XPost: talk.politics.drugs, talk.politics.guns, alt.current-events.usa   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa.republican   
   XPost: alt.politics.bush, alt.law-enforcement   
   From: webmaster@gemsgallery.org   
      
   "brian bennett"  wrote in message   
   news:3FE87C3A.25CBB6F2@keepyourspam-mindspring.com...   
   > "Peter H. Proctor" wrote:   
   > >   
   > > On 22 Dec 2003 07:55:51 -0800, guidosjunkmail@yahoo.com (Guido Marx)   
   > > wrote:   
   > >   
   > > >Peter H. Proctor  wrote in message   
   news:...   
   > >   
   > > >>    Again,  a combination of the war on drugs plus the   
   > > >> dueling honor culture of inner city minority males drives the   
   majority   
   > > >> of murders..   
   > > >   
   > > >Then - there is the stranger murder serial killer types like the   
   > > >"Green River Killer".  And - of course - he DOESN'T get the death   
   > > >penalty...   
   > >   
   > >       At least not officially..  Such people generally don't last long   
   > > in the general prison population.   
   > >   
   > > >I would also contend that the deterrent effect of the death penalty is   
   > > >non-existent for these kind of sociopaths.   
   > >   
   > >       Punishment has two functions-- to do justice and to deter   
   > > others....  In the Green River Killer's case,  deterrence  is a   
   > > secondary consideration...  And yes,  the fact that someone like him   
   > > who definitely "Needs Killin" gets life,  while a lessor criminal gets   
   > > the shot shows how arbitrary and capricious the death penalty is.   
   >   
   > the "deterrent effect" simply does not exist.  if people aren't   
   > worried about *eternal damnation* from the magic sky fairy, then the   
   > possibility of spending some time in a cage (or even sparked on fire)   
   > can hardly be construed as much of a "deterrent."  people who commit   
   > crimes simply don't expect to be apprehended -- they don't give the   
   > slightest consideration to the potential penalties.   
   >   
   > the law serves solely as a mechanism of retribution   
      
   ==   
      
   Extremely well said sir.   
      
   Law Enforcement as a deterrent sucks cold air.   
      
   A criminal needs to take risks as his chosen/necessary way of life.   
   Its the very risk that creates the inflated value of his wages.   
      
   Without Prohibition of Drugs; for example, all drugs automatically lose   
   their black market value and immediately assume their natural market value   
   according to availability, processing costs, quality, etc..   
      
   The best one can do as a crook, is to steal often enough and big enough to   
   afford to lease good lawyers and buy Law Enforcement protection... maybe   
   rent a city official by the month...these are the things that make the   
   "deterrent" ignorable, or at least negotiable. Its the Black Market Economy.   
      
   The "deterent" may help to keep honest folk from becoming dishonest.   
   But I really doubt it.   
      
   One usually has to disenfranchise an honest person - make him homeless - in   
   order to make sure he becomes a criminal.   
      
   Law Enforcement As Retribution also sucks big time.   
      
   It is ever so much easier to frame and incarcerate a poor and innocent   
   civilian for a Prohibition law violation, than it is to prove a rich crook   
   guilty of anything in these dying days of the modern west. All the crooks   
   bought white hats. :)   
      
   GEM   
      
   ==   
      
   > b   
   > --   
   > citizen, patriot, stoner   
   >   
   > Marijuana: it's nowhere near as scary as they want you to think.   
   >   
   > visit truth: the Anti-drugwar at http://www.briancbennett.com   
   >   
   > Ask these former drug warriors why drugwar doesn't work:   
   > http://www.leap.cc   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)