Death Sentence / Prison System / etc.

I have to wonder how death sentence opponents justify their position when things like this happen (excepting people who have religious beliefs on the subject - not much you can do about that except change your religion )?

We have been regularly unable, as a society, to treat people like this and our "institutional system" has not only given up on reforming criminals, it's become a large industry in its own right, especially in lower income areas that need to increase borough and state revenues and bring in jobs.

There's no hope of reforming this man or people like him with the current system anyway, so why bother even putting him in jail? Give him some appeals and when they run out "zap" and that's that. Instead he just takes up space that could be better used for some poor sucker who got caught smoking marijuana for the 3rd time in a dark corner of the basement (after all, you need to keep restocking your product in any business, and what better way to do so than attacking people who have the audacity to use a relatively harmless drug that *gasp* ISN'T TAXED! [you know... like cigarettes and liquor.. the socially and legally accpetable, but far more harmful drugs]).

Now, this sick freak will sit in prison sucking up NY tax dollars (granted, it would be poetic justice if he got a hairy, 350 lb. jailmate named Bubba "drop the soap" Lumpkin) while ultimately contributing nothing to society but 6 people who's lives he has permanently scarred.

Gurrrgh....

And yes.. I'm aware that innocent people get executed. But, in this case, it's so ridiculously clear-cut (plus he confessed), that the odds are astronomically stacked against him being innocent...

Happy Andreas? I got a rant going! An unfocused, wandering rant, yes... but a rant nonetheless

Jails suck.
They cost us money, and are doing nothing for society that the death penalty couldn't.

Granted, car theives and lesser criminals shouldn't be killed, but our "correctional" facilities are far too nice.

I'm also a firm beiliever of the old 'eye for an eye' view. you kill someone, you deserve to die.

Urgghhh....must...avoid....political flame bait....urge to respond....rising....

....rising....

Heh... that one guy, must've thought better of responding too - he deleted his post.

// me absently wonders how long it will take Eclipce and Tech to wander into the post... possibly realnowhereman and John too

You have a point. If someone's going to end up in prison longer then they're going to be alive, then why keep them there at all?

"Will the defendent please take the seat. No not that one, the metal one over there with the metal hat on top."

One funny note: Just last weekend I was talking with my wife about marijuana. (Neither of us smoke or drink btw) Why is marijuana illegal? It's less harmful to the user then cigaretts or alcohol, and probably no more mind altering then alcohol. My only conclusion is that most (or at least many) cultures around the world have some form of tobacco smoking and/or alcoholic drink.

If marijuana was more accepable in other nations, it'd probably be legal here.

I think every courthouse should have a slaughter room - once convicted and sentenced to death, they are dragged in there and dealt with swiftly - and that is one dude that needs that punishment...

I like it when pansies come up to me and say "If it were you job, could you pull the switch?" and I'm like "No, I'm a conservationist and that's a waste of energy. A single bullet's much faster and cheaper anyway if you don't miss the lobes." just to tick them off.... that guy though? Nah.. I'd rather see that guy stay in jail and rot away until his final day. It's scary, sometimes I think they only reason I want to believe in a religion is because I'd WANT to see people like that suffer in Hell. I mean.. Jesus... that one girl was 16 for crying out loud (blood pressure rising... must.. control... fist... of death...)! Although, I do think appeals are critical, especially with the maturation of DNA testing. THere's probably a lot of innocent people sitting on death row who could someday be liberated by an appeal that proves, via previously unknown evidence, that they got the wrong person.

As far as marijuana... well, let's see. Marijuana is surprisingly easy to grow and care for. It doesn't really require any more processing than a regular garden herb, and you don't need anything special to smoke it. Compare that with cigarettes and liquor which, while they can be made on their own, are fairly difficult to cultivate the necessary weeds for and process properly. If it were legal, the government wouldn't be able to tax it because no corporation could sell something that anyone with half a brain can grow in their garden next to the parsley. On top of that, exports would be non-existant (we're a mighty big tobacco exporter here in the good old U.S. of A ). The gov't simply wouldn't make money off of it, and it would probably cut into tobacco sales. It would also cut back on sales of many prescription pain killers and over-the-counter pain medicines. The bottom line is money and special interests, really.

Think about it.... both alchohol, and most of the crap companies put in cigarettes, are powerful toxins (tobacco itself isn't very harmful). Too much of either can quickly kill or cripple you through poisoning. Long term, gradual exposure to either almost always leads to serious health problems such as heart, arterial, lung, liver, and brain damage. You can also get cancer of pretty much anything that comes in contact with either toxin.

