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comment by kyleisbadatthis
kyleisbadatthis  ·  3621 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Death-penalty analysis reveals extent of wrongful convictions.

Foreword: I am not explicitly against the death penalty, but am unsure of its place in a modern justice system.

I just wanted to foist one of the common views inevitably expressed in a discussion of the death penalty:

Would it be possible to dramatically increase the standard of evidence/burden required by the state to prove someone was guilty in order to have the death penalty given, and dramatically decrease the time separating conviction and sentence? Would it be reasonable for acts so heinous that there is not even a sliver of chance that the actor could be reformed would be unceremoniously executed and cleaned from the planet, but for the evidence required to be so insurmountable that there is almost no possible means of wrongful conviction?

It seems to me to be something of a compromise, and something I could get behind. I have no reservations with the summary execution if people subdued while shooting up movie theaters/schools/etc. I don't think there is a possibility of reforming them, and I don't want them to twice strain the system by engaging in legal battles. On the same hand, I don't want a person with any chance for exoneration to be executed, a final punishment that cannot be undone (though, truthfully, a life sentence may be similar, as I very much doubt the possibility of returning to normal life after being exonerated 20 or 30 years following your trial.

In truth, I don't have a strong opinion on it, but I am interested in more intellectually capable people sharing theirs.





user-inactivated  ·  3621 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Unrelated tangent: I've been seeing a lot of long, intelligent posts from new usernames I don't recognize in the last day or two -- where were we mentioned? Anyone?

kyleisbadatthis  ·  3621 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was browsing a random reddit thread and found a link here. Had never heard of this place, and it seemed a bit more likable to me than reddit. Might have to stick around a while.

teamramonycajal  ·  3620 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I got fed up with Reddit.

user-inactivated  ·  3620 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you get fed up with reddit, you're probably using it wrong.

teamramonycajal  ·  3620 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It took about two years. The fact that there is a 'wrong' way for a civilized person to use Reddit says enough.

user-inactivated  ·  3620 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I suppose this is partially true. kleinbl00 has talked at length on hubski about the mis-administration of reddit; it's a huge turnoff.

We don't have that problem here.