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China executes man for raping 14 schoolgirls

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Outstanding! Simple! Done the way it should be!

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Many people will celebrate his execution. I will at least agree that he was a scumbag worthy of life in prison if the allegations are true.

My problem is that his behavior will be seen as a reason to go hard after people like Mary Kay LeTourneau, Jerry Lee Lewis, Joji Takahashi and Doug Hutchison, yet, meanwhile, men who violently rape 30 somethings won't become examples of what typical men who lust for 30 somethings do.

His behavior was representative of only a tiny tiny minority of evil men.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

One of the few occasions where I find it difficult to be critical of a death sentence. It is certainly a good thing that these monsters will never walk again freely or lay hands on innocent victims.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

China executes man for raping 14 schoolgirls

Good

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Guess he subscribes to the Wooderson school of thought.

Wooderson: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."

(Dazed and Confused)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This should always be the sentence. Saves those of us that have kids from having to break the law to give these scum bags what they deserve.

And I know of what I speak!!! My cousins husband raped three of his daughters and got 1-10. Good thing I live in Japan and had to get rid of my guns (before I came over) because I just might (and probably would) have carried out the sentense he really deserves!!!!!

There is no more vile and disgusting crime than rape of a child!!! And the death penaly is actually letting them off light but feel it would be hard to legally pass extreme sexual torture to them prior to execution!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Good job, China...

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Way to go.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Not a huge fan of the death penalty but I can't say I would disagree with this.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Good job on the execution! I suggest his body be fed to the pigs.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Definitely the right way to go!!! Of course, the psychological wounds of the girls won't disappear just like that, but at least they and their families would feel much better knowing that the monster who did this to them will disappear from the face of earth.

I definitely approve death penalty in such cases.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Me too. Monsters should go. Great job, China.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Will the above posters also be congratulating China when the executed guy's organs are harvested and sold?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Great job China!! okimike67 I agree with you 100%!!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Rape or murder? Which is a more serious crime? I ask because posters here object when people get the death penalty for murder, but enthusiastically support the same penalty for a rapist. I always assumed that killing another human was the worst crime of all, but maybe social mores are changing....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Jeff, if someone is murdering me, then my life is finished. If someone rapes me, I have to live in fear for the rest of my life. Which is worse?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Both.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Death is too easy for the guy.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

We need faster executions of rapists and murderers around the world. These people recidivate after their release and harm entire families with their rapes. The victims do not die but they live in hell afterward. And sometimes, the violence in the offender escalates into murder either to fulfill their fantasy or get rid of the witnesses. Families deserve a quick resolution that is not dragged on by years and decades of technical wrangling. One appeal at the state/province level and that's it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

foxie:

Jeff, if someone is murdering me, then my life is finished. If someone rapes me, I have to live in fear for the rest of my life. Which is worse?

Many rape victims manage to overcome their fear with the right support from loved ones. I've never heard of anyone overcoming death.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

LOL. Chinese brutality done the right way.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Outstanding! Simple! Done the way it should be!

Provided, of course, that he committed the crime he was convicted of.

Families deserve a quick resolution that is not dragged on by years and decades of technical wrangling. One appeal at the state/province level and that's it.

And what do defendants deserve, exactly? The book I am currently reading had a section on a man in the US who was convicted of child rape based, essentially, on the fact that he had red hair. (There was also some shoddy DNA work involved.) Spent half-a-dozen years in prison, where he was severely abused for being a child molestor (the fact we tolerate prison rape and other violence as some sort of justice mechanism is appalling) before it was proved conclusively that they guy had nothing to do with the crime.

How much do you trust your justice system? Think hard, because that could be you up in that chair someday.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

" If someone rapes me, I have to live in fear for the rest of my life"

Really? I know two women in the UK who have suffered rape and neither live in daily fear. Both women (one was a teen at the time of the violation) were badly traumatised, but have managed to move on. They both had help and the perpetrators were both caught and punished. I dont want to belittle the seriousness of the Chinese childrens horrors, but I think you underestimate peoples power of recovery.

