Our approach to reducing crime should not be killing those who harm us. On the contrary, in the interest of learning what makes them tick, we should keep violent criminals alive and conduct thorough r

Very wise words nisegaijin. Thumbs up for your comment dude :)

Yes, spend more tax money on these losers! I am sure we will all be happy and safe.

Rubbish. Kill all rapists and armed robbers. There is no place for them in our society and prison doesn't do crap. Just get rid of them. World is over populated anyway.

Yeah let's study them by dissecting them. I agree with the animal analogy.

I agree with solarbuster. Punishment is a deterent, because Criminal Law acts once a crime is commited, in other words, when it is too late. Therefore, Criminal Law is not only about punishing criminals, it is also a mean to disuade people of breaking the "social contract".

Still, I must say that some thinkers do not consider Death Penalty as a penalty itself, as it is a mere supression of a human being, while the goal of penalties, as stated by authors such as Cesare Beccaria, is to reinsert the criminal back into society.

Death penalty is a controversial subject, and sometimes I have felt that it is in some cases necessary. Anyway, I think Ms. Tanaka is right when she notes the fact that crime is not only the individual’s problem, but it’s society’s problem as well.

Ms.Yuko Tanaka, with all due respect, i can definitely see that you have never gotten yourself into a situation where your life was at stake, or jeopardized by thief who broke into your house with intent to steal your money, jewelry or anything else of value. Tanaka san is talking about total insanity of sparing criminals' lives!!! Would you propose same idea if scum of the Earth invaded your parents home, killed them in their sleep and took everything of value? Would you beg for their lives to be spared so that you can try to "study" their senseless minds??? Dear Tanaka san, with all due respect, you are a real threat to society.

Lets not consider it a death penalty, lets rename it pre-death organ harvesting. Criminals who don't deserve to breathe the same air as us are no more (a win for society at large) and some desperate sick person receives a vital organ (a big win for the sick person).

Where do people get the idea that punishment is a deterent. Locks are only to keep honest people out they are useless against thieves. People are incarcerated to give them time to consider if it is worth doing another criminal act and to give society a break from them. This is in no way a deterent or there would be no repeat offenders. The death penalty is the ultimate solution, again it is not a deterent but it does protect innocent people which is why we have laws in the first place. We shoot animals if they become dangerous to society because it is too high a risk not to, the same logic should apply to people. To use dangerous people or animals for research is too dangerous, researchers should not be exposed to those kinds of risks. When we start exploiting criminals we become criminals. Exploitation is often why we have criminals in the first place so how is more exploitation going to solve any problems? Lady if you can not control your emotions and think in a logical manner, please don't think at all. A historian of all people should understand how dangerous and clever sociopaths are considering many "great leaders" were sociopathic, how are people less inteligent going to learn from them?

Our approach to reducing crime should be not committing crime or harming those around us.

On the contrary, saving some ones life should not cost you your own.

I'm with you Yuko in that sparing their life could be of use, if I couldn't make use of it how would I be any different? Service to the state would benefit all more than pinning a murder wrap on yourself.

Few would provide useful information for research yet still it's better than pinning a murder wrap on yourself.

Please everyone, do not let this lady anywhere near public office. She's more dangerous than the criminals.

I'm guessing the whole debate on this centers around deterrence, i.e. will criminals be more likely to commit crimes if they know they're not going to be executed.

My answer is this: if you're the kind of person who's going to kill someone, chances are that degree of logic is not your strong suit.

If they can actually figure something out by studying them, great. If not, they're not doing a whole lot more than thumbing their noses at the victims.

Progress is important, and revenge might not be the most admirable trait, but there does have to be some sense of justice for the victims. My ultimate point is this: it really needs to be treated case by case, but frankly, I don't think the Japanese system can handle ANYthing case by case: murder, assault, jaywalking, anything.