By Laura Moye, Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Director
Imagine President Obama competing with other nations for world leadership on human rights by putting forward a goal to end the death penalty globally in just five years. Well, that’s exactly what Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero did last Wednesday. He addressed the Fourth World Congress against the Death Penalty in Geneva saying that his country, which now holds the European Union presidency, was very committed to seeing a world without the death penalty by 2015.
Leaders meet in Geneva at the World Congress Against the Death Penalty
The World Congress against the Death Penalty was kicked off at the United Nations’ historic Palais des Nations. Preceding Mr. Zapatero’s remarks was a string of high level government and UN officials who put forward their commitment to global abolition. Robert Badinter also spoke. Badinter was the French justice minister responsible for the abolition of France’s death penalty at a time when French public opinion was more in favor of the death penalty than not. Today, the European Union is unified on the issue of the death penalty. Abolition has become a major plank in their human rights platform.
In 1977, 16 nations were abolitionist. Today, 139 are. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US are noted outliers in this global trend. And there is a growing global movement working hard to continue the trend toward global abolition.
Abolition of the death penalty everywhere is possible. Abolition of the death penalty in the United States will happen in my lifetime!
There is a global community of human rights activists and governments that stand with us in our struggle to end the death penalty.
It has been a wonderful couple of days here in Geneva, connecting with these allies, listening to panels about the progress and challenges in this important work. Panels on each global region and other themes have been presented by key people in the field. Thursday, a panel explored the death penalty in the US, Japan, China and Iran. Iranian Nobel laureate and human rights giant Shirin Ebadi addressed the panel alongside Representative Gail Chasey, the champion of death penalty abolition in New Mexico, and other advocates.
Imagine the United States rejecting a culture of death and embracing the right to life as a fundamental human right. Imagine the US turning to constructive ways of preventing and dealing with the deeply damaging impact of violent crime without imitating the crime of murder. Imagine the US State Department putting abolition of the death penalty on its agenda when meeting with other nations on the issue of human rights!
Take heart fellow abolitionists! Victory is on the horizon. Let’s find encouragement in this growing international solidarity!
That's wonderful news indeed! Keep up the good job! 🙂 😀
That’s wonderful news indeed! Keep up the good job! 🙂 😀
There is a way: my Idea for Change in America "Abolish the Death Penalty" has a big chance to be among the Top Ten ideas and to be presented to the Obama Administration in Washington D.C. We simply have to vote at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/abolish_the_deat… 😉
Gilles Denizot
There is a way: my Idea for Change in America "Abolish the Death Penalty" has a big chance to be among the Top Ten ideas and to be presented to the Obama Administration in Washington D.C. We simply have to vote at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/abolish_the_deat… 😉
Gilles Denizot
There is a way: my Idea for Change in America "Abolish the Death Penalty" has a big chance to be among the Top Ten ideas and to be presented to the Obama Administration in Washington D.C. We simply have to vote at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/abolish_the_deat… 😉
Gilles Denizot
There is a way: my Idea for Change in America “Abolish the Death Penalty” has a big chance to be among the Top Ten ideas and to be presented to the Obama Administration in Washington D.C. We simply have to vote at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/abolish_the_death_penalty 😉
Gilles Denizot
Anyways there are still great circles on societies supporting death penalty. and their young children are not aware that different races or cultures need special treatment because the risks their extint races are on, therefore there are special needs to achieve respectful racial education and respectful developing space for those who struggle in the succesful recent global changes against death penalty.
Kill and be killed .. it's the law of the land
Anyways there are still great circles on societies supporting death penalty. and their young children are not aware that different races or cultures need special treatment because the risks their extint races are on, therefore there are special needs to achieve respectful racial education and respectful developing space for those who struggle in the succesful recent global changes against death penalty.
Kill and be killed .. it’s the law of the land
It depends, Bill. What if death was an accident by the killer? Different actions should be taken. What if the murder was caused due to neglect or mental disability, etc.?
It depends, Bill. What if death was an accident by the killer? Different actions should be taken. What if the murder was caused due to neglect or mental disability, etc.?
