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I served in the Marine Corps from 1972 to 1980, and have absolutely no problem with killing another human being in an act of war or self-defense.
If I were to personally witness someone committing heinous acts against another, I might shoot the perpetrator in defense of another, but I still would not want to see any government put that individual to death. No government on the planet can be trusted with the authority to kill one of its own citizens. There is no undoing that mistake.
The bolded is why I have mixed feelings on the use of the death penalty. Catch 22.
The bolded is why I have mixed feelings on the use of the death penalty. Catch 22.
It is not a "Catch 22." In order to be a "Catch 22" it has to be contradictory. There is nothing contradictory about having no problem with killing in defense of yourself or another, yet vehemently opposing government executions.
It is a matter of trust. In order for someone to support the death penalty they must have absolute blind trust that their government can do no wrong. If they do not have that absolute blind trust in their government, then they are acknowledging that innocent people have been put to death.
Those who acknowledge that government is imperfect and has made mistakes, yet continue to support the death penalty, are intentionally killing innocent citizens and simply do not care.
The only solution that is not either self-delusional or psychotic is to abolish the death penalty.
...but I still would not want to see any government put that individual to death. No government on the planet can be trusted with the authority to kill one of its own citizens.
OK, here's a comprise we can all live with then. How about allowing members of the vicitim's family be the ones to do the honors? Children, brothers, sisters, moms and dads pulling the triggers and delivering justice.
Aside from the fact that killing people to try to convince people that killing people is wrong has never really worked very well, and that making mistakes about executing the wrong people have been increasingly revealed in recent years, the cost of a bullet vs a shot vs a whiff of gas vs a piece of rope vs a jolt of electricity vs whatever else ya got is insignificant compared to the overall cost of putting somebody to death in our system.
One analysis I read showed it costs $1.5 million or so for every execution in the US, just for court costs and lawyer's fees, as it wends its way though the appeals process. That's about the same cost as just keeping them locked up in prison for 50 years. Given the number of times we've found out recently that people have been wrongly executed, I think that locking them up is the rational choice.
The only way that the death penalty could be made morally justifiable would be if the executioner would lose his own life as part of the process of the execution. (The late, great French-Algerian author and activist Albert Camus, a dedicated opponent of the death penalty, made this argument back in the 1950s).
Absolutely not. This is a first world nation...not some banana republic or Asiatic barbarian state.
Have some decency for crying out loud.
Meh. If you're going to be barbaric enough to have state-sanctioned killings, at least man up and show it to be the violent act it is. The current attempts to make it look like a hospital is rather sickening. Oh sure, it's easier on the witnesses - but why should it be easy to watch another human die?
OK, here's a comprise we can all live with then. How about allowing members of the vicitim's family be the ones to do the honors? Children, brothers, sisters, moms and dads pulling the triggers and delivering justice.
Because we ditched the idea of the family acting as agents of vengeance many, many centuries ago, and a good thing, too.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD
Aside from the fact that killing people to try to convince people that killing people is wrong has never really worked very well, and that making mistakes about executing the wrong people have been increasingly revealed in recent years, the cost of a bullet vs a shot vs a whiff of gas vs a piece of rope vs a jolt of electricity vs whatever else ya got is insignificant compared to the overall cost of putting somebody to death in our system.
One analysis I read showed it costs $1.5 million or so for every execution in the US, just for court costs and lawyer's fees, as it wends its way though the appeals process. That's about the same cost as just keeping them locked up in prison for 50 years. Given the number of times we've found out recently that people have been wrongly executed, I think that locking them up is the rational choice.
Today's appeals process is ridiculous. Used to be you had to be able to point a specific procedural error to appeal, now it seems all that's needed is disagreement with the verdict. Change that and the cost comes down immediately. And when there is absolutely no doubt of the convict's guilt in a crime such as murder, why shouldn't the death penalty be imposed? After all, jailing people hasn't worked very well as a deterrent either.
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