Re: "The Rich Ruleth Over The Poor"
- From: "DGDevin" <DGDevin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2011 09:39:28 -0700
"Spender" wrote in message news:un5p37dfooe11ueupjlsmgri1nmijjge0e@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The one point of disagreement I have with them is their blanket rejection of
the death penalty. IMO there are people who serve no useful purpose on
earth, whose crimes are so horrific (and so thoroughly proven) they can
never be released, and whose continued existence at $47,000 a year at the
taxpayer's expense makes no sense.
In theory I don't disagree that some people need to die. But I would
never be comfortable with the "so thoroughly proven" part. The number of
death row exonerations since DNA testing became common is startling.
True, which is why the standard needs to be very, very high. For a start a conviction in a capital case should trigger an automatic appeal, or a judicial review which thoroughly examines all the evidence and the conduct of the defense, the prosecution and the bench to make sure the conviction was not arrived at improperly. I'd require that such a review be conducted outside the jurisdiction that produced the conviction.
As for the cost, of what purpose is the continued existence of a person
sentenced to life without parole? None, if the law does what it is
supposed to do. How about Bernie Maddof, who will never see the outside
of a prison again?
The death penalty should be reserved for those who have taken life, with the possible exception of treason.
If we go by the standard of usefulness to society, we'd have to expand the
death penalty to include anyone sentenced to prison for the most useful
part of their life.
We'd also have to pull the plug on anyone in an irreversible coma or the severely retarded, but since I wasn't suggesting imposing the death penalty on anyone merely because they serve no useful purpose it seems kind of pointless to discuss something I didn't propose.
.
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