I think there are a lot of people who now favor the death penalty, who would
also be find with life sentences that REALLY meant "life in jail", and
didn't mean "life in jail, unless you behave well for 10 years or so in
which case we will let you go".
The problem with some people is that they are pretty well behaved when kept
in a room all to themselves. Such people don't wake up in the morning and
say to themselves "What criminal activity can I engage in today?". This
only happens in cartoons. Sometimes I think young people today have a sort
of "cartoon" version of what real life is all about. I wish it weren't so.
Criminals typically see THEMSELVES as victims. This can take on many forms,
but the net result is that they use their own self image as a victim to
justify doing things that are outside the law to compensate for their
situation, be it out of work, unloved, impoverished, misunderstood, what
have you. So you let a perfectly well behaved inmate/former mass murderer
out of prison after 15 years or so, and chances are, they "injustices" are
likely to manifest themselves again, and soon.
I think if we could agree that some people just can't be "repaired", there
would be a good consensus for true life sentences, and the fervor for a
death penalty would fade.
As for how America compares with Europe on this issue and some others... my
next post.
[View Quote]"sw chris" <chrisw10 at nckcn.com> wrote in message
news:3bdf592f$1 at server1.Activeworlds.com...
> If I may make a point. Sounds cold-hearted, but since it's my taxpaying
> dollars going to keeping these killers fed and clothed, I say kill em off.
> Big I digress. On a more less-selfish point, when you commit a crime that
> is the taking of another human life (or more), I think the old saying "an
> eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" applies.
> --
> SW Chris
> Eagle Scout, Philosopher, Peacemaker, and... Kung Fu Master?
> http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame1.html
>
> "aine" <Aine at DeDanaan.com> wrote in message
> news:3bdee124 at server1.Activeworlds.com...
> If you'll do a little investigating, you'll find out that many of Bin
> Laden's speeches/messages to the world have something to do with something
> that occurred back in 1921, as he keeps saying they've been under the yoke
> of American imperialism for 80 years. What that refers to, I'm not
exactly
> sure, but it would have been during the presidency of Warren G. Harding,
so
> apparently the recent terrorist actions have roots that reach back a long
> way. What any of that has to do with Bin Laden, who was not alive during
> that time, is anyone's guess. One of the really weird things about Bin
> Laden is that almost all of his immediate family (who are fairly well-off
> and very well educated) resides right here in the U.S. They've long ago
> disowned this fellow from their family, and condemned his actions on
> numerous occasions, but, as you can imagine, his actions have made their
> lives a living hell as well. And no, I'm not forgetting the suffering and
> loss of the people whose relatives were on those planes or in those
> buildings that were destroyed in NY, DC, and Philadelphia. I know that
> they, too, continue to suffer and mourn the deaths of their friends and
> relatives, and that they, above everyone else, deserve to see justice done
> with regards to the terrorists who perpetrate these sorts of incidents.
>
> As far as prisons, the courts, and the death penalty goes... the European
> Union has, as a body, unanimously condemned the death penalty as a
> punishment for any sort of crime. They seem to have trouble understanding
> why we here in the United States have no trouble with keeping the death
> penalty as a punishment. To their way of thinking, we're supposed to be
one
> of the more advanced-thinking countries, and yet we continue to perpetuate
> what they consider a backward mentality. Our use of the death penalty
puts
> us on a list of countries that includes Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Cuba,
etc.
> Is that the sort of company we wish to keep? *shrugs* Russia is
currently
> at the top of the list of countries that routinely use the death penalty,
> the sheer numbers of prisoners killed there is outrageous, and yet our own
> numbers of prisoners, our increasing numbers of prisons, and our use of
the
> death penalty will shortly rival theirs. Has this method of dealing with
> crime and criminals been very effective? I'm not certain it has, and I
have
> no idea what method would work better, but it seems to me that what we're
> currently doing isn't going to lead us into a world where we can "all just
> get along."
>
> Áine
>
>
>
>
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