Osler's Razor

A further revelation regarding the mystery that is Dallas:

That building is green because so many of us - BU Law alumni- work there.
 

Thanks for posting this. It's a good piece and right to the point.
 

Thanks for posting this. It's a good piece and right to the point.
 

Thanks for posting this. It's a good piece and right to the point.
 

She's in a rhythym! Drummers are like that.
 

You know, I could get behind that.
 

That's an excellent point he makes, about the phrase "death in prison." Because that's what it is.

I don't know if I agree about withholding EVERYTHING, but he certainly makes a great point.

One of the remedies once suggested by the anti-death penalty group in Virginia is adding some kind of "restitution to the victim's family" as part of the sentence of a convicted murderer. But then there's the problem of what kind of restitution that would be . . . monetary? Would the murderer work while in prison and send money to the victim's family? Nobody ever quite figured that one out.

So this columnist's idea could really catch on.
 

I read the column--it's an idea I've advocated for years. The problem is, most death penalty opponents would never go for it.
Now that popularity of the death penalty is waning, they want to go after "life without parole"as the next logical step. Read Sister Helen Prejen's writings. She advocates a 20-year MAXIMUM sentence for any crime. (Think of it: Ted Bundy would be back on the streets by now!)
Most murderers don't deserve the death penalty. They commit their crimes in the heat of passion without premeditation. There is a subset of muderers who are true PREDATORS, and they will ALWAYS seek innocent victims to prey upon. Execution is the only way to maintain public safety in cases like these.

Lest you think I'm expressing an idle opinion here, I've spent a number of years in corrections, and have significant experience with condemned inmates.
 

It seems like we have a sufficient level of technology to make prisons safe for inmates and guards. In Texas, there is also usually money for prisons, too. I find it hard to believe that we cannot isolate even the worst predators in a manner that renders them safe without compelling us, as a society, to engage in depraved conduct towards them. Such predators are rare and the cost shouldn't be so great as to make death in prison infeasible.

In case you think my opinion is uninformed, I've met, and been sized up by, cold-blooded killers, including one likely serial killer. I've also seen how rarely "corrections" institutions correct anything. Time to start from some new assumptions maybe?
 

Ridiculous, I agree...there are super max "correctional" institutions where these unredeemable predators can be locked up securely and away from the general population, without having the state taking their lives.

As to the main point of the post, does condemning the person to incarceration without recreation, etc., mean the individual will be holed up in a garret, without seeing daylight for the rest of the person's life? Would this withstand a "cruel and unusual" punishment challenge in court?
 

I don't really agree with this but found it somewhat interesting...http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AndrewTallman/2008/01/25/why_would_anyone_support_the_death_penalty_part_i?page=full&comments=true