Life without parole works in civilized countries.

Post #29,824 by Ashton 2/26/02 2:19:46 PM Reply	Life without parole works in civilized countries. You know: the ones which acknowledge that the death 'penalty' is no deterrent to a certain predictable % of even-more fucked-up homo-saps than.. the norm? So the civilized countries note the inconsistency of 'frying someone' - for er 'frying someone first'. These countries appear to consider bloodlust to be a bad thing to evoke and especially, to satisfy in fellow citizens.. given how stupidly every mob always behaves (anywhere). We OTOH do not care that - the penalty has near-0 effect upon the year's harvest of atrocities - We Want Our Death Spectacle; apparently - we really get off on that. (Oh.. it's cheaper to off them?? That matters, perhaps?) However you slice or dice it - it's pretty hard to inculcate into little cheeldrun a certain er reverence for life, while The State\ufffd is busy on Tee Vee a showin the punk (or punkess) strapped to a board and about to be Offed; with minute-by-minute readouts of the vital signs, and various solicited reviews from the Interested parties attending and watching the spectacle Up Close. Not everyone who kills is nutzo, we are generally agreed: but killing one's kids has gotta be almost prima facie evidence (except, as Box pointed out above - for the troglodyte who traded her kids for.. getting laid next). Still, and for either case: Killing Them is NOT about teaching sanity. It's about wallowing in our own defects - and promoting more wallowing. Vicious circle, that. WTF - we could try.. to grow up, as a species. Just for the hell of it. A novelty, say? Ashton
Post #29,841 by wharris2 2/26/02 2:52:31 PM Reply	Unfortunately, until recently that wasn't an option I remember the "life in prison" sentences which weren't. Life without parole is a good option to have. Shoot, I remember discretionary sentencing where people would commit serious crimes and get off with a slap on the wrist - thus the introduction of mandatory sentencing laws (taken far beyond the "good idea for some crimes" phase to being a Gawd-awful mess nowdays.) Where each demon is slain, more hate is raised, yet hate unchecked also multiplies. - L. E. Modesitt
Post #29,878 by screamer 2/26/02 4:28:29 PM Reply	Okay, I'm enlightening myself a little... and no, I'm not smoking anything... I guess most folks may agree that this particular human being probably doesn't belong with the rest of the herd. The separation apparatus is the bone of contention. I have never suffered from the "sanctity of life" dilemna either in the womb or any point before the tomb. I see that the State sends its "children" to places like Vietnam, Korea, etc... so I don't feel that it's so inconsistent for me to not even want to pay her medical bills or for her "lifetime housing" with my tax dollars (from a purely pragmatic standpoint). I would much rather spend my tax money on reforming people that have a chance to "get out of prison", such as druggies, rapists and all. I think that we could probably pay for college educations for about 10 current inmates that will be getting out for the price of one "lifer" with no chance of parole. I can't help but think this scenario would be of the greater good for society... Now, for some real consistency, I also believe that it is better to let ten guilty people walk than for one innocent one to serve life or die for a crime they didn't commit. Because of this, I don't think the death penalty should be willy nilly applied. In a clear cut case like this... Who says that it is uncivilized to thin the herd every once in a while? (Other than you and few million other oddballs?) :-) Just a few thoughts, Screamer "I think we out to bring back crucifixion. Upside down crucifixion" G. Carlin "Nietzsche has an S in it" Celina Jones
Post #29,886 by wharris2 2/26/02 4:41:57 PM Reply	As currently practised, the figures don't hold up Here in Ohio, they recently put to death a person who had killed a convenience store clerk and had knocked over a couple other stores that night. In 1983. This guy was on Death Row for almost twenty years, with appeal after appeal after appeal after appeal. And after seventeen years of that, the defense "discovered" new evidence and they went through a couple more rounds of appeals, with various stays and rulings by judges. That's not cost-effective at all. You'd spend far less to lock him up for the rest of his life than to keep going through this sort of appeals process. Certainly you don't go through anything like this for life sentences.. Where each demon is slain, more hate is raised, yet hate unchecked also multiplies. - L. E. Modesitt
Post #29,903 by Ashton 2/26/02 6:19:47 PM 2/26/02 6:23:00 PM Reply	So.. the system (any system created by homo-sap) is guaranteed imperfect: at every stage of the process from arrest to final disposition. That's another dozen threads. But another argument for Not offing anyone - especially since we discovered DNA and.. lots of prisoners haven't (yet) gotten to have that litmus test du jour. At present rate - expect many of those to die without it. [edit] - prolly more a reply to Dan But never mind the imperfection of the 'guilt finding' process. Assume guilt's a fact in some case. As Mike Huber observed somewhere around here, the decision Not to Kill is NOT about the perp! It's about 'us'; what we imagine we stand-for (as they say) or wish - we might next stand a bit higher-for (?). And the lowest motivation for assigning punishment: must be, to assuage bloodlust. If we ever want to try for growing out of adolescence, that is - as a culture, as a species. Maybe 'we' don't (want to try). But I'd like to see us try. Other countries have decided to try. Are we lesser? Or just more Righteous.. and they're a bunch of wimps? Edited by Missing User 70 Feb. 26, 2002, 06:23:00 PM EST Expand All History

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