tough topic to approach because people tend to have many different opinions on it. The death penalty is an advantage to society; it deters potential criminals as well as serves retribution to criminals. There is a huge difference in expenses of a lethal injection and life in prison. The death penalty can be an extremely beneficial tool in sentencing criminals that have committed some of the worst crimes known to

Once upon a time most advance countries believed in the death penalty among those countries Australia was one of them. This is a barbaric and brutal way to be punished. For example criminals would be hanged put under the firing squad, injected with a lethal injection, be electrocuted or would be in a room with lethal gas. A lot of people under lethal gas actually died by banging their heads against the wall because they would rather die quicker than have a slow excruciating death. But now as time goes on, society has discovered that death does not teach us anything and in some cases it is the easier way out. Murders would rather die than spend a lifetime in prison, it cost more to put someone on the death row than a lifetime in prison. Furthermore what if someone you knew was innocent and was killed for something they did not do. An eye for an eye is not a Christian belief, it is a Jewish belief. Christianity stands firmly against capital Punishment.

Now on to my second argument. The criminal justice system is flawed and there are many mistakes within it. Firstly, there is an unacceptably high rate at which innocent people are convicted of capital crimes. In a paper written by the Australian Institute of Criminology, they state that the death penalty is often administered capriciously and that there is always a possibility that an innocent person may be executed. Even a respectable institute that studies criminology in Australia states that criminal justice system is flawed, need I say more. Also, there are many examples of miscarriages of justice in Australia. Such as the unfortunate story of Colin Campbell who was executed the day he was sentenced and 86 years later the most damning evidence against him was proven to be falsified and he was finally exonerated. There are many more cases just like Colin’s and if they aren’t key examples of how the criminal justice system is flawed I don’t know what is. All of this leads us to believe that execution under the Federal Death Penalty Act, cuts off the opportunity for exoneration, denies due process and could

Putting people to death for committing murder makes other potential murderers think twice about killing someone. Capital punishment deters many murders every day. If all that had to be done was spend life in jail, getting free meals, having a roof over their head, and place to sleep at night, then killing