The punishment should suit the crime and in most countries the ultimate crime is murder. How any country can justify any state sponsored murder, let alone of a criminal who has not him/herself taken a life is beyond me. I can understand peoples feelings of rage and the need for revenge but any state needs to take a step back and act with moral authority, otherwise it is no better than the mob. If the state behaves like a mob it can expect no more respect than a mob.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I had a family member who was molested by her uncle as a child. She's now a paranoid schizophrenic who'll go into psychotic episodes if she doesn't take her meds. Cruel part is she thinks she doesn't need her meds when she's lucid but she goes off them and it's right back to nightly screaming. Her condition has torn her family apart with people taking sides, issuing blame.

Maybe some victims of sexual assaults do recover, but the fact is some do not and are haunted by it the rest of their lives. Yet we're taking the side of the criminal who is likely to prey on another victim. I say no. The sex offenders out there need to be in jail for the rest of their lives; the worst among them, executed. Another point: how do we even expect these criminals to be rehabiliated in prison? They can't even function in society and you throw them in with the worst of the worst and expect them to become better people? That's patently ridiculous.

No system is ever perfect. But putting the victims and their families through decades of parole hearings and testifying, dreading the day of his relief is what is cruel and unusual. When you commit heinous crimes, you do not deserve decades of tying up the courts. Heck, they even get a gourmet meal of their choosing before they die. But I digress. No system is perfect but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the criminal few.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I don't like the death penalty but there are times when it seems appropriate - like this one.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Being executed just once is really too good for this scum.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

When you commit heinous crimes, you do not deserve decades of tying up the courts.

It's not for those who "commit heinous crimes," it's for those who DON'T.

You are willing to shred civil protections to get at the bad guys and to give the victims solace, which I can sympathize with, but you give absolutely no thought to the possiblity of the innocent sufferin becuase of it. "No system is ever perfect" - indeed, but you are just using that as an excuse not to confront the problem.

I am reminded of that scene in A Man for All Seasons:

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that! Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Serial killers and serial rapists need one sentence and one sentence only: Termination with extreme prejudice.

If China wanted to avoid being the "bad guy" in this death sentence, all they needed to do was put the rapist in the general prison population, then let slip to the other inmates what he was in there for. There are enough inmates with daughters of their own who would gladly take care of child rapists for the rest of us.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lordmanii - the only needs served by giving the state the power to put people to death are those who bay for blood. Any blood will do. The needs of the victims will be better served by taking away the people who commit these terrible crimes and giving victims the support they need to recover.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Swiss: I reject your notion that the death penalty is "baying for blood." We are not the guilty. They are. Convicted by a jury of their peers and again upon appeal. Get that straight. Exterminating predators is the best way to keep society safe, give victims and their families a resolution, save taxpayer money that can be used for other services such as the one you suggested for victims, and deter criminals. Of course the last reason is laughably flimsy since criminals can't be thinking of the death penalty when it's some abstract notion that is decades away.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We are not the guilty. They are. Convicted by a jury of their peers and again upon appeal.

You still haven't answered the fundamental quesion. Is one appeal sufficiant to acceptably guarantee guilt? Obviously you think it is, but you still haven't said why. Is it because of your inherent trust in the system, or do you feel that it's a tradeoff that needs to be made for the sake of the victims?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

For once I agreed with China.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I actually LOVE THE DEATH PENALTY! Just imagine, if Japan, the USA etc..started to kill off all the idiot monsters that roam the streets of Japan?? the USA?? etc..my guess is that we would have way safer countries, so if their is one thing that I do LOVE about China is that they are not shy in dishing out the DEATH PENALTY! I hope the victims and the family victims could get the chance to see this evil rapist beg for mercy etc..before putting his worthless lights out! Good on CHINA!! Japan, the USA etc..must learn from some of the few positive aspects about the so called Middle Kingdom, 中国!万歳!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Lormanji - I didnt say the death penalty is baying for blood. I said it satisfies only those who bay for blood. In other words, it serves the mob.

