(no subject)
I am opposed to the death penalty. Unequivocably. If I've spelt that word right. But it sounds like how I feel about it.
I think the death penalty is wrong. No human being has the right to assign life or death to another person. Not even one who has behaved horrifically towards others.
I am not in favour of lighter sentencing towards murderers and rapists. Far from it. I think these people should have much harsher sentencing. Lifetime imprisonment. I know that it doesn't compare to the life of the person that they have taken away, but really, there is no way human beings can mete out ultimate justice upon another being.
The death penalty nowadays is much more of a political tool than anything else. It is not about justice for the victims, it is about swaying with public opinion. It is about winning votes for senators. It is about Arnold Schwarzenegger improving his public image. It is not about upholding morals or values or justice. It is about politics.
I don't know enough about the man Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant a stay to earlier this year to state my own opinion on whether he was innocent and guilty. That fact is irrelevent. Even if I was well educated in the facts of the case, I would not express my own judgement because frankly it is irrelevent. We pass judgement on people every day, in our own minds, based on whatever evidence we ourselves identify. Just because we believe someone is a monster and deserving of death, does not mean that we should have that belief upheld and in fact, carried out by the judicial system.
Perhaps I would feel differently if my little brother, or someone I loved dearly, was murdered in such a horrific way. But the fact is, as much as I might feel anger and desire for revenge against the perpetrator of such an action, I would not expect the judicial system to champion my cause. "The law is reason free from passion." I honestly do not believe that, no matter how horrific the crimes comitted are, I could ever see the killing of another human being as justified.
On September 11th, my Uncle was killed in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. He left behind 3 children and a wife who loved him and needed him very much. It had a terrible effect on my own family and those who I loved and cherished. But I would not like to see those who are responsible for his death killed.
I would like to see justice served, and in my opinion, that would not be a death sentence. Justice would be for them to be imprisoned for life.
In the state of Florida, there have been 58 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Thats 58 completely legal, government sanctioned, cold blooded murders.
The highest number of executions in a year was 8, the lowest, 0.
The number of executions changes dramatically to shadow both political climate and public opinion on the death penalty and high profile murder cases. Is that justice, when the standards of the law fluctuate so greatly and so frequently? A man who has taken one or two lives, might be sentenced to death, whereas a mass killer of 14 victims will escape. I am not saying that those 2 lives are any less significant than the 14, but there seems to be no consistency at all.
People complain at paying taxes to support a killer who could be executed and as such, cease to be reliant on the taxpayers money. Is this what the value of life has come down to? To save an average cost of $72.39 per day per Death Row inmate, we are willing to kill?
On that route of thinking, we become ever closer to a world where it is acceptable to kill off coma patients or people in vegetative states without any form of consent. After all, that costs more money, doesn't it? A culture where the value of human life is comparable to a monetary value. Where the power of life and death is part of a senators campaign promise.
I will not deny that when I read about some of the horrible things a person has done, I might fervently hope that someone beats the crap out of them with a large stick. But that kind of behaviour should never, ever be sanctioned by the legal system. If it is, we find out just why the law should be, above all, logical and reasoned without passion. That is not to say all laws are correct. We should fight those laws that we disagree with. But the lines between politics and justice, laws and beliefs, and punishment and death should not be blurred.
I feel, with every part of my being, that the death penalty is wrong. Feel free to argue at will.
PS:- Not meaning to be a soliciting whore, but my paid LJ account runs out in 9 days...
I think the death penalty is wrong. No human being has the right to assign life or death to another person. Not even one who has behaved horrifically towards others.
I am not in favour of lighter sentencing towards murderers and rapists. Far from it. I think these people should have much harsher sentencing. Lifetime imprisonment. I know that it doesn't compare to the life of the person that they have taken away, but really, there is no way human beings can mete out ultimate justice upon another being.
The death penalty nowadays is much more of a political tool than anything else. It is not about justice for the victims, it is about swaying with public opinion. It is about winning votes for senators. It is about Arnold Schwarzenegger improving his public image. It is not about upholding morals or values or justice. It is about politics.
I don't know enough about the man Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant a stay to earlier this year to state my own opinion on whether he was innocent and guilty. That fact is irrelevent. Even if I was well educated in the facts of the case, I would not express my own judgement because frankly it is irrelevent. We pass judgement on people every day, in our own minds, based on whatever evidence we ourselves identify. Just because we believe someone is a monster and deserving of death, does not mean that we should have that belief upheld and in fact, carried out by the judicial system.
Perhaps I would feel differently if my little brother, or someone I loved dearly, was murdered in such a horrific way. But the fact is, as much as I might feel anger and desire for revenge against the perpetrator of such an action, I would not expect the judicial system to champion my cause. "The law is reason free from passion." I honestly do not believe that, no matter how horrific the crimes comitted are, I could ever see the killing of another human being as justified.
On September 11th, my Uncle was killed in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. He left behind 3 children and a wife who loved him and needed him very much. It had a terrible effect on my own family and those who I loved and cherished. But I would not like to see those who are responsible for his death killed.
I would like to see justice served, and in my opinion, that would not be a death sentence. Justice would be for them to be imprisoned for life.
In the state of Florida, there have been 58 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Thats 58 completely legal, government sanctioned, cold blooded murders.
The highest number of executions in a year was 8, the lowest, 0.
The number of executions changes dramatically to shadow both political climate and public opinion on the death penalty and high profile murder cases. Is that justice, when the standards of the law fluctuate so greatly and so frequently? A man who has taken one or two lives, might be sentenced to death, whereas a mass killer of 14 victims will escape. I am not saying that those 2 lives are any less significant than the 14, but there seems to be no consistency at all.
People complain at paying taxes to support a killer who could be executed and as such, cease to be reliant on the taxpayers money. Is this what the value of life has come down to? To save an average cost of $72.39 per day per Death Row inmate, we are willing to kill?
On that route of thinking, we become ever closer to a world where it is acceptable to kill off coma patients or people in vegetative states without any form of consent. After all, that costs more money, doesn't it? A culture where the value of human life is comparable to a monetary value. Where the power of life and death is part of a senators campaign promise.
I will not deny that when I read about some of the horrible things a person has done, I might fervently hope that someone beats the crap out of them with a large stick. But that kind of behaviour should never, ever be sanctioned by the legal system. If it is, we find out just why the law should be, above all, logical and reasoned without passion. That is not to say all laws are correct. We should fight those laws that we disagree with. But the lines between politics and justice, laws and beliefs, and punishment and death should not be blurred.
I feel, with every part of my being, that the death penalty is wrong. Feel free to argue at will.
PS:- Not meaning to be a soliciting whore, but my paid LJ account runs out in 9 days...