Friend, I’m not saying I support capital punishment. No doubt that there have been innocent people put to death (often people of colour), and that would be a failing of the justice system. Even the idea of capital punishment makes me sick.
But in the context we find ourselves in, the way Creech has been treated couldn’t possibly have been more humane or compassionate. He’s already tried to kill himself, saying he does not want to be stuck in prison for the rest of his life.
How would you go about making this situation better for this murderer? Or the family of his victims?
Should whether or not something is legal be decided on a case-by-case basis or should the law apply equally for everyone? Because I would certainly say the latter.
Well, sentencing is done on a case-by-case basis. Which is why some people who commit especially brutal types of violent murders are given a harsher penalty vs someone who may have killed in the heat of the moment. This is probably as fair as you can get, since some crimes obviously shouldn’t get the same heavy had as others.
Sentencing is done within the limit of the law and, again this is not about him specifically.
You can’t sentence someone to die by a thousand cuts because that is cruel. Which violates the Constitution. Why is this not cruel? Because it’s faster?
Sentencing is done within the limit of the law and, again this is not about him specifically.
Right. And the limit of the law, in this case, is lethal injection.
You can’t sentence someone to die by a thousand cuts because that is cruel. Which violates the Constitution. Why is this not cruel? Because it’s faster?
I don’t make up the rules, man. But you still haven’t said what would be the ideal in this situation.
Let him spend the rest of his life in jail (something he did not want, and already tried to kill himself over), set him free, or “other”?
You’d still have to consider the victims in this decision, so I’m curious to know how you’d do it.
Right. And the limit of the law, in this case, is lethal injection.
Which is cruel. Even if he specifically wants it. For reasons I explain.
I don’t make up the rules, man. But you still haven’t said what would be the ideal in this situation.
The ideal would be to do what every other civilized country on the planet does and not execute people. Even Anders Breivik wasn’t executed and he killed 77 people, many of them children. And no one in Norway who had any real influence seriously discussed bringing back the death penalty just for him. Because it is cruel.
Even SCOTUS decided it was cruel and halted it until they reversed their decision.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia
You’d still have to consider the victims in this decision, so I’m curious to know how you’d do it.
Our justice system is not about retribution. It has never been about retribution. Retribution is also unconstitutional for the same reason.
