2009-11-12, 03:31 PM
Quantact Wrote:You're using the circular reasoning fallacy. You are restating essentially the same point over and over as if it were a new argument. The answer to each time you do this remains the same: while there are instances where a wrongfully convicted person is found to have been innocent and let go, these numbers are VERY LOW. They are low to the point where it would be foolish to base criminal justice policy based on these exceptions, and not the fact that the vast majority of accused cons ARE guilty. Imperfect human beings cannot build a perfect society, you cannot expect a criminal justice system that NEVER EVER convicts an innocent person. The media blows these "wrongful convictions" out of proportion, but then that same media after crime severely decreased after the year 2000 increased coverage of existing crime by 400%, creating a national belief that there is a crime wave. Media entities want bloody, sensationalist stories, not to give you "unbiased" information. Are you seriously buying this bullshiit just because they show it in the papers and on TV?
This is the last time I will respond to this type of comment from you because seriously, I am getting sick of repeating myself.
I'm pretty sure that, rather than meaning the system has flaws whereas others don't (which you responded to every system will have flaws, and you're absolutely right saying so) he means that flaws in the system without death penalty can be undone (except for the moral suffering etc ofcourse) as opposed to execution of death penalty which can't be undone.
Copying your statement that all systems have flaws because humans are imperfect beings (again, completely right), knowing this isn't it very dangerous to have a decision so final as to sentencing someone to death in that very imperfect system?
If even a single person gets wrongfully executed, you would sign it off as the statistical chance of the imperfect system actually being imperfect, I presume. But is that really moral? Is it ok to say an innocent person dying for the greater good is worth the getting rid of all the other scumbags?
That is where the dilemma for [name] lies, not that systems have flaws, I'm sure he's not debating that. Removing the death penalty from this system would 100% rule out killing an innocent person because of the system, isn't that great??
If you think about it, it's really the easy way out to say 'he doesn't fit in society and we can't help him, so we'll just get rid of him'. Trying to understand what happened and tryign to re-integrate this person into society is what this, as you perfectly put it, civilized society, should be capable of.
Again almost every other country in the world can do it, why can't the great America?