Marijuana doesn't appear to cause any serious, long-term health problems in casual users (much in the same way unprocessed tobacco doesn't hurt you much). It can cause irritation of the mouth, throat, and lungs in some people, but there's only a very flimsy suggestion of a link that it can lead to any kind of cancer. Alcohol and nicotine (and, actually, caffiene as well) both rapidly develop physical dependencies which cause moderate withdrawal symptoms when people try to escape them. Marijuana has no known chemical compounds that can cause a physical addiction (though, like anything in the world, a mental dependancy can definitely be developed in some people similar to the mental dependancy some people develop on salty or sugary snacks).

In fact, I'd be more than willing to say, without a doubt, that from what I've seen (and I've seen a lot dope smokers and fat eaters), smoking a single joint is probably FAR less harmful to you than consuming a single HAMBURGER (not Big Mac) from McDonald's....

..and no, I don't now, and never have, personally smoked Marijuana. I know of only one person who ever "moved on" to new drugs from Marijuana, and the concensus is that that was likely caused by his depression over his parent's divorce, not the marijuana seeing as both his parents smoked it their whole lives and never even touched a drink, and his sister has smoked it for over 5 years and never tested any other drug. I've known several people who've gone from speed "down" to marijuana, however.

Fact of the matter is, the whole reason is political...

Hehe, what a fire you got burning here.

Statistical Facts:

1/3 of all accidents involve a driver who recently smoked Marijuana. (I may be wrong about that %, I remember it from a commercial)

1/2 of all accidents involve a driver who was currently on a cell phone.

People on cell phones are MUCH more annoying then pot smokers. IMO

I've never, and never will smoke pot, but one of my sisters does.

I resent that

I say stone them. I suppose sense a bullet is made out of a kind of rock that it would still be considered stoning...

Yep, line'em up and start pulling the trigger. Bullets are cheap.

Granted, it does nothing to deter crime, but I'm getting sick of murderers, child diddlers, etc. getting back out on the street.

You disappoint me, Ctb. Here I was, waiting all night to congratulate you on your 2000th post, and you come up three shy. I'm leaving tomorrow for the northern province for about a week and won't be around for the actual event, so I'll make it pre-emptive:

Congrats!

Onto the subject matter, I don't partake in any of the aformentioned chemicals, but know several people that do. I'm a big fan of the "let people screw themselves up" ideal and only punish when they get outside that realm, or threaten to do so. Let people pump whatever they want inside their bodies, so long as they don't leave their room. Violent crimes while drunk/stoned should be treated in kind. The "I was taking out the trash and too stoned to remember I live on the fourth floor and dropped a bag of glass bottles on someone's head" kind of crap gets met in force, too.

The biggest threat of harm is automobiles. We need strict, enforced laws on driving under the influence of any kind. Also need a good "breathalizer" for marijuana for easy testing.

The vauge areas come when parents, or those responsible of others, abuse substance. Mom's continually stoned, dad's always drunk, are they harming their kids? I guess there's negligence laws, but if they're feeding and clothing their kids, sending them to school, does somebody step in and say "that's bad parenting and needs to be stopped?" I don't know, but I feel in legalizing a currently illegal drug, questions like this would pop up like crazy. It's bad enough to have alcoholic dad around, but now mom's legal and open with her fix, too. How about a pregnant woman? What are marijuana's effects on the child? Second-hand marijuana smoke?

And I was always a fan of the guillotine. Public. Iconic. Reusable (but probably with a greater upkeep cost than bullets, sharpening, etc). And it'll get those pesky immortals, like Duncan McCleod

Ah yes, but guillotines are re-usable!

1. No country should use the death sentence in case the person was innocent. With the discovery of DNA, a lot of people have been cleared of their crimes. If they had been killed they would still be dead.
2. Think about what the death sentence says. "You killed someone. Society cannot condone killing someone. Therefore we must kill you"
3. Surely it would be better to let them rot in jail?

On the marijuana point, it was outlawed shortly after alcohol was. The guy who outlawed alcohol basically thought 'What next?'. He decided marijuana because it would show the mexicans coming in that America was more dominent than them (as they regularly smoked it).

Marijuana was very popular in almost every European country during the Middle Ages but lost popularity due to tobacco.