Huntster wrote:
Unless, in your second case, the person is an abortionist who we all know will continue killing fetuses. Then the killing might be viewed as an attempt to stop that abortionist from killing.
The same can hold true for a criminal who has been released from prison after committing heinous crimes in the past. Unable to trust the state to keep the person incarcerated for the safety of the public, society might decide it's safer simply to execute such people in order to ensure they cannot kill again.
Yes, but if you do consider murder to be a crime, then the person killing the abortionist or the criminal is still guilty and deserves to go to jail. You cannot have law and order with people running around taking the law into their own hands.
I agree, but to a point. I believe my experiences might shed light on that position.
I was a participant in the activity known as (the original) Operation Rescue in the 1980's. The goal of the activity was to civilly disobey trespass law, sit or otherwise block all entrances to abortion clinics in the early morning so access was cut off, and have counselors ready on the public property nearby (street/sidewalk) to offer non-lethal alternatives to clients arriving that day for their abortion procedures.
We had a legal defense team with the goal of defending the participants from violating trespass law with the
defense of necessity. This valid defense holds that the violation of law committed with the intent of avoiding a greater evil is just. IOW, trespassing in order to save a human life is a valid criminal defense.
And, sure enough, on one morning that we did this, a lady arriving for an abortion took our organizations offer of a good home for her unborn child, and thus brought the child to birth. Thus, we indeed save a human life by committing the misdemeanor of criminal trespass. We even had the mother of the child ready to testify and had a photo of the child as evidence.
Now would you like to guess how that defense went in court?
I've been to jail. I don't think there are lots of innocent people in jail. Indeed, I think there are too many guilty people in society that need to be jailed.
However, I tend to be opposed to the death penalty. I think people deserve the opportunity for expiation. A person can achieve good things in jail.
However, government does a very poor job of "corrections". The first failure of government is maintaining order in prison. Secondly, the system lets too many recidivist criminals free. Who among us don't get infuriated when an ex-con murders or rapes somebody, or both?
I think we can get into a debate about "how many" represents "too much".
I'm sure we could.
Suffice it to say that I was in jail with a man who was sentenced to 9 months for pushing an old aggressor back (as the old man, a retired cop, was pushing the "criminal"), and when the old man fell and shattered his elbow on the curb, my jail mate's fate was sealed. The old man was a security guard at the gate of a gated community that my jail-mate was visiting and trying to call his friend to allow access. There were words exchanged, which led to a shoving match, which ended up with a 9 month stretch.
Speeding or even a distraction can cause a fatal auto accident and a prison term.
"It can't happen to me"?
I'm here to tell you, it most certainly can. We are
all a single second away from prison.
I also think some people are beyond "expiation". Either they can't, or they don't deserve it. There was a horrific serious of crimes here in Canada, perpetrated by rapist/murderer named Paul Bernardo. If you want to feel really sick to your stomach, look him up on wikipedia.
I fully agree that
many are beyond redemption. I can assure you, I literally felt the evil in the atmosphere inside prison.
However, if "life in prison" really means life in prison, society is somewhat safe. If murderers and rapists are released as a matter of course, we will continue to be victims of their evil.
He and his wife documented their atrocities. I see no reason for him to be alive. There isn't ANY doubt, let alone reasonable doubt for his crimes. His "wife" aswell, which I'm soooooo happy she was able to go to a decent Canadian University while in prison.
I oppose buying post-secondary credits for prisoners in prison. I oppose most TV in prison (only the news and educational documentaries should be shown in prison). I oppose access to telephones in prison. Give them plenty of writing material. I oppose tobacco in prison. I oppose the guards allowing some prisoners to victimize others. There should be no more "chances" for prisoners. If you commit a murder in prison (another prisoner or a guard) and are convicted (and you should be because the place should be covered by cameras 100%), you should be taken out into the yard and be the main event for an execution by hanging or firing squad while the rest of the prison population is in attendance.