As a fellow delegate to the World Congress in Geneva, I felt the message came loud, clear and repeatedly: the world is making progress in this, perhaps the keenest issue of human rights, and the call for the United States to join in is only going to grow stronger. World leaders expressed disappointment, verging on disgust, that the United States is still keeping company with some of the most vicious and despotic of global regimes in perpetuating capital punishment. But this despair is more than met with a positive sense that we will see the end of the death penalty in North America within 10 or 15 years. It's not 'bleeding heart liberalism' that will drive this change, it's common sense, it's mature treatment of justice and victims' rights, and it's the first step the US needs to take on the path to healing its broken criminal justice system.
Au contraire to Bill's post above, the 'law of the land' is more fickle than it would seem – and flawed beyond comprehension. For as long as the death penalty persists, innocents will be executed at the State's hand and victims' needs will continue to be overridden by a tangential lust for vengeance.
Thank you Amnesty for all you do.
When will the death penalty for babies be aolished?
As a fellow delegate to the World Congress in Geneva, I felt the message came loud, clear and repeatedly: the world is making progress in this, perhaps the keenest issue of human rights, and the call for the United States to join in is only going to grow stronger. World leaders expressed disappointment, verging on disgust, that the United States is still keeping company with some of the most vicious and despotic of global regimes in perpetuating capital punishment. But this despair is more than met with a positive sense that we will see the end of the death penalty in North America within 10 or 15 years. It’s not ‘bleeding heart liberalism’ that will drive this change, it’s common sense, it’s mature treatment of justice and victims’ rights, and it’s the first step the US needs to take on the path to healing its broken criminal justice system.
Au contraire to Bill’s post above, the ‘law of the land’ is more fickle than it would seem – and flawed beyond comprehension. For as long as the death penalty persists, innocents will be executed at the State’s hand and victims’ needs will continue to be overridden by a tangential lust for vengeance.
Thank you Amnesty for all you do.
When will the death penalty for babies be aolished?
In North County or in many coastal areas, we seem to be a community of athletes and fitness freaks. This story just hits so close to home because my wife and nearly all my friends are triathletes and runners. I can only imagine if my wife had left for a run through the lagoon and didn't return when she was expected. Just thinking about the countless times I have been on a run and I have run past girls by themselves on seemingly remote sections of trails, just as Chelsea probably did time and time before. Putting myself in her family's shoes only makes my heart hurt with sadness and maybe not the right feeling, but one of extreme anger, which makes my view of the punishment of these sick and twisted individuals on the possible extreme side.
What I think should happen to these sex offenders, rapists and murderers is most simply put; an eye for an eye. Picture this, Chelsea King was going out on a late afternoon run and was probably only thinking about her pacing and maybe what she had to do when she got home, she probably threw on her iPod warmed up and started her run. Sometime during that run, and this is all speculative, but as she is running someone dashes out from behind cover and grabs her or disables her with a swift blow to her head or face, just as he had done with his previous crime that sent him to prison the first time. As she comes to, what seemed like a routine run before homework has now turned into a violent rape. Now as she struggles to fight off this 6’2” 230lbs. sex offender, he now fights to silence her and I don’t know how she was murdered, but whether it was by strangulation or some other violent act, her last thoughts were probably not about the prom or the upcoming cross country meet, but maybe about her family, or why is this happening, or anything to help her survive this and in an instant her life is extinguished. Imagine how scared she was, how she must have felt. How scary that must have been when someone of that size and violence was upon her; it makes my blood boil and I can feel my eyes warm with blood thinking about it.
