Death penalty for a non-murder

I still say life in prison...and make sure every other inmate in the prison knows exactly what the guy did.

 

That can be the attention the guy is striving for.

 

The death penalty would be quite possibly unconstitutional in such a case, according to past precedent.

 

Oh, it's our monthly, bloodthirsty "kill all the prisoners" thread.

Thank God none of you actually went to law school.

 

My take on the death penalty goes back and forth, but I usually say I'm not in favor of it because it's not our job as humans to play God and take someone's life. My stance on abortion is the same but it's complicated further to the Nth degree because I'm not a woman. Preserving life through medicine is fine, but saying who doesn't get to live is selfish, arrogant and stupid, in my opinion.

All that said ... I would not feel terribly sorry if any proven-beyond-a-reasonable doubt rapist was ever put to death. Taking the most intimate, beautiful and personal act in life and destroying it is nearly the same thing as murder, in my book. It's psychological murder.

 

How about drunk drivers who kill someone? Should we execute them?

 

Depends on whether you think murderers deserve the death penalty. Drunk driving is first degree murder if you intentionally got drunk and intentionally got behind the wheel, in my opinion.

 

The actual killing is not premeditated. Though I would say once the person serves whatever sentence they get, if they EVER drink and drive again, automatic 20 years in prison minimum. Period. End of fucking story. This means you, Leonard Little.

For the record, I don't believe in the death penalty for the rapist, either. Perhaps life with a rusty pole shoved so far up his ass he can tase it, but not death.

 

The actual killing is not premeditated, but if the decision to get drunk and then get in the car was intentional ... what's the difference?

 

Think about actually taking a moment and deciding to murder another human being, then executing that decision. In the eyes of the law, and my own, that makes the crime much more severe than making an incredibly reckless decision that leads to the death of another person.

 

Not trying to stir up trouble here, JR, but the extent to which the death penalty has been taken in this case is a bit surprising. I'm not advocating the death penalty for people convicted of similar crimes, but neither can I say, as a parent, that I wouldn't be filled with a bloodlust had someone done something like that to my son.

 

That's a good point, too. But you could argue that every case of drunk driving is attempted second-degree murder ... It's not just recklessness ...