To Kill or not to Kill?

Perhaps I should preface these thoughts by letting folks know that I was for many years, decades in fact, not a supporter of the death penalty. This was based on having spent some 15 years working in the criminal justice system in New South Wales in Australia. I saw and read enough evidence of complete miscarriages of justice in this country and elsewhere to realise that there was a very real danger that society could actually be sanctioning the killing of innocent individuals. Although the risk was in reality quite small, the question I always had in my mind was, even if the risk was that remote could we, as a society, still justify killing individuals under the sanction of our laws in a civilised society. My genuinely held view for all those years was no.

For anyone who may think the views expressed above are a bit out of left field and a bit soft, just let me share one story with you. In the mid eighties while working as a NSW Police Prosecutor in the western suburbs of Sydney long before the court system became a lot more sensitive dealing with child victims I was the prosecutor in a case involving a girl aged ten who had been subjected to years of sexual abuse by her NATURAL father. I spent many hours talking with that child about the evidence she had to give in court in front of her father. As long as I live I will never ever forget the pain, hurt and confusion I saw in that child's eyes. At the time I would have had not one minutes hesitation in inflicting the death penalty myself. As for all the do gooders who might be tempted to bring up the arguements about children making things up, aside from the genuine pain and hurt expressed by this victim, it was supported by a raft of medical evidence. That is an experience that will haunt me forever.

This post was prompted by watching the story on the Seven Network tonight relating to Ivan Milat. Even allowing for my personal experience with the total lack of credibility of that networks current affairs programs if half of the factual content was correct I think it is time that we reconsidered the death penalty in this country. It is hard to believe that Ivan Milat is allowed to remain alive and be fed, and provided with basic comforts and medical attention for the rest of his life. Yes I have seen inside prisons in this country and I know they are not pleasant, in the seventies I spent one day a week going through the four prisons at Long Bay for work and they were not great places to be.

Maybe it is now time for a sensible public debate on the issue that is not totally hijacked by either the lunatic right wing "kill 'em all" attitude or equally the far left unbalanced arguements.

The greatest issue we have in this country that will prevent a sensible debate is the totally polarised media outlets that drive public opinion.