"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
... I'm arguing that it serves no purpose to
execute someone.


In any event, execution *definitely* serves a purpose. It removes a
threat & a waste of good oxygen.


Jonathan Ganz wrote:
He wasn't a threat any more.

Disagree strongly.
There are no atheists in foxholes, and there are no unreformed murderers
on death row.

I don't think that was Jon's point. He was in prison, not on the streets,
ergo no longer a problem.

... In fact, he did some good while in
prison. While this in no way justifies or excuses he prior actions, it
does remove the "threat" concern from the table.

Nope, just the opposite... it is a point in favor of granting clemency,
after all he can't write many positive influence children's books from
that great solitary cell in the sky. But the man was, as far as can be
proven, a multiple murderer. Definnitely a threat to society IMHO.

Even behind bars? How so?

I don't believe in the death penalty as a practice.

That's OK, you don't have to be the one that throws the switch.


But, that's the fun part. I think we should abolish the death penalty,
but not tell anyone. You go right up to execution time, they put the
hood on your face, but instead of dropping cyanide, drop Alka Seltzer
tablets. Now, that's cruel and unusual.

Better yet, hold alka-seltzer in one hand and cyanide in the other and say
'guess which hand?'


... The state should
not be in the business of killing people without necessity.

Now here's one of those problematic details: define "necessity."


When the state faces utter destruction (we're talking about a
legitimate state of course).


Or when a person has committed at least one heinous crime such that his
very humanity is in doubt, and it is too great a risk to let him continue
to share our planet.

The irony of this is that serial murderers are seldom given the death
penalty, ostensibly in order to be able to pick their brains down the road
when new evidence of unforseen victims surfaces. But in reality there are
no Hannibal Lecters. Escape from maximum security prisons is exceedingly
rare--the stuff of great movies and books, but nothing of significance to
society in general. More people die each year from botulism poisioning than
from escaped murderers.


It would be the same with some people in my house or yard, same for the
whole planet. A problem removed is a problem solved.

Shoot first and sort through the bodies later?

Max