re: #182 kirkspencer

And you completely missed the point of my argument.

I do not like the DP. I do not want it applied to “heinous” crime.

I do not like the DP because sometimes it is wrong. If I err in imprisoning, I can eventually release. I cannot resurrect the dead.

I do not like “heinous” as it is an emotional measure. At one time it was heinous for a black man to have sex, even if consensual, with a white woman. In the eyes of some, two men having sex is heinous.

If and only if I had no choice about the death penalty, I would use it NOT for rape or murder, but for cases where the rapist or murderer is a recidivist. A very large proportion of murders in prison are situational murderers; they are highly unlikely to repeat the crime. Rapists are far more likely to re-offend, but again there are some who do not repeat the crime once punished and sent through rehabilitation.

In essence, I would reserve the death penalty for those who cause ultimate harm to our society and who further demonstrate a willingness to continue despite attempts to correct the behavior.

And even then, only if we could be absolutely certain, 100%, that there was no hanky panky with the evidence or the jury selection or judicial bias or any of the other things that have been discovered in wrongful conviction cases.

Which means, again, that I do not support the death penalty.

I don’t think I missed the point of your argument. Not only did I get it, I’m 90% in agreement. Where we disagree, and why I pointed out the “heinous” portion, is because I don’t believe there is any doubt that raping/torturing and then killing someone is “heinous”.