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shakran · 12-30-2003, 05:03 AM

OK, let's be reasonable here:

First off, regarding the cost, it's gonna cost a HELL of a lot more to put her to death. The appeals process for the death penalty can take well over a decade, and lawyers are a lot more expensive than prison food.

Second, I disagree with the whole notion that we should destroy anyone who cannot be a "fine upstanding" member of society. Are you suggesting that we kill all the retarded people because they won't measure up to society's standards either? What about the career crook who lands in jail 27 times for white-collar crimes? He's obviously not gonna change, so maybe we should whack him too.

I'm not pulling the standard eye-for-eye argument that Analog hates so much. I'm saying it's totally illogical for us to say that killing is wrong and therefore anyone who does it should be killed. Plus, we still haven't gotten our justice system perfected yet. There have been a LOT of people on death row who were found guilty when in fact they were innocent. So we're not just killing the people that might deserve to be killed - we're also killing innocent victims.

As for whether there's a just and fair punishment for this woman, no, there's not. Sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes someone commits a crime so heinous that there IS no punishment that will alleviate the consequences of the crime. Look at Tim McVeigh. Do you really think killing him made it all better for the families of the people killed in the OKC bombing? Not only that, my sense of justice tells me that killing these people is giving them the easy way out. McVeigh was never getting out of jail so from his perspective he may as well die. Death penalty = easy compared to life locked up. If you want real justice, sentence them to life, then make them work every day of their life at the hardest physical labor you can find. You can rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of this country while dealing out a much harsher punishment to the criminal.

And when I say sentence them to life, that's with the understanding that our justice system needs reform - life should mean life, not 10 years.

If killing is wrong, then killing is wrong. We can't logically kill people if we say killing is wrong.

12-30-2003, 05:03 AM	#18 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	OK, let's be reasonable here: First off, regarding the cost, it's gonna cost a HELL of a lot more to put her to death. The appeals process for the death penalty can take well over a decade, and lawyers are a lot more expensive than prison food. Second, I disagree with the whole notion that we should destroy anyone who cannot be a "fine upstanding" member of society. Are you suggesting that we kill all the retarded people because they won't measure up to society's standards either? What about the career crook who lands in jail 27 times for white-collar crimes? He's obviously not gonna change, so maybe we should whack him too. I'm not pulling the standard eye-for-eye argument that Analog hates so much. I'm saying it's totally illogical for us to say that killing is wrong and therefore anyone who does it should be killed. Plus, we still haven't gotten our justice system perfected yet. There have been a LOT of people on death row who were found guilty when in fact they were innocent. So we're not just killing the people that might deserve to be killed - we're also killing innocent victims. As for whether there's a just and fair punishment for this woman, no, there's not. Sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes someone commits a crime so heinous that there IS no punishment that will alleviate the consequences of the crime. Look at Tim McVeigh. Do you really think killing him made it all better for the families of the people killed in the OKC bombing? Not only that, my sense of justice tells me that killing these people is giving them the easy way out. McVeigh was never getting out of jail so from his perspective he may as well die. Death penalty = easy compared to life locked up. If you want real justice, sentence them to life, then make them work every day of their life at the hardest physical labor you can find. You can rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of this country while dealing out a much harsher punishment to the criminal. And when I say sentence them to life, that's with the understanding that our justice system needs reform - life should mean life, not 10 years. If killing is wrong, then killing is wrong. We can't logically kill people if we say killing is wrong.