Life in prison - is it more civilised than execution?

But wouldn't it be more fun to shoot the son of a bitch full of holes?

Okay. I'm for serious now. Locking him up deprives him of liberty, which as you have said, is a protected right. Is that not counterintuitive?

Hmm...I'm all about fun, of course. And I see what you're doing here. :lol:

I would argue first that Life and Liberty do not enjoy the same level of protection. For proof of that, simply look at the difference in penalty between homicide and violations of another's liberty like kidnapping or false imprisonment. Compare those yet again to violations afffecting only Property, such as theft and most of your white collar crime.

Depending on several factors such as intent, you'll find a sliding scale downward from Life to Liberty to Property. This generally reflects the level of importance we attach to the underlying values. If Liberty is still important, but less so than life, IMO it is far easier to justify taking a person's liberty than it is to take their life. Looking at Justice as the scales, Liberty weighs less and can be balanced by less. What is more justifiable and more in keeping with our values is by default more moral and civilized, IMO.

My white collar crimes aside, what AM I doing here?

But on the other side of those scales is the crime. Murder. Weighty.

Just as the state must protect property, it can sieze it. Just as it must protect liberty, it can deny it. We agree it must protect life, why can't it take it as commensurate punishment?

There. I've run rings around you logically.

I'm lost, I got sidetracked and now I can't remember where I was going with this. So I'll concede gracefully due to total derailment of my train of thought. :lol:

But I'm still right. :eusa_whistle:
 
Hmm...I'm all about fun, of course. And I see what you're doing here. :lol:

I would argue first that Life and Liberty do not enjoy the same level of protection. For proof of that, simply look at the difference in penalty between homicide and violations of another's liberty like kidnapping or false imprisonment. Compare those yet again to violations afffecting only Property, such as theft and most of your white collar crime.

Depending on several factors such as intent, you'll find a sliding scale downward from Life to Liberty to Property. This generally reflects the level of importance we attach to the underlying values. If Liberty is still important, but less so than life, IMO it is far easier to justify taking a person's liberty than it is to take their life. Looking at Justice as the scales, Liberty weighs less and can be balanced by less. What is more justifiable and more in keeping with our values is by default more moral and civilized, IMO.

My white collar crimes aside, what AM I doing here?

But on the other side of those scales is the crime. Murder. Weighty.

Just as the state must protect property, it can sieze it. Just as it must protect liberty, it can deny it. We agree it must protect life, why can't it take it as commensurate punishment?

There. I've run rings around you logically.

I'm lost, I got sidetracked and now I can't remember where I was going with this. So I'll concede gracefully due to total derailment of my train of thought. :lol:

But I'm still right. :eusa_whistle:

Something about scales and sliding. And guns. But yes, of course you're right. Goes without saying.
 
My white collar crimes aside, what AM I doing here?

But on the other side of those scales is the crime. Murder. Weighty.

Just as the state must protect property, it can sieze it. Just as it must protect liberty, it can deny it. We agree it must protect life, why can't it take it as commensurate punishment?

There. I've run rings around you logically.

I'm lost, I got sidetracked and now I can't remember where I was going with this. So I'll concede gracefully due to total derailment of my train of thought. :lol:

But I'm still right. :eusa_whistle:

Something about scales and sliding. And guns. But yes, of course you're right. Goes without saying.

Awwww. Somebody trained you right. :tongue:
 

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