Whether you're fer it or agin it, once the topic of the Death Penalty is raised, there's pretty much always going to be a discussion.
I read an AP article online in the MSNBC News today reporting that new studies support the notion that the death penalty actually is a deterrent to would-be murderers. One of the folks who conducted the research is actually a DP opponent, but he swears the research is sound and conclusive.
Insofar as that goes, I have no argument. It says what it says. Statistics don't lie (people lie and twist them a bit on occasion, however).
What tickles me is that the moralists are confusing data with morals. Basically saying, 'This study isn't valid because we object to the findings on a moral basis.'
Hooey, says I.
I think that if the numbers say that the DP is a valid deterrent, perhaps it is time to revisit it as a more prevalent form of punishment.
I'm pretty damn sure that the Death Penalty is a deterrent for convicted murderers.
What do you think?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Death Penalty
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6 comments:
I have been, am and probably will be against the death penalty. I am also for a fair justice system and clearer definitions of why some criminals pay for differing sentences when they commit similar crimes.
I believe Stanley "Tookie" Williams' life should have been spared; I am thankful that Mumia Abu Jamal's sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2001; I believe that juveniles should be sent to farms to work, not to detentions centers (juvi hall).
I know, I'm an idealist, never shrunk from that.
I believe whenever there are statistics printed in the defense or proof of the effectiveness of killing a life that whoever has the courage to print them or research them isn't worthy of our attention.
And as a side note, I recently discovered that the state's 4th grade ELA tests here are used to do projections on future prison population. That just doesn't sit well with me at all.
Fourth Graders? Really? Dang!
I think it's great to have the strength of your beliefs and convictions. I truly admire you for that.
I can't seem to make up my minds.
One of them wants to take the high road and say that killing for whatever reason is and should be wrong.
Another of them (the more atavistic one) says that revenge is justice and justice is revenge and you should put down the baddest ones like you put down mad dogs.
One of them waffles somewhere in the middle of those feelings.
Still another wants a cheese sandwich.
So where does that leave me? Stuck in the middle I guess.
Revenge...hmm...I don't pretend to be a saint, but revenge has never sat well with me. Even at my darkest, when I was thinking of the 2900 plus dead in the WTC attack, I didn't feel revenge. I felt the saddness of those lost lives.
I can't also say that should, god forbid, something happen to a loved one, would I want to seek revenge. I can't say.
But killing someone for taking someone else's life? No, I can't say I condone that.
I'm not saying I condone it either. Only that I understand the impulse.
that's my issue, I don't understand, nor I condone the impulse. I mean, a reaction immediately following a murder, yes...but as an impulse. If we made laws based on impulse, we would have a monkey for a president and a...oh wait, never mind.
lol. Well there you are! In point of fact, I suppose a monkey might be preferable to a dangerous lunatic. Just a thought I'm having...
Pax,
Nelson
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