I propose an eye for an eye punishment for this type of crime. People I have talked to about this think I am too extreme, they think I am off my rocker for even thinking about such a thing, but I truly believe that we should do our best to recreate the crime in a similar situation and let the criminal feel those same feelings they put on their victims. I am of course not suggesting to bypass the judicial system and/or change its workings, but to instead, change its level of punishment. What do I mean by an eye for an eye for these sex offenders and murderers? If Gardner is convicted of this heinous crime and is sentenced to life or even more ridiculous, several life sentences or possibly maybe even the death penalty, don’t you think that the penalty does not fit the crime? Does Chelsea get visits from her loved ones? No, she is dead. Does Chelsea get to watch another movie or enjoy another run? Nope, she is dead. Does she get to hear of the stories of her family growing and her little brother’s newest stories from school? No, she is dead. Well, those are just a small sample of the things that Gardner can experience while he is serving his life sentence or death penalty. Did Gardner even feel a small amount of the fear and pain that Chelsea did? Nope. Sure, we have taken away his freedom to live his life outside of those walls, but what does that really do. Make civilization safe? Maybe. But does the punishment truly fit the crime? I truly don’t believe so.
What should happen in my own opinion, is that if Gardner is convicted and served the death penalty or in my world, served an eye for an eye; he should be allowed to live within a predetermined area, similar to a small city and let him live out his days as a regular citizen. After constant supervision and intense surveillance of his daily life with micro-chipping and law enforcement, when he has settled into his daily life and in his mind has forgotten that he has committed such a crime, a team of punishers fulfill his debt to society. Who knows when it could happen? He could be throwing out the trash, he could be sleeping in his warm bed, or he could just be going out for a walk in the park, but with exacting precision and deliberate action, this team of punishers hands him his ultimate punishment. Without warning, the team ambushes him, whether it is by a swift blow to his head or unleashed violence, it would have to be similar to how he had done to his victim Chelsea King. Once constrained and aware, in the least graphic terms I can describe, the punishers attach a dildo to the end of a stick and without lube or anything to ease the tearing of flesh, he is brutally sodomized. Gardner, how do you feel right now? Are you scared? What do you think Chelsea was feeling at this time Gardner? Was she in pain? Are you? After recreating the time and amount of times Chelsea may have been brutalized, the punishers end his life the same way he ended Chelsea’s life. I don’t know how it was done because it is still so close to the crime, but did he drown her, then lets drown him; did he beat her to death, then lets beat him to death. How do you feel Gardner? Do you think Chelsea felt pain like this? Do you think she was scared? Are you?
That is the way the penalty for a crime of that nature should be handed down. Chelsea’s family will never be able to see her again, but Gardner’s family will be able to visit him and write him and share their stories of the outside with him. Gardner will be able to work out in the yard and watch movies and read books and do what criminals do on the inside. Chelsea will never do anything again. Life sentences are a joke and the death penalty is not carried out quickly enough to justify calling it the death penalty. Any punishment in our system to date is not strong enough to fit such horrible crimes committed by today’s criminals. Life sentences doesn’t let the criminal feel the feelings that his victims felt when they were full of fear and pain. The death penalty is not strong enough. Death by lethal injection; are you kidding me? The person feels a warm rush and then fades to black… that is so serene compared to what their victims felt. That sounds like falling asleep and never waking up. Does that feel like being beaten to death?
That is why I am so bothered by the ACLU and all of these people crying about civil liberties and morality. Think about it people. This is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution being carried out by the judicial system. We don’t need to pay for these criminals to live, we need to pay for them to die if that is the crime they committed. I don’t care if these criminals were abused as children or had a tough upbringing, if they can’t live within modern civilizations rules and mores, then they deserve to move on to hell… we don’t need their genetic code to be passed on to the next generation. Was it an isolated incident and their genetic code was somehow wrecked in some crazy twist of fate? Well, I am sorry people, but lets squash that gene and keep the rest of civilization safe. Why would you want to rehabilitate a sex offender and take a chance of passing on that “sickness” to their offspring.
What do you want to do about this?
In North County or in many coastal areas, we seem to be a community of athletes and fitness freaks. This story just hits so close to home because my wife and nearly all my friends are triathletes and runners. I can only imagine if my wife had left for a run through the lagoon and didn’t return when she was expected. Just thinking about the countless times I have been on a run and I have run past girls by themselves on seemingly remote sections of trails, just as Chelsea probably did time and time before. Putting myself in her family’s shoes only makes my heart hurt with sadness and maybe not the right feeling, but one of extreme anger, which makes my view of the punishment of these sick and twisted individuals on the possible extreme side.
