I still have value as a person
In Boise, 4 men beat another so badly that he died two days after they jumped him. They are not being charged with murder. As of right now, they are not even in jail. They are being charged with aggravated battery because the man they jumped had a communicable disease and would have died anyway. The 4 men are wearing medical masks and under observation to see if they caught whatever it was the man had.
At what point does a man's life no longer have the same value as another man? For this man it was when he was infected with this disease. "He would have died anyway." Direct quote from the news. So apparently he no longer mattered as much as any other human being. His death is not a murder since he would have died anyway, right? Hell, it's almost like he didn't even count as a man anymore, these people could have beaten a dog for all the good our justice system is doing for their victim. "He would have died anyway."
I am dying. Not today, not tomorrow, but there is a very real probability that I will die before many other people my age. I have Hepatitis C. It is a disease communicable only through blood. If someone beat me to death, they could say that because of my disease I would have died anyway, that my days were numbered. My murderer could claim that as his defense and not be charged with murder, not do time for my murder. Because I have this communicable disease that can be terminal.
Who gets to decide when a person's life is no longer worth as much as another's? I still have value as a person. The man who died still had value as a person. WE ARE STILL PEOPLE. He was MURDERED. Even if "he would have died anyway" that day was not the day he was beaten. There is no way for them to know if his day to die would have been the two days after his beating. I am disgusted to my very core that this is a defense, that these men are not going to do time for KILLING SOMEONE, that tonight, right now, they are free men. Some days my heart aches to see the levels of dehumanization we can sink to as a society that allows things like this to occur.
At what point does a man's life no longer have the same value as another man? For this man it was when he was infected with this disease. "He would have died anyway." Direct quote from the news. So apparently he no longer mattered as much as any other human being. His death is not a murder since he would have died anyway, right? Hell, it's almost like he didn't even count as a man anymore, these people could have beaten a dog for all the good our justice system is doing for their victim. "He would have died anyway."
I am dying. Not today, not tomorrow, but there is a very real probability that I will die before many other people my age. I have Hepatitis C. It is a disease communicable only through blood. If someone beat me to death, they could say that because of my disease I would have died anyway, that my days were numbered. My murderer could claim that as his defense and not be charged with murder, not do time for my murder. Because I have this communicable disease that can be terminal.
Who gets to decide when a person's life is no longer worth as much as another's? I still have value as a person. The man who died still had value as a person. WE ARE STILL PEOPLE. He was MURDERED. Even if "he would have died anyway" that day was not the day he was beaten. There is no way for them to know if his day to die would have been the two days after his beating. I am disgusted to my very core that this is a defense, that these men are not going to do time for KILLING SOMEONE, that tonight, right now, they are free men. Some days my heart aches to see the levels of dehumanization we can sink to as a society that allows things like this to occur.