Anno Nomius's Blog - Posts Tagged "tfanum"
Death penalty
Death penalty
Across civilizations for centuries the death sentence has been handed down for crimes large and small and sometimes even when no crime was committed. The saga continues to this day and the two opposing camps of people supporting the death penalty and those against it remain firmly entrenched for their own reasons in their views.
For the average Joe or Jane who has been personally affected , a loved one murdered, the verdict is clear on where they stand. A preacher or two may come and convince to the contrary but the reaction deep down is clear. However for a civilized society there needs to be due process. Enter the judicial system, judge, jury to weigh in, as prosecutors argue each side. At the end of such deliberations, justice gets served or so we think. But is justice really served, If we just talk about it,in detail, spanning several months and sometimes years? Lets not kid ourselves we all know that the party with the better lawyers prevails almost always. Anything to the contrary is an aberration.
The death sentence however is unique. A human being is being condemned to die versus the alternative which is life imprisonment. This better be right. Justice better be served. There is no scope for wrong. There has been 100s of cases where people have got the death sentence when no crime was committed. Also crime and its penalty is a function of time. Being black or gay could get you hanged by order of the court if you did something 60 years ago. Stealing bread could get you killed 200 years ago by the order of the court. So my suggestion is while the justice systems struggles to get it right pick the less risky option of life imprisonment in all cases. What does that mean for individual justice. Well there is a world outside the court or if you prefer move on.
Now, what about mental crimes? Are you guilty of any? What is the appropriate punishment for that?
Across civilizations for centuries the death sentence has been handed down for crimes large and small and sometimes even when no crime was committed. The saga continues to this day and the two opposing camps of people supporting the death penalty and those against it remain firmly entrenched for their own reasons in their views.
For the average Joe or Jane who has been personally affected , a loved one murdered, the verdict is clear on where they stand. A preacher or two may come and convince to the contrary but the reaction deep down is clear. However for a civilized society there needs to be due process. Enter the judicial system, judge, jury to weigh in, as prosecutors argue each side. At the end of such deliberations, justice gets served or so we think. But is justice really served, If we just talk about it,in detail, spanning several months and sometimes years? Lets not kid ourselves we all know that the party with the better lawyers prevails almost always. Anything to the contrary is an aberration.
The death sentence however is unique. A human being is being condemned to die versus the alternative which is life imprisonment. This better be right. Justice better be served. There is no scope for wrong. There has been 100s of cases where people have got the death sentence when no crime was committed. Also crime and its penalty is a function of time. Being black or gay could get you hanged by order of the court if you did something 60 years ago. Stealing bread could get you killed 200 years ago by the order of the court. So my suggestion is while the justice systems struggles to get it right pick the less risky option of life imprisonment in all cases. What does that mean for individual justice. Well there is a world outside the court or if you prefer move on.
Now, what about mental crimes? Are you guilty of any? What is the appropriate punishment for that?
