"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message x9mdnYFjAJu2M9XbnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@comcast.com">news:x9mdnYFjAJu2M9XbnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@comcast.com...
: mdj wrote:
: > On May 14, 5:43 pm, pau...@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter) wrote:
: >
: >
: >>>I don't agree it's the ultimate argument at all. It's certainly a good
: >>>logical position to take against those who are supporters of capital
: >>>punishment, but from my point of view, the whole point of the justice
: >>>system is *not* to punish the guilty, but to protect the innocent: If
: >>>you choose to violate the laws of our society, we will deprive you
: >>>(for length of time x) the right to participate in it because the
: >>>needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
: >>
: >>Does your "protection of the innocent" also include those who are
: >>innocently sentenced to severe punishments by courts making mistakes?
: >
: >
: > My ideology certainly does :-) Our own judicial system falls short of
: > my expectations in recompensing falsely imprisoned people. I find
: > arguments about how much money an individual should receive after
: > spending 30 years behind bars for murdering their own children (for
: > example) to be quite distasteful, when you consider the psychological
: > damage that's just been wrongly inflicted.
: >
: >
: >>>To me the ultimate argument against capital punishment is that not
: >>>killing each other is a cornerstone of civil society. Logically
: >>>speaking, the societies we now enjoy would not exist without; it's
: >>>irrational to have state sactioned exceptions to sociological axioms.
: >>
: >>That's another very good argument against capital punishment.
: >
: >
: > Despite being full of spelling and grammatical errors :-S
: >
: > "Same breeds same" as the saying goes, and it's obvious "who" should
: > be leading by example and breaking the cycle.
:
: I agree with all this, but would like to point out that the state
: (at least over here) is just the expression of what most people
: agree with.
:
: So the ability to move away from capital punishment as a state
: policy means being able to convince most people that it is an
: inappropriate policy.
:
: Different people are convinced by different arguments, so what's
: needed is a suite of consistent arguments supporting a position.
:
: For some, an argument from principle is sufficient, but for many
: the issue is more pragmatic.
:
: Many people who believe in capital punishment do so thinking that it
: is appropriate for those who have committed certain heinous crimes,
: but they would hesitate to apply it if there were a significant risk
: of killing an innocent person. An increasing body of evidence is
: coming to light that shows that the justice system is, in fact, quite
: capable of finding a significant percentage of innocent people guilty.
:
: For many people, that risk is enough to forego radically irreversible
: sentences. (Notwithstanding that "less final" sentences are also
: irreversible to some degree).
IMHO, there is NO crime that should be punishable by death,
being what punishment exists once the person is dead, anyway.
Also, I find it difficult to believe that these discussions
can go on for so long, being they have not a damned thing to
do with an Apple II whatsoever. :o)))))