What I think should happen to these sex offenders, rapists and murderers is most simply put; an eye for an eye. Picture this, Chelsea King was going out on a late afternoon run and was probably only thinking about her pacing and maybe what she had to do when she got home, she probably threw on her iPod warmed up and started her run. Sometime during that run, and this is all speculative, but as she is running someone dashes out from behind cover and grabs her or disables her with a swift blow to her head or face, just as he had done with his previous crime that sent him to prison the first time. As she comes to, what seemed like a routine run before homework has now turned into a violent rape. Now as she struggles to fight off this 6’2” 230lbs. sex offender, he now fights to silence her and I don’t know how she was murdered, but whether it was by strangulation or some other violent act, her last thoughts were probably not about the prom or the upcoming cross country meet, but maybe about her family, or why is this happening, or anything to help her survive this and in an instant her life is extinguished. Imagine how scared she was, how she must have felt. How scary that must have been when someone of that size and violence was upon her; it makes my blood boil and I can feel my eyes warm with blood thinking about it.
I propose an eye for an eye punishment for this type of crime. People I have talked to about this think I am too extreme, they think I am off my rocker for even thinking about such a thing, but I truly believe that we should do our best to recreate the crime in a similar situation and let the criminal feel those same feelings they put on their victims. I am of course not suggesting to bypass the judicial system and/or change its workings, but to instead, change its level of punishment. What do I mean by an eye for an eye for these sex offenders and murderers? If Gardner is convicted of this heinous crime and is sentenced to life or even more ridiculous, several life sentences or possibly maybe even the death penalty, don’t you think that the penalty does not fit the crime? Does Chelsea get visits from her loved ones? No, she is dead. Does Chelsea get to watch another movie or enjoy another run? Nope, she is dead. Does she get to hear of the stories of her family growing and her little brother’s newest stories from school? No, she is dead. Well, those are just a small sample of the things that Gardner can experience while he is serving his life sentence or death penalty. Did Gardner even feel a small amount of the fear and pain that Chelsea did? Nope. Sure, we have taken away his freedom to live his life outside of those walls, but what does that really do. Make civilization safe? Maybe. But does the punishment truly fit the crime? I truly don’t believe so.
What should happen in my own opinion, is that if Gardner is convicted and served the death penalty or in my world, served an eye for an eye; he should be allowed to live within a predetermined area, similar to a small city and let him live out his days as a regular citizen. After constant supervision and intense surveillance of his daily life with micro-chipping and law enforcement, when he has settled into his daily life and in his mind has forgotten that he has committed such a crime, a team of punishers fulfill his debt to society. Who knows when it could happen? He could be throwing out the trash, he could be sleeping in his warm bed, or he could just be going out for a walk in the park, but with exacting precision and deliberate action, this team of punishers hands him his ultimate punishment. Without warning, the team ambushes him, whether it is by a swift blow to his head or unleashed violence, it would have to be similar to how he had done to his victim Chelsea King. Once constrained and aware, in the least graphic terms I can describe, the punishers attach a dildo to the end of a stick and without lube or anything to ease the tearing of flesh, he is brutally sodomized. Gardner, how do you feel right now? Are you scared? What do you think Chelsea was feeling at this time Gardner? Was she in pain? Are you? After recreating the time and amount of times Chelsea may have been brutalized, the punishers end his life the same way he ended Chelsea’s life. I don’t know how it was done because it is still so close to the crime, but did he drown her, then lets drown him; did he beat her to death, then lets beat him to death. How do you feel Gardner? Do you think Chelsea felt pain like this? Do you think she was scared? Are you?
That is the way the penalty for a crime of that nature should be handed down. Chelsea’s family will never be able to see her again, but Gardner’s family will be able to visit him and write him and share their stories of the outside with him. Gardner will be able to work out in the yard and watch movies and read books and do what criminals do on the inside. Chelsea will never do anything again. Life sentences are a joke and the death penalty is not carried out quickly enough to justify calling it the death penalty. Any punishment in our system to date is not strong enough to fit such horrible crimes committed by today’s criminals. Life sentences doesn’t let the criminal feel the feelings that his victims felt when they were full of fear and pain. The death penalty is not strong enough. Death by lethal injection; are you kidding me? The person feels a warm rush and then fades to black… that is so serene compared to what their victims felt. That sounds like falling asleep and never waking up. Does that feel like being beaten to death?
