Rethinking My Stance On a Couple of Things...
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
December 18, 2007 8:44am CST
Call it mid life crisis, coming to terms with my own experiences or just not as stubborn as I used to be... there are a few things I've changed my mind on over the years.
~Capital Punishment: I'm not against capital punishment as a practice or concept, but I just can't get passed all the people who have had the sentence communted since the institution of DNA testing. We've executed too many people who didn't do the crime.
So, until we come up with a better way of proving guilt, I can't be a proponent of it.
~Marijuana: None of the "facts" seem to be real here. They say it makes you lazy and absent minded, but I've known a lot of really motivated, hard working and intelligent people who were users. Besides, the ban on it hasn't seemed to cut access to it or use of it. It is the #1 cash crop in the US.
I still think smoking pot (or abusing any drug) is stupid, but the side I've been on doesn't seem to have anything more than myths and scare tactics, so I guess I'm finally jumping ship.
Legalize it, tax it, regulate it... or at least just decriminalize it and open up the jail space for people who deserve to be there.
7 people like this
3 responses
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
18 Dec 07
"I just can't get passed all the people who have had the sentence communted since the institution of DNA testing. We've executed too many people who didn't do the crime."
Put your mind at ease. DNA testing many years after a crime was committed has freed many convicts, but it has not 'proven' very many of them innocent.
DNA at a crime scence, on a weapon, in a rape victim, or whatever, is not necessarily from the perpetrator. People are leaving DNA here and there all the time. Just because the DNA evidence at some scene was not from the accused does not 'prove' the accused innocent.
Just ask Mike Huckabee. He helped (he denies this) Wayne Dumond here in Arkansas get out of prison on a rape charge based on DNA evidence clearing the man years after the crime. The victim who positively identified her attacker was outraged.
Some time later, Wayne Dumond raped and killed again. There was no doubt he was guilty this time. Or the first time either, for that matter. The victim ID'd the perpetrator positively.
DNA testing can raise reasonable doubt at best, most of the time, especially years after the fact.
3 people like this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
18 Dec 07
"Some time later, Wayne Dumond raped and killed again."
The above should read,"Some time later, Wayne Dumond raped again and also killed this time.".
3 people like this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
18 Dec 07
Exactly my point. Our justice system can only go as far as "beyond a reasonable doubt".. well, if we are going to execute someone for the crime they committed, we need a lot more than a "reasonable" verdict... we need to know for a fact.
2 people like this
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
19 Dec 07
"we need a lot more than a "reasonable" verdict... we need to know for a fact."
Yea. Even if the person in question is a scumbag... if they didn't do it, they shouldn't be punished for it.
3 people like this
@visitorinvasion (7709)
• United States
20 Dec 07
Great points you're making, Ted.
Pardon me while I hoist my jaw out of my lap...
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Dec 07
I can't pardon you, I'm not the governor. ;~D
1 person likes this
@UnselfishShellfish (1306)
• United States
20 Dec 07
Strange as it seems, when I was younger, maybe around 10-12 I was vehemently against all abortions. I thought it was cruel and mean.
But alas, I grew up and realized that not everyone wanted kids. My beliefs were solidified when I realized I never wanted to be pregnant and further solidified when I learned that all birth control has failure rates.
"We've executed too many people who didn't do the "
I'd like to see the numbers on that one. But I'm still in favor of it. With DNA testing now, it's almost impossible to convict the wrong person.
@muppetsnap (229)
• Canada
20 Dec 07
Almost being the critical term there. And your statement is only true up to the point when someone comes up with Quantum Event Reconstruction, and disproves all the DNA 'proven' cases.
I think it's interesting that this thread looks at how people mellow and perhaps texture their opinions as they gain more world experience - it's a shame that too many people both in power and trying to get there would prefer we all kept black and white views, seeing as they are easier to manipulate us with...
