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| New Jersey bans death penalty | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 17 2007, 05:42 PM (130 Views) | |
| 24thcenstfan | Dec 17 2007, 05:42 PM Post #1 |
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New Jersey bans death penalty
I don't see this becoming a trend. There are some very pro-Capital Punishment states left in the Union. Texas for example. Personally, I still support the death penalty in cases where extremely heinous crimes were committed. I continue to weigh the impact of this position though. I don't take the position lightly. |
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| ImpulseEngine | Dec 18 2007, 11:02 AM Post #2 |
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Commodore
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I continue to wrestle with the whole capital punishment concept. Philosophically, I am for it in cases of first degree murder and especially for the really ugly criminals - serial killers, etc. There are probably other types of crimes for which I might be in favor of it as well - violent rapes, for example (perhaps I should say the more violent rapes since rape is violent by definition). I am philosophically for it because 1) public safety - if they're dead, they can't kill again, 2) economics - I can't see supporting these criminals in jail for life when they should never go free, 3) "life sentences" are often not for life :rolleyes:, and 4) as a deterrent to other would-be murderers. However, the problem that I have with capital punishment is that it's value assumes a perfect system. Innocent people have been erroneously convicted, but a death sentence can't be reversed. Related to that, I don't believe all prejudice and racism has been completely eliminated when it comes to who is arrested and convicted. Some people would say that one innocent life sacrificed to eliminate many accurately convicted violent criminals is acceptable. I just don't agree. For that reason, I have always stood against capital punishment when it came right down to it. So I suppose I applaud New Jersey, but I also have a lot of mixed feelings. |
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| 24thcenstfan | Dec 18 2007, 07:20 PM Post #3 |
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You bring up a good point about possible innocents being wrongly convicted. However, no system will ever be perfect IMO. Based on that premise, I choose to support our current system that for the most part hands down non-capital punishment sentences and reserves the death penalty for extreme crimes. There are people who have committed certain crimes that deserve the harshest punishment our justice system can hand down. Despite that, there are grey areas to this issue because of the weight of the issue (i.e. the taking of a life). While this example is minor in comparison to human life, it speaks to the heart of why I don’t take the issue very lightly. There was a stray cat that used to come around until a couple of months ago. He was very nice until another male cat came around. He would then become very territorial and want to fight him right away. It got to the point where after beating up this nice cat one too many times that I decided to catch him and take him to the animal control center the next time he came around. I called animal control, and was told that if the cat wasn’t claimed within a matter of days, that he would be put to death. I couldn’t do it though. Knowing that I was going to send the cat to its death when he wasn’t ill or hurt, just made me sick to my heart and stomach. He came around once or twice after that, but then he disappeared all together. I was so glad he stopped coming around. Taking someone's life is not an issue to be taken lightly. Even for the small fury ones. JMO. |
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| ImpulseEngine | Dec 19 2007, 10:06 AM Post #4 |
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Commodore
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That's a great story about the cat 24. I too would have great difficulty putting it to its death. Heck, I felt badly about running over a squirrel a couple of years ago when it ran out in front of my car and there was nothing I could do. And it was just a rodent! ![]() I certainly have been tempted to support our current system for the reasons I stated above. And I do think there are many clear cases where there is no doubt about a person's guilt and in which I would support their being put to death. Unfortunately (at least for my peace of mind), laws can't be written to say "when there is no doubt" because "no doubt" really can't adequately be defined. So, in order to allow the doubtless cases, the door is also inevitably open for innocent people to possibly be sentenced to death. You are correct that no system is perfect. I just can't get past this particular system's imperfections when it potentially involves someone's innocent life being taken away. Let me be clear that I'm not judging you or anyone else who supports our current system and I hear your own personal struggles with the whole matter loud and clear. I'm merely expressing my own feelings about it. On the flip side, some people who have committed violent crimes have gotten out of prison in the past one way or another and have committed more violent crimes. That couldn't have happened if they had been sentenced to death. So there are obvious problems with holding out for the sake of the innocent too. |
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9:19 AM Jul 11