That is why I am so bothered by the ACLU and all of these people crying about civil liberties and morality. Think about it people. This is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution being carried out by the judicial system. We don’t need to pay for these criminals to live, we need to pay for them to die if that is the crime they committed. I don’t care if these criminals were abused as children or had a tough upbringing, if they can’t live within modern civilizations rules and mores, then they deserve to move on to hell… we don’t need their genetic code to be passed on to the next generation. Was it an isolated incident and their genetic code was somehow wrecked in some crazy twist of fate? Well, I am sorry people, but lets squash that gene and keep the rest of civilization safe. Why would you want to rehabilitate a sex offender and take a chance of passing on that “sickness” to their offspring.
What do you want to do about this?
Both Bill and Marco support the death penalty! This is stupid! They're just the Pharisees' supporters who never care about the human rights of criminals and death row inmates, but only care about human rights of victims' families! They don't really care about us at all! 🙁
Both Bill and Marco support the death penalty! This is stupid! They’re just the Pharisees’ supporters who never care about the human rights of criminals and death row inmates, but only care about human rights of victims’ families! They don’t really care about us at all! 🙁
Debbie… I feel like your comment is flawed. I am by no means a politician or activist at all. Only a recent rape and murder in our San Diego community has spurned me into actually voicing my opinion on this subject. Do or should criminals and death row inmates have human rights? Why should we respect a right they have taken away from someone else? Of course we only care about the human rights of the victims, because for all intents and purposes, the victim was probably just going about their day and all of a sudden, their life was ended. If a jury of their peers convict and sentence a criminal to their punishment, then why should I care about their human rights? They have forfeited that respect of their human rights by my when they imposed their own will on another life. Debbie, I am not sure if you are an inmate, but it is true, I don't care about all of you. The only thing I care about is that the punishment handed to you was swift and fits the crime you committed. Life in prison is not a punishment. A death sentence is not a punishment. A criminal feeling the same fear and pain that their victims did is the only punishment I would truly agree with. Feeling remorse for an act does not do anything for me. Feeling exactly what the victim felt is exactly how I want a criminal to feel right before they die… not falling asleep by lethal injection.
It doesn't matter what you say, Marco, I'm ignoring your baseless comments. Good day! 😡
Oh, and I'm not an inmate, because I oppose the death penalty, but if you try to change what I say, then you can't make me change my mind because I'm still ignoring you! Goodbye!
Debbie… I feel like your comment is flawed. I am by no means a politician or activist at all. Only a recent rape and murder in our San Diego community has spurned me into actually voicing my opinion on this subject. Do or should criminals and death row inmates have human rights? Why should we respect a right they have taken away from someone else? Of course we only care about the human rights of the victims, because for all intents and purposes, the victim was probably just going about their day and all of a sudden, their life was ended. If a jury of their peers convict and sentence a criminal to their punishment, then why should I care about their human rights? They have forfeited that respect of their human rights by my when they imposed their own will on another life. Debbie, I am not sure if you are an inmate, but it is true, I don’t care about all of you. The only thing I care about is that the punishment handed to you was swift and fits the crime you committed. Life in prison is not a punishment. A death sentence is not a punishment. A criminal feeling the same fear and pain that their victims did is the only punishment I would truly agree with. Feeling remorse for an act does not do anything for me. Feeling exactly what the victim felt is exactly how I want a criminal to feel right before they die… not falling asleep by lethal injection.
It doesn’t matter what you say, Marco, I’m ignoring your baseless comments. Good day! 😡
Oh, and I’m not an inmate, because I oppose the death penalty, but if you try to change what I say, then you can’t make me change my mind because I’m still ignoring you! Goodbye!
