| Mr. V,
I'm afraid I must disagree. While I have no problem with killing in self-defense, an imprisoned man is no longer a threat to society. Additionally, with as many as 30% of all American death-row inmates believed to be innocent, I could not conscience such a thing being done in my name. Granted, the 30% number is from Amnesty International, and may have been inflated slightly in the interest of expediancy. However, after considerable research into the past history of the death penalty, I am forced to concede that this figure is realistic.
Additionally, execution by electrocution is widely regarded as one of the most agonizing deaths imaginable; Stephen King's depictions in "The Green Mile" were quite accurate; his writted descriptions in the book version even moreso. I cannot, in good conscience, support a man, however guilty, being roasted alive in his own juices, set on fire, and having his eyes popped out, all this before losing conciousness.
Far better, I say, that we should imprison such people for life; and I do mean LIFE. In my home-state of Louisiana, when a criminal is sentanced to life in prison, he dies in Angola State. By so doing, we at least grant ourselves a margin of error to ensure that an innocent man does not pay the ultimate price for ignorance, stupidity, lack of evidence, or maliciousness during his trial. While we cannot give a man back lost years of his life in such a case, some restitution can at least be made. This is not so in the case of a man who's been dead for awhile, obviously. Lock them in a cage, never release them ( unless proven innocent ) and make them work for their keep, I say. |