From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Wed Jul 31 2002 - 16:12:43 MDT
Mike Lorrey wrote:
>... since DNA technology now exists, there is no
>reason to lock up indefinitely someone that has been
>proven by DNA evidence, corroborated by other
>evidence, to have done the deed. If there are innocent
>people on death row, I say let them go.
>
>I will note here that many states are now offering
>free DNA tests to violent criminals who claim wrongful
>conviction, with extremely low response from the
>prisoners. It seems that the Innocence Project has
>already cherry picked most all of the truly innocent
>cases.
>
>
You may be right. If so, then the current statistics will need
re-examination.
...
>I've studied sexual predators and offenders in school,
>and as the recent scandal in the Catholic Church
>demonstrates, most sexual offenders have almost no
>rehabilitative potential.
>
>The sort of castration I was thinking of was chemical
>castration, which is painless, and is proven to
>significantly help sexual predators curb their urges.
>
A recent New Scientist (New Scientist?) reported that the supreme court
agrees with you. But that specialists in the field deny this (well, not
totally, but it's a small effect).
>...
>
>I don't see most sexual offenders as recoverable, nor
>does anybody who works with or studies them.
>
>
I have seen statements from people claiming to work with sex offenders
that disagree with this. Either they didn't work with them, or you are
incorrect.
...
>BS. There are no honest mistakes when it comes to
>safety. If you weren't careful enough to avoid killing
>someone, then you were negligent in your training and
>practice of whatever it was that you did to kill
>someone. Negligent homicide is a violent felony.
>
>
So traffic accidents rate the death penalty? Perhaps you want to
rephrase this.
...
>If my driving misjudgement causes a multivehicle
>accident that kills someone in another car that was
>not even near me, I can still go to jail for
>
Yes, but now you are accepting a lesser standard of culpability than you
were earlier asserting.
>manslaughter, negligent homicide, etc... Parole board
>members set killers free to kill again every day and
>are rewarded with a paycheck for it.
>
Is this literally true? I suppose it might be, as that requires only
365 mistakes per year. Besides, prison frequenly makes people more
violent than they were originally, so even non-murderers probably have a
higher probability of committing a murder after spending time in prison
(though I'd need to see statics on this).
-- -- Charles Hixson Gnu software that is free, The best is yet to be.
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