I disagree that the death penalty keeps people safe. Once a criminal has committed a first capital crime he no longer has anything to lose. People are less likely to be safe.

I fundamentally believe it is wrong to take a life, unless in self defence. If it's wrong to take life, what males institutional life taking right? It doesn't save money, most appeals systems soak up vast sums of money. It doesn't make people safer. It doesn't help the victim. And the possibility for error is great, how many people put to death for crimes they don't commit is acceptable, one? Ten? A thousand?

The death penalty doesn't even deter. Most crime, including rape and murder, is committed on the spur of the moment.

I certainly don't advocate giving criminals a holiday at the tax payers expense. As well as keeping people safe by excluding them from society, locking criminals away should be a punishment. But state sponsored killing is a little too much power to be allowing our leaders.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

In cases like this the death penalty isn't baying for blood, it's making sure the guy will never do it again. That's the only rational justification and, in this instance, it works. Sad but true. There are far too many cases of heious criminals who are locked up "for life" and then get out on parole. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Gelendestrasse, the death sentence isnt given only in cases like this. People are put to death for robbery, fraud, corruption, its about revenge. Criminals cannot repeat their crimes if locked away. Its true, people do get released and reoffend but that's a reason to review sentencing policy, not commit wholesale slaughter.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe some victims of sexual assaults do recover,

Lordmanji, you cannot really compare a one off sexual assault to years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a family member where you are forced to keep secrets from those you love. In short, its not the sex. Its the abuse, especially the emotional abuse.

There is no reason think these girls won't make full recoveries as they are not being denied attention from loved ones, much less emotionally abused by one. Not that it excuses Chen at all. But its better to stick to reality.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Humongus, obviously you don't know anyone who's been sexually assaulted or have been yourself. There are details of them I won't share with you for fear of being deemed lewd, but let's just say that "one-off" rapists' imaginations are limitless. The scars are permanent even if it is no longer bleeding. "Full recovery" is never truly possible; but they can go on to fulfilling lives, yes. But we're getting away from the point. Saying rape isn't as bad as murder so it doesn't deserve capital punishment is a false comparison. Rape is an act of depraved evil in itself. Obviously there are degrees and mitigating factors such as prior offenses, details of the rape that can be taken into account. But usually when its of the degree that warrants a life sentence, it is severe enough to be a capital crime. This is in the category of raping multiple women/children and some have an added element of sadism. These rapists cannot be rehabilitated. They see the world in a fundamentally different way. Society deserves to be rid of them.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I say he shoulda gone to jail and been butraped... in a cell.. its karma. I belive one hundred percent

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I say he shoulda gone to jail and been butraped... in a cell.. its karma. I belive one hundred percent

This is not justice. Justice does not look like this.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I think castration would have been better. But hey, its China and they choose how they do things. Not bad that they took him out but thats how they worked it out.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How the heck can anyone honestly say, "Good job, China!" for executing someone? They certainly don't beat about the bush, even when the evidence is not clear, I'll grant you that, but seriously. The guy deserved life in prison for sure, if guilty of what they said he was, but it does not make the death sentence any more valid.

lordmanji: " But usually when its of the degree that warrants a life sentence, it is severe enough to be a capital crime."

A capital crime, perhaps. Worhty of capital punishment? no. Nothing warrants execution. And yes, I know a number of people who have been raped or sexually assaulted, including family members (and they do not think the person who did it to them should be executed either).

There is a reason this is news.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

14 school girls? WTF? He should be put to death...Another good way to control the world population too.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

So SmithinJapan, let me get this straight: you believe that nothing at all warrants execution? Not even child rapist/murderers and serial rapists? For every crime the victim's entire circle are victimized. I sincerely suggest you look up the criminal records of serial killers Ed Kemper, Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, Robert Hansen et. al. all of whom confessed to their multiple murders and then reevaluate your position.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lordmanji, you can't have moral code that says killing is wrong and then kill.

It's obvious you have strong feelings on this issue that colours your opinion. It's for this reason we elect governments to apply a set of rules that reflect society's moral code. Setting the rules to exact revenge or appease anger carries no moral authority. That's where inequality, anarchy and crime comes from.

