phillyfan26 said:
I'm going to try to exact patience with you since I'm in a good mood. Follow my line of thinking for a moment:
No one claimed that we should free every convicted person. Can we agree to that?
If he had been convicted of a death penalty crime, this man would have been executed. Can we agree to that?
If this man had been executed, it would have been for a crime he did not commit. Can we agree to that?
If you can agree to those three points, then this discussion can continue. If we cannot, you are a complete waste of time. Those three things are crucial to you understanding what we're trying to say here, and they don't even have anything to do with the death penalty debate. It requires tremendous amounts of patience to get even this far with you, and it's not even the real issue.
So, respond to those three points. If you agree to them, then I will make another post getting more towards the heart of the issue.
Hello Philly,
OF COURSE I agree with these three points! Do you think that I'm a total droid devoid of all human feelings?
I applaud and salute the fact that the man was cleared of all blame and I'm appalled that he served even ONE DAY in jail not to mention 27 years(!!!) for a crime he didn't commit - that was a horrendous miscarriage of justice and I wouldn't be surprised if he filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against anyone involved with his wrongful imprisonment. Although no amount of money can give him those 27 years back......
That isn't the point I raised in my post.
I'm not talking about cases like this where a man was wrongfully convicted. I'm talking about murderers who were JUSTLY tried, convicted and sentenced, and with whom there is no doubt at all of their guilt - examples of which I gave in my previous post.
Now, if I may, let me ask YOU 3 questions and by your answers I'll see if you can understand the point I'm trying to get across:
1. Was the death penalty justified in the case of John Couey - who kidnapped Jessica Lunsford, raped her and buried her alive?
2. Was the death penalty justified in the case of the Manson family who butchered 7 innocent people - especially Susan Atkins who repeatedly stabbed a pregnant Sharon Tate, ignoring her pleas for mercy? Notwithstanding the fact that their sentence was commuted.
3. Was the death penalty justified in the case of Ted Bundy who viciously murdered over 30 people in several states before finally getting caught?
Finally, let me ask you a hypothetical question (which I hope will be a real one soon):
If Osama Bin Laden were finally caught and brought to trial (G-d willing), would you support his being sentenced to death for the attacks on the USS Cole, the Bali Bombings, the Madrid bombings and Sept. 11th? Even though he didn't actively participate in the attacks (much like the case of Charles Manson who didn't commit the crimes himself but sent his followers to do the work for him but was sentenced to death anyway).
Thank you and have a good day.