There are so many different things to discuss when it comes to politics, so I chose to stick with the theme of my last blog, and that is capital punishment. In Texas, the only way someone can be sentenced to death is if they commit a capital murder by committing a capital offense. In other words, the person has to knowingly commit murder or knowingly cause a death under special circumstances. In most cases, I do believe an "eye for an eye" approach to such things because I put myself in the victim's family's position. Imagine knowing the person who raped and murdered your child. I would not hesitate to say I would want the SOB dead. What issue of capital punishment, in my eyes, is more about the contradiction of it. How can such a gruesome of a crime be repaid by simply taking a shot, falling asleep, and never waking up? It doesn't seem like a fair trade to the family; knowing their family member suffered so much right before his/her death, and then watching the killer fall asleep peacefully. It sounds harsh, but I think the punishment should at least compare to the harshness of the crime. Also, the length of the appeals process gives ample time for the person to "come to peace with what he/she did". As a Christian, this means you can still go to Heaven, and many times this is what these pathetic people are doing while waiting for their death. This is a selfish act, and I think 9 times out of 10 it has more to do with looking repentful for the appeals court. Now don't get me wrong, I think anything that can help people who have committed crimes get out of that "crime is a way of life" mindset and better their surrounding when they are released should be supported, and this includes religion. What I do not agree with, however, is that someone on death row clings to this because they are on death row.
So all-in-all, I think there could be a better way to approach capital punishment cases. I am not saying the killer should be tortured to death, but at least have a more comparable death to that of which he/she caused.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is in response to my classmate Mary’s commentary on capital punishment. Her commentary was about whether capital punishment in Texas is too soft or harsh on criminals on death row.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Mary in that if someone I knew was murdered and tortured, I would want the murderer to suffer the same things that they had did to my friend. But to be honest, it would be inhumane to do something like that to a person, even if they did that same thing to a person you know. I’m a person who forgives, maybe not forgets, but I do forgive a person for whatever they did to me. I know that taking some deadly pills and being injected do not compare to the horrible crimes that this person did at all. I just feel that to do those acts on someone on death row is gruesome. Although they took someone else’s life (or lives), I think that they suffered enough waiting on death row where they pretty much deteriorated in their cells while waiting for their death sentence. I think the families that were affected by the death row inmate would get a more peaceful closure if that inmate were put to death by lethal injection or deadly pills. If the death row inmate were to be put to death by the same means to what he did to someone else, I think that would put more stress and damage on the families’ already broken hearts.
People have different opinions on the death penalty. Many people change their view depending on the circumstances of individual cases, and their relationship to the victims.
ReplyDeleteI think that when a criminal is found guilty of a capital crime, there should be options for the family of the victim to decide the penalty. The idea being that if a criminal takes a life, then the family of the victim owns the life of that criminal. If the family sees a reason to spare the life of the criminal then it should be their option. It should also be their option to choose the death penalty and the method of the execution.
As far as the appeals process, society should not focus on expediting the appeals process. Convicted criminals should have every opportunity to prove their innocence before they are executed.