04-14-2006, 05:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-14-2006, 05:27 PM by Occhidiangela.)
Roland,Apr 13 2006, 04:40 PM Wrote:The Constitution, among other international laws (thinking of the Geneva Convention here), ban the use of "cruel and unusal punishment". As much as I feel NO sympathy for any convicts on death row, there is a greater principle here: that of the law. Our Constitution forms the basis of our freedoms in this country. Failure to abide by any part of it opens the door to trampling right over it, ignoring all of it. That, my friends, is a far more slippery slope, which I think we all can agree on.Won't comment on your slippery slope other than to disagree that such a slope is any threat within this context. The sky is not falling.
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The international law bogey is irrelevant. If the US ever signed, and Congress approved via Constitutional process, a treaty agreeing to prohibit the death penalty, then international law would be a relevant concern.
Constitutionally, the language is very clear in the Fifth Amendment:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
That means, using basic reasoning, that a person may be deprived of life under due process of law. (Nowhere have I heard of mandatory death sentencing.) QED, your sally is shown to be false. The death penalty is consistent with explicit Constitutional language.
The 1972 ruling was, IMO, misguided, and has since been overcome by events and successful challenges.
Poor Jimmy. I am now party to the desecration of his adhesive corpse. For shame. :unsure:
Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete