[blazey]

Whilst the judiciary has influence, it certainly does not have the final say, and so I think it's wrong that the judiciary take so much blame for the prison system. And it IS different from Canada.

Frankly I feel that there in nobody to blame because I am a fan of the current prison system. I would hate to spend one year of my life in prison, and after 14yrs which seems a typical-ish type of sentence for a murderer, although its hard to put a figure on something like that, it seems unbearable to me to think about it, and I cant imagine after that amount of time you'd think about killing someone else again just to get thrown back in and do the time again.

I think whilst many people DO reoffend, it is most likely the more minor crimes which are repeated, not catagory A offenders. I think prison is an effective method but there can probably more done to cut down on costs. Whilst £39,000 is spent per year per criminal, i think a lot of that figure goes towards salaries, equipment to aid the officers etc, not the actual criminal themself.

I would never wish death upon someone, and if I did, and the death penalty was one of my options for the person who had hurt me, then I would also wish to serve the same sentence for their death at my hands, because I was brought up being told 'thou shal not kill' and there are no double standards in that teaching, and I wouldn't change my mind on that now. Murder is murder, there is no justification for it, no matter what the circumstances are. Taking a life, whether innocent or guilty is wrong.