FLA Gay Killer to be Executed
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The details in this article are chilling, and wherever you stand on the death penalty issue, this is at least something of a cautionary tale. It left me equal parts sad and angry.
Not hard to imagine a movie on this. Scary stuff.
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We have another serial killer of gay men here in Toronto. There's a strong possibility that there will be a dramatization of it. :blownose:
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This is why more states need hate crime laws. There needs to be a deterrent for this crap. Maybe his execution will serve as one. If the bigots knew they could face death for killing us, it'll make them think twice. If not, there will be one less bigot spewing their murderous hatred towards us.
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The three problems with using the Death penalty to stop sociopaths.
1/ Part of the definition of "sociopath" is a person who isn't deterred by the threat of punishment.
2/ There is systemic bias in who gets the death penalty and who doesn't. Which is why Canada no longer has a death penalty. (One of the cases in recent Canadian law was Carla Homolka who received a significantly lighter sentence than her partner Paul Bernardo.)
3/ There is a correlation between large numbers of state executions and levels of violence in the general society. (Note, correlation is not causation. High levels of social violence could lead to higher acceptance of executions. High levels of executions could lead to higher levels of violence in society. Or there could be outside factors raising both of them by coincidence.)
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The three problems with using the Death penalty to stop sociopaths.
1/ Part of the definition of "sociopath" is a person who isn't deterred by the threat of punishment.
2/ There is systemic bias in who gets the death penalty and who doesn't. Which is why Canada no longer has a death penalty. (One of the cases in recent Canadian law was Carla Homolka who recieved a significantly lighter sentence than her partner Paul Bernardo.)
3/ There is a correlation between large numbers of state executions and levels of violence in the general society. (Note, correlation is not causation. High levels of social violence could lead to higher acceptance of executions. High levels of executions could lead to higher levels of violence in the society. Or there could be outside factors raising both of them by coincidence.)I've been trying to evolve on the death penalty for a while because there definitely is a bias in who gets the death penalty and who doesn't; however, not everyone who commits murder is a sociopath. Murderers like Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City bombing), Lawrence Brewer, and John King (both showed no remorse for the brutal killing of James Byrd, Jr. in Texas) deserved to be put to death. They were clearly trying to stoke serious divisions and encourage violence with their actions and had they not been executed, they could've led cults from prison via communication with like-minded individuals outside of prison. While their state-sponsored deaths have not prevented all hate crimes, I'm sure it made those who wanted to kill someone because of their race, gender, sexuality, etc. rethink whether or not it was worth dying over. James Byrd, Jr.'s son was actually against the death penalty and didn't want his father's murderers to be executed and I respect him for that. However, if it were my father, I would want them dead. I would want to see them being executed.
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In principle, I support the death penalty.
In practice, I don't.
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I'm Jewish.
My religious texts mandate death penalties. By Roman times Jewish practice had eliminated the Death Penalty.In theory, I support the Death Penalty. In practice I don't trust governments (or anybody else mind you) with the power to execute people.
