That's one thing I hate about these debates, whether they're in law making circles or in forums like this one: just what is it that makes a crime more horrific if it involves a child? Tragic, yes...but the loss of a life is a loss of a life and THAT is what should be focused on when dealing justice. It shouldn't matter how many supposed years the person had left or whether he or she had a family. Prostitutes deserve as much justice as a child. My boy deserved better than he got, even though he lived.kittykatkit35770895 wrote:If you were a mother or a father, and someone cold blooded and heartless brutally and violently murdered your child who was innocent, smart, and perfect,would you want that killer to live?
The point being: you can't really measure the penalty in terms of the damage done. It should be cold, logical, and flat --- the penalty society deems for the breakage of a law given out and done so in a swift and efficient manner.
As a family member who was forced to participate in such hearings, I can tell you that the death penalty should be reserved for only when the courts are absolutely certain, overwhelmed by the body of physical and forensic evidence, that the person they have before them committed the crime and knew what he or she was doing. I see no reason beyond revenge (and that is no reason to take a life, I think it makes us little better than the criminal) for the death penalty to be issued unless those criteria can be met without question.
I've read about and seen enough cases where they had the wrong person on death row (and it's enough of a problem that Texas actually has a judicial task force dedicated to reviewing these cases and making the decision whether or not the sentence should be revoked) that I don't like to see it overused. Issuing the death sentence in order to appease the family is senseless to me...and I'm one of those family members.
Someone attempted to murder my beloved. Nothing you can do to that man will ever erase the tragedy of what happened. I'd have been satisfied seeing the perpetrator serve time but that wasn't to be.
I'd rather see them reinstitute hard labor and chain gangs. Make them work for their meals and the roof over their heads.