Hangin’ ‘em high
05/02/2007 @ 6:00 pm
The Japanese government recently hanged three convicted murderers, sparking debate once again about the morality of the death penalty and the way it is carried out.
According to Justice Minister Jinen Nagase, however, most of the debate is being conducted outside of Japan. Late last year Nagase said:
I am aware of various opinions on the issue, but nearly 80 percent of the people in this country have no objection to the existence of the death penalty.
Nagase needs a lesson in critical thinking if he thinks that’s a valid argument for preserving Japan’s death penalty. I’m sure I could find lots of things most Japanese are wrong about.
May 2nd, 2007 at 6:13 pmI’m sure this is an issue for the Japanese to decide for themselves.
Fortunately for the Japanese, they don’t have a few judicial activists overriding the will of the people and their elected representatives.
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 pmMarkD, it’s the job of the judiciary to override the will of the people and their elected representatives when that will violates the nation’s Constitution. That’s why nations have Constitutions in the first place. Tyranny of the majority is still tyranny.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:04 amPaul, while I don’t particularly support the death penalty, especially with Japan’s deeply flawed courts (i.e., reliance on confession even in the presence of contrary physical evidence), I don’t know of anything in the Japanese Constitution that would prohibit capital punishment. What exactly are you referring to? If you’re referring the “cruel” punishments part, defining “cruel” is a subjective exercise and the Japanese courts have ruled that the death penalty is not a cruel punishment.
Furthermore, in a democracy, the people have the right (even when wrong) to decide what they want. If they want it badly enough, they can even overrule the courts through a constitutional amendment. To overcome the dangers of the tyranny of the majority, most constitutions require a super majority for amendments.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:06 amWhat alternative do you propose in place of the death penalty?
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 amSome opinions against death penalty sound quite reasonable.
1. Death penalty system doesn’t decrease murderer.
2. You cannot completely eliminate the chance of arresting innocent person.
I am quite sure it’s the emotional reason why Japan maintains death penalty system. And the alternative of the death penalty could be the life sentence. We actually don’t have that system in Japan.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:55 pm[...] story in Japan? Guess what, it is not true.- Death penalty issue rises in Japan again with the hanging of two criminals this [...]
May 6th, 2007 at 10:32 am“1. Death penalty system doesn’t decrease murderer.”
Did anyone ever say the death penalty is supposed to decrease murder?
My understanding of the death penalty is that it’s supposed to be an appropriate punishment for someone who commits a heinous crime, like 1st degree murder themselves. (Usually you have to commit multiple 1st degree murder to get the death penalty in most of the U.S.)
2. You cannot completely eliminate the chance of arresting innocent person.
What does this have to do with the death penalty? You can NEVER completely eliminate the chance of arresting an innocent person. This is a completely separate issue from the death penalty. Are you suggesting we stop arresting criminals because of the chance we could arrest an innocent person?
“And the alternative of the death penalty could be the life sentence.”
Do you think this is a good alternative? Do you feel it’s more humane to lock a convicted murderer up for the rest of their life, rather than put them to death?
Do you feel this is morally and economically better alternative?
When you say a “life sentence”, do you mean to put them in prison until they die of old age? Would you be willing to pay your taxes to keep them alive when they are elderly and in prison (for example, give them a kidney transplant)?
May 6th, 2007 at 6:00 pmVin, Thank you for reading my comment carefully.
Your opinion is an exact explanation of the good reason why people support death penalty. Moreover, your point about taxes and moral is thoughtful. Actually I am not particularly against the death penalty system.
But there are also certain reasons why some people are against death penalty. Japan has flawed courts is one reason(A case of death penalty judged by only confession which was later denied by the suspect himself or the evidence that was not reliable, etc). And death penalty is a murder, which I couldn’t agree with, is an another one. Probably not every family or friend of the victim might be happy about the execution. At least I wouldn’t feel very happy about that, because the victim is not coming back.
As nearly 80 percent of the people have no objection to the existence of the death penalty, Japan is keeping death penalty system for a while. But if Japanese decided for life sentence system instead of death penalty system I wouldn’t oppose it. As a matter of fact many countries have abolished death penalty system. It is a kind of controversial issue like abortion or homosexuality one in the US.
And what more important is to construct a better society where there are less crimes. In that sense the correction system in the prison is far from perfect.
May 6th, 2007 at 9:07 pm