Do you mind? I can't even think with all that agonized screaming and groaning going on in there! Give a girl a break! Cruel and unusual (revised) Oklahoma department of permanent correction
The issue around the death penalty, as someone has already noted, is about OUR morals, not those of the criminal. Saying “he did something horrible, so we get to do something horrible to him” is not a logical statement. Horrible is horrible.But there are MANY reasons to eliminate the death penalty, ranging from the moral to the practical:First of all: killing is killing, whether done through a government or by an individual. I should think conservatives should object to government killing.Second: torturing someone to death says more about us than about them. Hardly a civilized approach to crime.Third: for those here who claim a Christian background, it’s pretty clear that the person who said “love your enemy” and went through capital punishment on our behalf would not approve of it today. (TRUE right-to-life advocates oppose the death penalty as well as abortion and euthanasia.)Fourth: continuing on Christian mores, there is no limit to the power of God to forgive. Redemption is always possible.Fifth, as I note above, it is more expensive to execute than to imprison for life. The death penalty is impractical!Sixth: look at the company we keep. We are the only G7 country that executes. We are fifth on the list of “most executions,” with China at #1, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq just ahead, with Pakistan, Yemen, North Korea, Vietnam, and Libya following. These are not models for a modern society.Seventh: The Founders believed in Blackstone’s formulation that it is better to let guilty go free than to convict an innocent man. Franklin put it that: “it is better one hundred guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer.” Adams agreed. When death is on the line, shouldn’t we? Given that, as noted above, 4% of convictions appear to be wrong?I don’t think there’s a lot to be said for the death penalty.
The issue around the death penalty, as someone has already noted, is about OUR morals, not those of the criminal. Saying “he did something horrible, so we get to do something horrible to him” is not a logical statement. Horrible is horrible.But there are MANY reasons to eliminate the death penalty, ranging from the moral to the practical:First of all: killing is killing, whether done through a government or by an individual. I should think conservatives should object to government killing.Second: torturing someone to death says more about us than about them. Hardly a civilized approach to crime.Third: for those here who claim a Christian background, it’s pretty clear that the person who said “love your enemy” and went through capital punishment on our behalf would not approve of it today. (TRUE right-to-life advocates oppose the death penalty as well as abortion and euthanasia.)Fourth: continuing on Christian mores, there is no limit to the power of God to forgive. Redemption is always possible.Fifth, as I note above, it is more expensive to execute than to imprison for life. The death penalty is impractical!Sixth: look at the company we keep. We are the only G7 country that executes. We are fifth on the list of “most executions,” with China at #1, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq just ahead, with Pakistan, Yemen, North Korea, Vietnam, and Libya following. These are not models for a modern society.Seventh: The Founders believed in Blackstone’s formulation that it is better to let guilty go free than to convict an innocent man. Franklin put it that: “it is better one hundred guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer.” Adams agreed. When death is on the line, shouldn’t we? Given that, as noted above, 4% of convictions appear to be wrong?I don’t think there’s a lot to be said for the death penalty.