Justice demands that the penalty fits the crime.
Europe is aghast that many States in the US “still” have the death penalty. Many on the Left not only want the death penalty rescinded, but they also want the voting privilege restored to convicts the minute they are freed. Next, they will want all life sentences reviewed after 5 years of being jailed, with the objective of proving that these murderers have had a total reformation since conviction and are no longer a threat to society. (I suppose I’d try that dodge too if I were sitting in death row.)
On top of that, the SCOTUS has ordered that under 18’s be protected from the death penalty. That allows gangs to murder, knowing that they will not be put to death for it, and that they may well be out on parole in 5 or so years, and can vote, vote, vote! Oh glorious day!
That this decision was even partially influenced by European opinions, decisions and law is un-American, and anti-Constitutional. We should not draw upon foreign law to create our own. The only repair for these decisions is to be able to appoint better judges to the Supreme Court, which can’t come soon enough for me.
Many a 16- or 17-year-old boy today is over six feet high, weighs around 200 pounds, and has tremendous physical strength. Along with that they are in the prime age for hormone surges and almost unbelievable urges and fantasies, which, in the current social laissez faire world, shoves them more and more into unacceptable behavior. Their parents are often unable to control them.
These young men are perhaps juniors or seniors in high school, and have supposedly received most of a basic education. They are allowed to drive. Many got their driving license at 16. Quite a few work at odd jobs or at the local fast food place. Some even have their own autos, so we already trust them with a killing machine. At this point I contend that they are responsible for their own behavior and should be treated that way. If they kill someone deliberately they should suffer the just penalty for that crime.
Fear of death is a basic instinct of men, and the idea that some crimes are punishable by death is indeed a great deterrent, for instance, to murder or treason. Can this be proven? No. But it is the wisdom of the ages, the inner voice that says it is so, and it is the common sense belief of most people, despite what "enlightened" liberals try to say about it.
As Charles Colson said, “Take away the death penalty, and what you have done is to give murderers a life, yes in prison, but they can still think, dream, play, talk, write, study, and enjoy their time, watch TV, and even run businesses or marry, and can have a wide telephone network.” Some can aspire to getting out after a decade or two. That is insufficient punishment for brutal, and unfeeling murder.
Their victims have none of this: they are in the cold ground.
The only just penalty for murder in the first degree is death.
# posted by Mannning @ 9:20 PM
Post a Comment