Pages —Thursday, April 15,2004
Should the death penalty be legal?
The Way I See It
DARRAN WHITE
Columnist
It would be a bad idea to put an
end to the death penalty. While some
may argue that the death penalty is
inhumane, 1 would disagree.
I also think it is ironic that some
of the people who are against the
death penalty are in favor of abor
tions. The irony is in the fact that the
innocent baby can be disregarded but
the murderer should be taken care of.
Please forgive my little tirade. For
the sake of this argument 1 will not
include people who have had abor
tions in my definition of murderers.
When someone has a disregard
for another person’s life, the way 1
see it, this person has forfeited his
right to be regarded favorably in the
court system. 1 do not want to sup
port this individual by providing tax
money to him to go to college and
have free room and
board. Now, be
fore you think I’m in
favor of, as so el
egantly stated on a
t-shirt, “killin’em all
and letting God
sort’em out,” I am
not. The death pen
alty should only be
enforced in e.xtreme
circumstances.
Now' the ques
tion arises, what is
an extreme circum
stance? An extreme
murder would in
volve one or more
of the following:
malice, multiple
murders, mutilation
or lack of remorse.
I could list some examples of these
extreme murders but 1 think my read
ers could come up with some graphic
ideas on their own. Go ahead think
of a few' and then read the rest of my
article.
Have
you gotten an
image in your
mind? Good
(1 knew you
could).
Now this
person has
been con
victed of mur
der by what
ever atrocity
you chose
(maybe a ma
licious multiple
murder that
involved muti-
lation). If
there were no
death penalty
then this per
son would be
given free room and board for the rest
of his life. All this will be paid for with
your tax money.
For some this is good. They
feel that a life in prison is harder for
the person to endure. The argument
From My Side
MALIA KALUA
Page Layout Editor
It would be a bad idea to put
an end to the death penalty. While
some may argue that the death
penalty is inhumane, I would
disagree.
I also think it is ironic that
some of the people who are
against the death penalty are in
favor of abortions. The irony is in
the fact that the innocent baby
can be disregarded but the mur
derer should be taken care of.
Plea.se forgive my little
tirade. For the sake of this
argument I will not include people
who have had abortions in my
definition of murderers.
When someone has a disre
gard for another person’s life, the
way I see it, this person has
forfeited his right to be regarded
favorably in the court system. I
do not want to support this
individual by providing tax money
to him to go to college and have
free room and board.
Now. before you think I’m in
favor of, as so elegantly stated on
a t-shirt, “killin’em all and letting
God sort’em out,” I am not. The
death penalty should only be
enforced in extreme circum
stances.
Now the question arises,
what is an extreme circumstance?
An extreme murder would involve
one or more of the following:
malice, multiple murders, mutila
tion or lack of remorse. I could
list some examples of these
extreme murders but I think my
readers could come up with some
graphic ideas on their own.
Go ahead think of a few and
then read the rest of my article.
Have you gotten an image in
your mind? Good (I knew you
could).
Now this person has been
convicted of murder by whatever
atrocity you chose (maybe a
malicious multiple murder that
involved mutilation). If there
were no death penally then this
person would be given free room
and board for the rest of his life.
All this will be paid for with your
tax money.
For some this is good. They
feel that a life in prison is harder
for the person to endure. The
argument is they are living in
confinement and know they will
never be able to enjoy the free
doms they once had. In essence
they are living a hollow, vacant
life, and they will die in a lonely
desolate place. Boo Hoo.
II the person has this much
hatred in his heart I think it will
take them along time before they
reach this state of hopelessness.
There are people who have gotten
out of prison and have committed
is they are living in confinement and
know they will never be able to en
joy the freedoms they once had. In
essence they are living a hollow, va
cant life, and they will die in a lonely
desolate place. Boo Hoo.
If the person has this much ha
tred in his heart I think it will take them
along time before they reach this state
of hopelessness. There are people
who have gotten out of prison and
have committed another crime and
ended up right back in prison. This
makes no sense. The punishment for
crime is a deterrent. It may only be a
deterrent to innocent people, but that
is still justification to enforce the death
penalty. If you take away the fear of
death for murdering someone, there
maybe an increase in the number of
murders.
The way 1 see it, this country
needs to enforce the death penalty
and free up some space in the prison
system to save tax money. The pun
ishment for crime will help keep
crime from happening. As always,
this is simply the way I see it.
another crime and ended up right
back in prison.
This makes no sense. The
punishment for crime is a deter
rent. It may only be a deterrent
to innocent people, but that is still
justification to enforce the death
penalty. If you take away the fear
of death for murdering someone,
there maybe an increase in the
number of murders.
The way I see it, this country
needs to enforce the death pen
alty and free up some space in the
prison system to save tax money.
The punishment for crime will
help keep crime from happening.
As always, this is simply the way
1 see it.
If you would like to share your opinion
on this subject or any other past
subject, please write a “ Letter fo the
Editor” and send to:
studentmedia@methodist.edu
or call 630-7292 with any questions.