No, there are no reasons to answer one crime with another.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

JeffLee: Rape or murder? Which is a more serious crime?

Well, if you ask the most violent people housed in maximum security prisions they will ALL say that rape of a child is the worst crime. Rape, murder and other heinous crimes are bad and some, I feel, also deserve the death penalty but the RAPE OF CHILDREN is MOST DEFINATELY the WORST CRIME!

Many of the people that are convicted of this crime are dealt with in a very special way and usually ends in their death (after some cavity penatration I am sure). Like a dog on a chicken farm; once they taste the meat they cant stop themselves and must be put down for the good of the rest.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The Death Penalty is not murder it is Justice administered by society. It just has a more permanent effect than the serve 1 out of 10 years and up for parole system in many countries (though I must admit I dont think China is one of these).

Gods law from the old testement, much like islamic law nowadays, tends to apply far more justice that awareded by most western countries. It is good that there is a system in which you have the ability to be assumed innocent until PROVEN guilty but it has definaetly watered down the system. Prison is like a country club today; tv's movies, rec rooms, conjigal visits....a training ground for the gangs! And all the while the victims, if they are still alive, try to live a normal life. I am ALL FOR EYE for and EYE and the Death Penalty for child rapists!!!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Everyone who thinks these girls will get help & attention from loved ones - this is CHINA FFS! They won't get any therapy or counselling or support- they're damage goods & they'll probably be unmarriageable too. Even with support, it takes a strong person to bounce back.

And on a pedantic note:

Executions in China have traditionally been carried out by shooting. But increasingly lethal injections are being used.

Do they mean "Increasingly, lethal injections are being used" ?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Okimike67 - Most societies of the world disagree with you, including many US states. Those countries still practising capital punishment tend to be oppressive regimes where it is often used to enforce order and put down decent. It doesnt work though.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Swiss: Most societies of the world disagree with you, including many US states.

And being Swiss (assumption) I would expect this comment from you. (Reminds me of a trip to Luzurn & Sursee..... interesting views were discussed). Also was surprised by the number of NEO's present en force, really thought all were pacifists, but i digress...

The facts dispute your claim;

Capital punishment has often been a contentious social issue in the United States; while historically, a large majority of the American public has favored it in cases of murder, the extent of this support has varied over time, and there has long been strong opposition from some sectors of the population. While public support today is lower than it was in the 1980s and '90s (in 1994 it reached an all-time high of 80%), it has been largely static over the past decade. A 2011 Gallup poll showed 61% of Americans favored it in cases of murder while 35% opposed it, the lowest level of support recorded by Gallup since 1972. (wikipedia)

Further, only 12 of 50 States do not have a statute for Capital Punishment on the books, 75% DO!

Even the country I live in (Japan) has the death penalty and recently exercised it. As to either being oppressive regiemes.... well patently FALSE. There are a good number on the list that are though, I will give you that. And as to it not working... well if the fact that people still commit crimes for which they may be executed for is the only measure then perhaps so but we both know it is a deterant and many more may have been detured.

As to my comments on it; I dont expect most to agree nor do I care if they (you) do. The simple fact is that those that commit the worst offences DESERVE to be punished in an appropriate manner. Seems neither you nor I will agree on what that is but I made my position clear and stand by it. And if anyone wants to test my resolve try to mess with my kids, my wife or my extended family! If more people stood up for what was right (like back in the day) instead of linning laywers pockes to get off (or get off light) the world would be OHHHHH SO MUCH BETTER.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

LordManji,

So SmithinJapan, let me get this straight: you believe that nothing at all warrants execution?

Is Smith's position so surprising to you? It is shared by many, Christian or otherwise, who take the idea of "thou shalt not kill" litteraly. Personally, I support the death penalty in theory, but I am finding it harder and harder to justify in practice, given the glaring deficiencies in our legal systems. I will note you still haven't made any comment on what protections are necessary to ensure that the innocent are not executed by the system.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Triumvere,

So you support the position that no matter the evidence, serial killers, child rapists/murderers who have confessed should not be executed?

