To shoot or not to shoot

[daryn]

this one is easy, no?

[mrkilla]

you would think , but there are people who say tookie should live if he shot your mom...

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
you would think , but there are people who say tookie should live if he shot your mom...

[/ QUOTE ]

If your example is supposed to make people question their opposition to the death penalty, it is a very poor one. In your hypothetical I saw the person kill my wife so there is no doubt that he did it. But one of the main reasons that many people are opposed to the death penalty is that courts can never reach that level of certainty in determining whether someone actually did commit the crime that they were convicted of. DNA testing has shown after the fact that many innocent people have been executed. Another problem with your hypothetical is that the criminal in question is about to escape. In comparison, we have the ability to keep people in prison for life with almost no possibility of them escaping.