The Pied Sniper
I’m against the death penalty not because I think human life is sacrosanct or holy or good, but rather on the grounds that our system is far too corrupt and ineffecient to properly apply Justice (objectively or subjectively). This is particularly true given that every final decision of these kinds is based in politics (read: governor’s make clemency decisions), and, given the nature of we homo sapiens, this system is impossible to fix. Wrapped into this systemic imbalance, of course, are factors such as race and socioeconomic status.
Essentially, my opposition is based on a fairness argument (and a conservative one in the measure-twice-cut-once definition of conservative) as opposed to a life-is-precious one. The effective result is the same in this instance, but you can think of plenty of ways in which my viewpoint differs from the anti-death penalty norm. Sure, it could just be hair splitting, of course, or giving me one leg in the macho man/blow their brains out world of course, but that’s for your interpretation, not mine.
All that said, this crazy fucker needs to die. Should die, deserves to die, but if humans do it, it would be wrong. Unless and until there is a perfect, infallible system of Justice, humans should not be in the business of executing one another. Officially. In a non-war capacity, of course. And I think such a system is an impossibility. Dammit. Tough to uphold that view when you’ve got an itchy trigger finger.
Oh, and Dahlia, keep the new mother editorializing bullshit about computer games being a factor to yourself, unless you can bring some substantive proof to the table. Gawd I hate new parents.