To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/07/04 15:08
Subject: Re: [K-list] Re: Love the Enemy
From: Gcwein1111
On 2000/07/04 15:08, Gcwein1111 posted thus to the K-list:
In a message dated 7/4/00 11:02:11 AM Pacific Daylight Time, druoutATnospamaol.com
writes:
<<
Dear Jerry,
What if the convicted murderer is innocent? (In this case isn't he the
innocent victim?)
What if the state kills an innocent man? It happens. (Is the state a
murderer then?)
In any case, to kill with full knowledge, without passion in the name of
moral judgment, is just as chilling to me as "cold blooded" murder. That's
why civilized countries have done away with the death penalty.
.
Love, Hillary
You are changing the debate, Hillary, in that the assumption has been
that we're talking about executing guilty people -- no one has suggested
otherwise. But to address your point, it is partly because the possibility
does exist of putting an innocent person to death that l am not particularly
in favor of the death penalty myself. The possibility of executing an
innocent person in our system is remote, but it has happened, and recent dna
evidence suggesting a few wrongful convictions represents to me a compelling
argument for stopping these executions.
l repeat for the third
time: my argument has not been in favor of capital punishment but rather has
been against the notion that executing convicted murderers is a from of
"murder" which is just as unconscionable as the murder of innocent people.
Chilling? Of course an execution is chilling. Ever hear the ancient maxim
that the punishment fits the crime? lt's not something l personally approve
of. But you insult the victim of the murderer and the victim's family when
you fail to appropriately distinguish between the acts in question. ln most
cases the victim's family wants the death penalty for the murderer. l'm not
saying they're right -- but these are good, decent people by any standard,
and you defame them when you imply that they're no better than murderers.
As far as referring to "civilized countries",
the european countries l know of have abandoned the death penalty -- some not
very long ago. But there are many countries who still use it, and l'd be
careful about labeling all of them uncivilized. l can be as critical as
anyone about the US, but it still remains one of the great democracies and
hardly qualifies as uncivilized. Without us, the "civilized" countries to
whom you refer would be hard pressed to exist today.
Capital punishment is part of our justice system, which is one of the
best on this planet, in spite of its flaws. The US Supreme Court over the
generations has several times considered whether capital punishment
represents cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th amendment to
the US Constiution, and each time the Court has found that it doesn't. Agree
or disagree, all of these Supreme Court justices were not murderers.
love,
jerry
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