The protections against executing the innocent are inherent in the system. Is it a perfect system? No, but what system is? Neither the state nor the defense will have the best attorneys, experts (since they both cost money), or even investigators. Criminals exploit technicalities in the law, some say their confessions were forced or the search was illegal and that can be the basis for an appeal, despite the overwhelming evidence states that in all likelihood, the defendant committed the crime. Not without doubt, but without reasonable doubt.

There are protections inherent in the system as well: the provision of a defense attorney at cost to the state, a trial by a jury of your peers who all have to agree on the verdict, a judge whose sole purpose is to facilitate fairness for the two sides and decide which evidence is permissible or not, and in practice prosecutors will not prosecute all the crimes and investigators knowing the judicial system, will play by the books.

The issue I have is when the appeals system is abused to file appeal after appeal based on technicalities when the overwhelming evidence still supports that the now convicted felon committed the crime. I remember one a convicted felon who had the county's best attorneys, but he found one error out of many rights and had his retrial. Then he found a basis for the judge who heard the appeal to be removed and another trial was ordered and so it went. The length of time between conviction and execution should be shortened so that victims, society, and justice is served.

The system is made up of human beings so it is impossible for mistakes not to be made. We must understand that. To point out one mistake and say it doesn't work is not practical nor efficient. Plus, we ignore when the system does work and the innocents are released. Also, the very point of having a life sentence for say, multiple murders is ridiculous. People are highly adaptive and some prisons even have cell phones and MTV, all supported by our tax dollars. Hardly a fate criminals fear. As it is, the system does not serve the victims nor as a deterrent which is why we have the death penalty in the first place and this is why the appeals process needs to be revamped.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Okimike67 - I have no idea why you assuming I'm Swiss would make you expect a factual statement from me. It is a fact, most societies dissagree with you on this. Even those countries that still have the death sentence, including Japan, carry it out less and less. I guess they have trouble justifying it. They certainly don't see it as standing up for what is right.

We fundamentally disagree on the deterrent effect of the death penalty. Most murders are committed on the spur of the moment without any real thought so there's no deterrent effect. Of course it may make people who are planning such a crime think twice but they are the vast minority. And of course once a murder has been committed there's no further deterrent as the criminal no manger has any more to lose. Kill one or kill many, the punishment remains the same. In fact a criminal fearing for his life is going to resist the authoritirs so much more.

It's a basic tenet, taking a life is wrong, by the state or in exacting revenge.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

For those of you wondering about the organ harvesting - death row criminals must repay their debt to society - which includes food, board, laundry, utilities, legal assistance, and health care services - so they sell their organs to cover incidental prison expense and in some instances, to leave some things behind for their families.

Quite civilized, actually.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Swiss: And you must be joking on the factual assumption on swiss... its well know of the pacifist nature of the country. So to assume one, being from there, would align with the norm is not a great leap. Besides the point though.

Right, wrong, moral or immoral; noting will be decided here or by any on this site. This is one very polarizing issue and very few are on the fence.

IMO; if you commit a heinous crime against society you forfiet any claim to life. We now spend an average of $75,000 per year on these animals and for WHAT? That is the equivalent of 3 low income families total. Money better spent on making the lives of the vicitms or deserving citizens better than pissing it away on trash.

They have 3 squares a day, TV/Cable/Movies, recreation.... more like camp that suffering for crimes commited. In some cases it is a better than what they could get on the outside. THIS IS MORALY WRONG! Kill the worst, make it hell on the rest and maybe the 1.6 million prisioners in the US alone will go down.

Ill spring for the needle!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Seaforte; you make a good point. In fact the family of the executed prisioners gets a bill for the bullet. Making the families responsible would also be a detractor. And in the US the legal costs alone FAR surpass that of China. Might make a few more livers and kidneys available as well.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

obviously you don't know anyone who's been sexually assaulted or have been yourself.

I have a family member who was molested after being taken aside from the street as a child. Can I join the panel of experts you are on sir?

