State killings

There's a lot in the British social media at the moment from people calling for the hanging of two parents who killed 6 children in a fire at the home.  We don't have the death penalty in the UK, and haven't had since before I was born - so that's over 40 years - and there's little likelihood that we ever will again.  Although certain parts of the UK political scene would like to repeal the European Convention on Human Rights, part of the deal with that piece of legislation is that any state that signs up for it must remove the death penalty from its statue books.  In other words, any country that accepts the ECHR isn't allowed the death penalty.*

For me, this is a completely non-negotiable point.  I never approve of state executions.  There are times when I can see that it seems to be the only option, but there are too many reasons not to execute.  The first reason not to allow executions is that you can get it wrong.  And executing the wrong person would always, always be a tragedy.  The second is that the death penalty is not a deterrent.  Look at the figures: it just isn't.  The third is that historically, poorer, less educated and more socially disadvantaged murderers are, in all jurisdictions, more likely to be executed than their more privileged peers.  The last is that by being part of a society which condones killing, we become killers ourselves.  It's really that simple.

And what right do I, an author of YA books, have to talk about this?  Well, not much.  But it is a topic which I deal with in my second novel, Big Brother's Little Sister.  I don't go into the ethical issues above at all - partly because I suspect that for most of my intended readership, the idea of state killings would be anathema.  The killing of a character in the book is central not only to the plot, but also to our view of at least one other character.  For me, it was such an obvious device to use that it didn't require much thought.

We don't kill people.  No matter what they've done.  It's not what people do.  It's not what good people do: it's not what people even trying to be good people do.  Don't sign up for it.  Not in my name.



*This is my understanding - IANAL (I am not a lawyer), and could have it wrong.