JD: thanks for the confirmation - American history is not my strong point.
Or Sirhan Sirhan, Sen. Robt. Kennedy's assassin? I'll bet even more people would've lined up for that switch duty. But I'm leaning more and more towards giving back what the killers dish out. The woman who let the little boys go hungry in her basement? I'd lock that bitch up in a basement, feed her once or twice a week, just enough to keep her alive, and let her live in her own filth for a long, long time. Like FOREVER.
Hinkley: now there is an interesting case, although it seems beyond reason that he was insane at the time, one can not discount that his parents were close friends of the Bush 41 family.
Reagan forgave him and didn't want him killed. Of course, Nancy...
I think the whole thing is that the justice system can't be allowed to function as some sort of tool of retribution. Though we'd all emotionally want revenge if personally wronged, none of us would want someone feeling personally offended to be at the wheel of the machine deciding our fate.
i think "the penal colony" by Franz Kafka would be a good read for this topic, its just a short story but full of irony.
In 1995, telephone surveys were conducted with 386 randomly selected police chiefs and county sheriffs from throughout the continental United States. Among the "primary" ways to reduce violent crime, only one percent of the respondents chose the death penalty, which ranked this item last among six options. The most effective crime-reduction techniques included "reducing drug abuse" (favored by 31 percent); 17 percent selected "better economy and more jobs." Simplifying court rules, longer sentences, more police officers, and reducing the number of guns were also deemed as more important than expanding the use of the death penalty as ways of reducing violent crime.
Reacting to the poll, former New York Police Chief Patrick V. Murphy wrote, "Like the emperor's new clothes, the flimsy notion that the death penalty is an effective law enforcement tool is being exposed as mere political puffery."
from
http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp/dppapers/mike.deterence
Whom do you want to kill? There is a list of who is waiting on deathrow right now. Shall I fetch it for you?
Bibliophile, your eagerness to "pull the switch" seems more blood thirsty than anything else. Perhaps it would be best for you to stay on your side of the ocean...
You sound a bit hypocritical.
What part of "thou shalt not kill" does not apply to you?
I interpret your quid pro quo as "eye for an eye".
You're the bibliophile; is that what Jesus taught?
You've made your position clear; I'm still waiting for the explanation.
ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Latest: April 20-24, 2001. N=1,003 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3. Field work by ICR.
.
"In deciding how to vote in a state or national election, how important is it to you that a political candidate agrees with your position on the death penalty: very important, somewhat important, not too important or not important at all?"
%
Very important 28
Somewhat important 44
Not too important 19
Not important at all 8
No opinion 2
.
"Regardless of your overall opinion on the death penalty, for each statement I read please tell me if you agree with it strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.
Agree
Strongly Agree
Some-
what Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Some-
what No
Opinion
% % % % %
"The death penalty is fair because it prevents killers from killing again."
48 24 16 10 1
.
"The death penalty is unfair because sometimes an innocent person is executed."
35 33 11 18 2
.
"The death penalty is unfair because it's applied differently from county to county and state to state."
32 31 13 17 6
.
"The death penalty is fair because it gives satisfaction and closure to the families of murder victims."
30 30 22 15 4
.
"The death penalty is fair because it's an eye for an eye -- the killer is killed."
28 28 26 15 3
.
"The death penalty is unfair because it's applied unequally to blacks compared to whites."
22 15 33 20 10
.
"Do you feel that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder -- that it lowers the murder rate -- or not?"
%
Acts as a deterrent to murder 43
Does not 52
No opinion 6
.
"Some people say there should be a halt in all executions in this country while a commission studies whether the death penalty has or has not been administered fairly. Others say there already are enough safeguards to prevent unfair or mistaken executions. What do you think? Would you support or oppose a halt in executions while this issue is studied?"
%
Support 51
Oppose 43
No opinion 6
Bibliophile is a rare bird among this group in her views, but nationally, it appears as though her views are in the majority.
The percentages are hard to read due to the print-out. The groupings of numbers, starting with the far left are:
Agree strongly--Somewhat agree--Disagree strongly--Disagree somewhat--No opinion.
Affixed in this article was the statement-- paraphrasing-- The European decision to stop CP was in spite of public opinion, rather than because of it. Maybe this is an evidence that democracy is not a good thing.
Interested to hear thoughts.
I don't feel that capital punishment should be decided by polls. What if a majority said torture would be appropriate if we thought someone knew about a terrorist act or some other heinous crime?
On second thought, forget I said that. We may already be doing it in some of our secret tribunals!
D'artagnan-
Who should decide?
I don't think the detainees would be affected much by classical torture. In fact, their life has been nothing but continuous torture. But take away their headgear and not let them know which was is east and listen to 'em scream.
Do you think they would normally not take off the headgear when they shower, or do they just not shower? I'd guess the latter.