I had a family member who was molested by her uncle as a child. She's now a paranoid schizophrenic

So you are saying molestation is a cause of paranoid schizophrenia? Could you provide one link listing that as a cause? And I don't know if you are aware of this, but paranoid schizophrenics are quite famous for making false accusations, and allegations of sexual abuse from them have gone up quite a bit thanks to all the focus on the issue in the last 30 years. You will never guess what allegations they made when the big issue was consorting with Satan. Not saying she wasn't molested, but when you are dealing with people who swear things that never happened happened, and see things that aren't there, its real hard to know what is what.

The scars are permanent even if it is no longer bleeding. "Full recovery" is never truly possible; but they can go on to fulfilling lives, yes.

Such inflexible absolutist statements do a great deal to help your charge against perpetrators, as misquided as that is anyway. But you ride roughshod over the victims by painting how they should be viewed by society and themselves even if its totally not true. Telling society and a victim she can never fully recover is as much bull smack as it is totally unfair. Its also thoughtless, reckless or selfish, take your pick.

These rapists cannot be rehabilitated. They see the world in a fundamentally different way. Society deserves to be rid of them.

This type of rapist, yes. But society is rid of them enough with life in prison no parole. No need to stain society's hands with blood.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lordmanji,

So you support the position that no matter the evidence, serial killers, child rapists/murderers who have confessed should not be executed?

I've not made up my mind, to be honest. My opinion has shifted in the last few years. I used to be soldly pro-death penalty.

If one is to support the death penalty, one needs first to make two decisions:

First, one must decide whether it is ever permissable to take a human life when there are alternatives available. (I don't have a problem with this; I believe when you murder someone you forfiet your own right to life... though I would only give the death penalty for aggrivated incidents).

Second, one must recognize that no system of justice is perfect, and the existence of the death penalty means that somewhere, someday, and innocent man will be executed. This is unavoidable, no matter what safe guards are in place. (This bothers me, but ultimately I am confortable with it. I don't know why I am - it seems like a moral failing. A failure to stand on principle. But there it is.)

Now having done that, one then has to decide when the death penalty applies. This is hard: my gut feeling is that it should be not just for any killing, but the worst, arggivated cases. Rape, while a terrible crime, ultimately offeres a chance of recovery that murder does not, making me uncomfortable with proscribing the death penalty for it. (it lacks the symetrical logic of "you ended another life, so you a have forfeited your own - though it comes close, given the lifelong psychological damage it can inflict.) And if we include rape, then why not torture, which in severe cases can be similarly crippling? I suspect, like many readers here, there is a line of ugliness which, when crossed, would prompt me to say "well, I normally I don't support the death penalty for X, but in this case...." The problem is that that line is unclear to me, and you can't have that in a justice system.

The most important critera for execution would have to be that defendent was "unquestionably guilty" - obviously 100% is impossible, as stated previously, but we need to do a lot better then we are doing now. We need a new standard, something like "beyond a shadow of a doubt" or "caught redhanded" for these cases. However, if you've spent any time looking at the justice system you know it would never be confined to that. Overzealous prosecutors would water it down, incensed juries would ignore it. The death penalty would be applied more frequently than intended. Not only that, but the justice system is full of corrupt cops and procecutors, incompetent defense attourneys, racist judges (and jurors, for that matter), hack forensic "experts" that are in the DA's pocket, bad science, unreliable eyewitness testimony, forced confessions, etc... etc... Now, I trust the system to make the right decision most of the time - it's the best we can do, but it's not good enough to be executing people. Seeing the horrendous mistakes which have occured over the years is what has shaken my faith in the death penalty.

I have hoped that improved DNA (ad other forensice) science would come along and make everything better - that it could reduce the number of errors in the system down so that the death penalty, and the system in general, would be morally supportable. But that is a bit of a pipe dream, and we have already seen bad DNA evidence falsely convict. In any case, as things stand, I find myself less able to support the death penalty in practice for anyone, even those I feel deserve it, because I know it won't be confined to them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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