I go back and forth when it comes to the death penalty. Sometimes I feel there is a real need for a death sentence, and I realize that may be the "human" emotional part of me that vents when a heinous crime has been committed. Other times I think how sad it is that the State can legally "murder" someone while at the same time saying murder is wrong. The death sentence is also not always carried out fairly, those who have money and can find a good attorney or attorneys often get off while the poor, unfortunate ones, get the needle. In NJ, the debate is a mute point since the death penalty is no longer an option.Recently in Alabama, the Alabama Supreme Court postponed executing a man after an inmate claimed in an sworn statement to defense attorneys that he committed the murder that sent the condemned man to death row. This is another reason for my position the death penalty should not exist; the fact that sometimes innocent people are executed. To me, one innocent life taken by the State is wrong. Throughout history, there have been many individuals executed when they did not commit the crime.
I guess when it comes down to it, I can see the death penalty in some cases in which there is clear evidence someone committed a murder. I am talking about cases where there are several witnesses or a video camera catching the event. Cases where there is irrefutable evidence the defendant committed the murder. But in instances when there is no clear cut evidence, circumstantial only, no witnesses, or other questions about the murder, I can see there being no death sentence.
So I guess the debate will continue in my mind.
3 comments:
You are such a fine human being. You would not be questioning why or why not you should eat meat or why the DP is a viable alternative to Life in Prison if you weren't.
Do you know how many Capricorns have changed the course of history?
http://www.ecentral.com/astra/fcap.html
Their sense of realism combined with thier compassion have changed history.
I admit,they are not always on the same mark that I follow, (Karl Rove is a Cap, Hugh Hefner is a Cap) but, they change history.
Martin Luther King was a Cap, as was Nostradamus, Ethel Merman, Joe Frazier, Muhammed Ali, Joan of ARC, Albert Schwietzer, Grant Tinker ( Mr. Grant.....) Gypsy Rose Lee, J.R.Tolkien, Tracy Ulman, Cary Grant, Rudyard Kipling, Clara Barton!!!, Henry Matisse, and on and on.
Soo, if you are against the Death Penalty,let me know. The Cherry Hill chapter of Amnesty USA needs some help. We need another strength based Cap!!!
ciao,
medbh
I have never supported the death penalty, having such a punishment keeps our society in the dark ages.
With the exception of extracting revenge, what else does the death penalty achieve? It does not bring the dead victim back. It is only there to satisfy our blood lust, therefore making all involved as guilty as the criminal.
Well, Medbh and Pax. I am still not totally against the death penalty as of yet. As stated in my post, my mind, and heart, go back and forth on the issue. I do not believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder, except that the person who is executed will NEVER kill another. Even in countries that use very inhumane ways of execution, if there is ANY humane way of killing someone, murders still continue in those countries. It's just that sometimes there is a crime so heinous that the maybe the only heinous sentence is death. So I will let you both know if I ever in this lifetime reach a verdict in my own mind.
Thanks for your opinions. You both know your opinions mean alot to me. Thanks for the encouraging words, Medbh.
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