That is not what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald. Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby as he was being transported from one location to another (prison to court house?). The only “celebrity criminal” I know of that was killed while in prison was Jeffrey Damer. If there’s that large a threat to a prisoners life, they will be put in solitary confinement for their own safety. In fact, if they had tried to release Timothy McVeigh to the general prison population, I would not have been suprised if his lawyers went to court to prevent that from happening.
*Originally posted by Matt Leese *
**If there’s that large a threat to a prisoners life, they will be put in solitary confinement for their own safety. In fact, if they had tried to release Timothy McVeigh to the general prison population, I would not have been suprised if his lawyers went to court to prevent that from happening.
Matt **
which would make life without parole an even worse punishment
First, I disagree with the wording with your polls. Like virtually all media polls, the reader is asked to choose a reason along with their answer. In a case where the reader doesn’t really understand their own opinion, they will choose whichever reason seems to sound more favorable to them. What if I did believe in the death penalty, but not because it is a suitable form of punishment? What if I believed in the death penalty because I believe it saves innocent lives? What if I don’t believe in the death penalty because I think it makes the executioners mentally unstable?
That being said, I truly do not know whether we should execute people or not. In our type of society, a republic, we choose to live be certain laws, and accept the restrictions associated with these laws. In return, we have a more “civilized” society and gain more control over what we want to do with our lives. We gain certain protection from others. I believe laws and morals are arbitrary but necessary. Without common morals, chaos results and it becomes very difficult to choose how to live your life. Likewise, I don’t think it matters if we have a death penalty or not. However, let’s be consistant. If we’re going to execute people, make sure it becomes known that if you commit a serious crime, we have no obligation to feed you and keep you alive, and you will be killed. If we’re not going to execute people, then let’s come up with a solution that locks up these people for good, and let’s make sure every law is enforced completely.
My feelings on the Matter can be best summed up by a quote from Robert heinlein:
“Concepts such as ‘state’
and 'society’and ‘government’ have no existance save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. It is impossible to shift blame,share blame, distribute blame… as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else.”- Robert Anson Heinlein
That quote means, basically, that an immoral act is still immoral irrespective of the organization the perpetrator belongs to.
think on that for awhile.
Hmm… to kill or not to kill… do not interpret the following as exceedingly cold:
My opinion is that we should adopt the policy of solitary confinement instead of the usual jail cell. The fact that a criminal is even given a bed, something some who have committed no crime can’t even manage to afford is slightly sickening. As for killing him, don’t take this the wrong way, but he was going to die anyways; why should we pay for him to live further? I see no reason why it was not justified, considering the damage he’s done to so many.
To those who say a person has no right to judge whether or not another should live or do: According to your logic, who are you to say someone does not have that right?
As a taxpayer, had McVeigh gotten away with life, I would resent the fact that my grandchildren could still be paying to keep alive a man who had murdered over a hundred other taxpayers.
Also for anyone who hasn’t read Heinlien extensively, he was definitely a supporter of corporal punishment in all it’s forms, including the death penalty. I thought the way he was quoted left that ambiguous or possibly even turned that around. I believe it was from “Starship Troopers” which you should read for yourself, ESPECIALLY if you saw the movie, and read the whole quote in context.
Personally I like the idea of flogging for “minor” crimes like petty theft. As long as it’s done “by the numbers” and the “debt to society” is considered payed when it’s over. It’s a little more painful than a year in prison, but it’s over faster (if done properly) and I believe the lesson would be more lasting. Unfortunately I also think it has great potential for abuse, and I hate to think what it would do to the guy who had to deliver the sentence regularly, so I’ll leave it as a nice thought.
ChrisH
Whose politics are so far to the right he’s left
*Originally posted by ChrisH *
**As a taxpayer, had McVeigh gotten away with life, I would resent the fact that my grandchildren could still be paying to keep alive a man who had murdered over a hundred other taxpayers.
ChrisH
Whose politics are so far to the right he’s left **
It costs more to execute someone than to hold them in prison for life…
It costs more to execute someone than to hold them in prison for life…
I’d like to see the numbers for that, and sources. The actual execution can’t be that expensive. The costs for trails and appeals (which I don’t object to by the way) I can see being pretty high. After all this isn’t something we can undo, so we want to be sure we got the right guy or gal and every possible precaution should be made to be sure we’re right.
But I can’t see how it’s more expensive to imprison a guy for a couple of years and then have a lot of expense for a couple of days or weeks around the execution than imprisoning the same guy for 50 years. Those few weeks must be awful expensive …
It’s not the actual execution costs but instead the trial costs. There are automatic appeals involved with a death penalty case as well as other expenses. I believe you have to have multiple lawyers then and there are all kinds of extra procedural iniatives that have to occur. I’m not too certain on the specific rules but if anyone wants a Poly Sci project, here’s one.
last night on the news i believe i heard that it cost the government $14 million in taxpayers dollors just to DEFEND timothey mcveigh…thats before what it cost to investigate, to prosecute, and all that…how much do 3 small meals, a blanket, bed and water cost compared to that?
and jason: i believe that everyone has a basic right to a bed, to food, to shelter, and the other basic nessessities needed to survive. youre logic confuses me: you seem to be saying that the homeless problem needs to be resolved, but in the same sentence you say that the government shouldnt give a criminal a bed, since there are people who cant afford one. shouldnt the government give the criminal, AND the person who cant afford one, a bed?
