(June 4, 2018 at 8:26 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I'd just replace it with life in prison. I don't support any kind of unnecessary killing.
This is one thing we can agree on. It is bad enough that our justice system isn't funded enough to defend the poor. But the death penalty isn't a deterrent either. It really is nothing more than a state sanctioned act of revenge. I don't want to live in a society where law enforcement or courts or juries are out to get revenge. Law enforcement needs to be about investigating only, going where the evidence leads, not based on emotion. Once the accused is detained, the court puts the case in front of a jury, and even then, the jury should not be swayed by anything but evidence, not the emotional nature of a charge.
The convicted are already contained and if they have life in prison, they are not going anywhere. It isn't for me about having sympathy for the truly guilty in one particular case, but more to the point being long term in what kind of society we want to live in. It is a bad idea to foster revenge in lawmaking or juries and can lead to a mob rule mentality.
