I care...
What if you think you've caught the perpetrator, you even get a confession for whatever reason (it does happen), and there follows an execution. Two years later, new evidence shows that the real criminal is someone else (perhaps he or she re-offended). The result is that a completely innocent life has been taken! This is a crime which is just a heinous and tragic as the original offence.
I don't have sympathy for paedophiles (or killers of any sort) but I do believe that until we can prove that our justice system is perfect (and obviously, that can never happen) we cannot morally be responsible for taking another life.
It is also dangerous to approach this argument from an emotional perspective. If someone I loved was sexually abused or killed I would certainly want them dead! I would probably want to kill them with my own hands! If my own relative was the victim, I would gladly hold down the perpetrator while my relatives took turns kicking and punching him (or her)! These are obvious and natural emotions; anyone who is so close to such a tragic crime would be sick not to feel some version of these emotions!
However, the purpose of the law and our legal system is to impose impartial and rational judgement on every defendant. We need to protect ourselves from the emotional highs and lows that can occur in the heat of a tragic moment. While our feelings in moments of stress can be intense, our judgement can often be impaired and if the law does not provide a buffer, there is a danger that much injustice will result.
Pyro.
What if you're wrong?Quest4Less said:
What if you think you've caught the perpetrator, you even get a confession for whatever reason (it does happen), and there follows an execution. Two years later, new evidence shows that the real criminal is someone else (perhaps he or she re-offended). The result is that a completely innocent life has been taken! This is a crime which is just a heinous and tragic as the original offence.
I don't have sympathy for paedophiles (or killers of any sort) but I do believe that until we can prove that our justice system is perfect (and obviously, that can never happen) we cannot morally be responsible for taking another life.
It is also dangerous to approach this argument from an emotional perspective. If someone I loved was sexually abused or killed I would certainly want them dead! I would probably want to kill them with my own hands! If my own relative was the victim, I would gladly hold down the perpetrator while my relatives took turns kicking and punching him (or her)! These are obvious and natural emotions; anyone who is so close to such a tragic crime would be sick not to feel some version of these emotions!
However, the purpose of the law and our legal system is to impose impartial and rational judgement on every defendant. We need to protect ourselves from the emotional highs and lows that can occur in the heat of a tragic moment. While our feelings in moments of stress can be intense, our judgement can often be impaired and if the law does not provide a buffer, there is a danger that much injustice will result.
Pyro.
