> -----Original Message----- > From: William Bowen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 7:10 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Juvenile Killers no more death penalty > > > Unpredictability does have the benefit of keeping people on their toes. > > Am i suggesting that murder is somehow genetic? No. But being a crime > of passion, as it usually is, means that by-and-large people are not > going to be reasonable or in their right mind at the time of > commission. It means that they really have no more control over that > than they do over their skin color.
Exactly - which is why a death penalty meted out nearly exclusively for murder isn't a deterrent. > > All I was saying is that it's not a deterrent. > > Your proposed system is set up for abuse from the outset. It is not a > formula for deterrence, it is a forumla for systematic oppression. It's not a proposed "system" - it's an observation. Believe me - if I propose a system the only whims that will be honored would be mine. ;^) When punishment is fierce and common people get more careful. Of course in many cases it also results in more dramatic (although fewer) outbreaks - studies of highly controlled schools and such bear this out. I'm not, in any way, saying I'd want to live like that or that anybody should. What I am saying is that the current death penalty is often propped up as such a deterring influence and it just isn't. In fact most studies also show that the extra legal time and resources needed for the American death penalty also eliminate any cost savings - in the end it costs about as much (or more) to keep a criminal in prison for life as it does to carry out the death penalty in the USA. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:149016 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