I don't have an answer to your valid points Mr Marco… So I'm going to act like a second grader and ignore you…. La la la la la la (hands over ears)
I don’t have an answer to your valid points Mr Marco… So I’m going to act like a second grader and ignore you…. La la la la la la (hands over ears)
Marco, I applaud you for your post as I also share your sentiments in the punishment fitting the crime. Many of these criminals Iive a better life behind bars than in normal society. I sense Debbie is a convict as her words speak loudly. Brian, you come across as a second grader and probably are also a sex offender.
I am all for a punishment to fit the horrific crime that any jury of your peers find you guilty of. Then, you have to deal with life forever after in Hell.
Marco, I applaud you for your post as I also share your sentiments in the punishment fitting the crime. Many of these criminals Iive a better life behind bars than in normal society. I sense Debbie is a convict as her words speak loudly. Brian, you come across as a second grader and probably are also a sex offender.
I am all for a punishment to fit the horrific crime that any jury of your peers find you guilty of. Then, you have to deal with life forever after in Hell.
Hey, maybe if a group of people kill 40 million people of another group, we should kill 40 million people of their group. And then, since we did that to them, they would have to punish us for that too, so they'd kill 40 million of us. Yeah! Pretty soon there will be like ten people left in the world and they'd all die! wooo! hooray, we've done away with humanity! now absolutely nobody will have to suffer!
…although nobody will be able to feel joy either but who cares? a world with no emotion is vastly better than a world with good and bad emotions! 😀
——————-
seriously though, how the hell does saying killing is illegal, and then going ahead and killing someone make any sort of sense. and what I really really hate is that most politicians (at least where I'm from) are Christian or some sort of denomination like that. now I'm not religious but, well the fifth commandment: do not kill. here's what Jesus said: turn the other cheek to your enemies. seriously, if you're going to be part of a religion, at least pretend like you follow it.
So Doug, I understand what you are saying about someone just killed someone, and now I would want that same act we deemed a crime to be laid upon that criminal… your logic is not flawed and I agree that it sounds like my logic is flawed. But I stand by what I wrote… if a person committed a premeditated murder or, and I am not a lawyer so pardon my layperson terminology, or if a person while committing another crime against another person accidentally killed the victim, then that is where I believe an eye for an eye comes into play. It isn't the act of death that I want, it is the feeling that the person inflicted on another person. Just as I wrote in my original post, sitting in a jail cell for the rest of a criminals life is nowhere near what the victim probably felt at the time of a rape, beating, or murder. That is my point. If a criminal can continue to read books, watch TV, and have visits from family members while in jail… if their only fear is what is this weeks special at the cafeteria, then that is not enough of a punishment for me. I want them to experience the full intensity of what their victims were feeling while they were being surprised, then stalked, and then brutalized and murdered. How else do you think someone will understand how wrong their actions were. I don't care if in the process they have to die, all I want them to know before they die, is how it feels to be so scared for your life that you are begging for it, that the last thoughts are of your family and flashes of a friends laugh or a loved ones smile are mixed in there with the raw emotions of being chased or raped or drowned. Do you understand Doug? Its not the act of murdering someone for murdering someone, it is about making that person feel the fear and pain so that they know what they did to another human being. So you say I am doing away with all humanity… I believe I am all for preserving those of us who choose to be humans. I am preserving humanity for those of us who don't want to look over my shoulder for a predator while I walk to my car in a parking garage, or run a trail by myself, or have my wife be home alone while I am on a trip.
Hey, maybe if a group of people kill 40 million people of another group, we should kill 40 million people of their group. And then, since we did that to them, they would have to punish us for that too, so they’d kill 40 million of us. Yeah! Pretty soon there will be like ten people left in the world and they’d all die! wooo! hooray, we’ve done away with humanity! now absolutely nobody will have to suffer!
…although nobody will be able to feel joy either but who cares? a world with no emotion is vastly better than a world with good and bad emotions! 😀
——————-
seriously though, how the hell does saying killing is illegal, and then going ahead and killing someone make any sort of sense. and what I really really hate is that most politicians (at least where I’m from) are Christian or some sort of denomination like that. now I’m not religious but, well the fifth commandment: do not kill. here’s what Jesus said: turn the other cheek to your enemies. seriously, if you’re going to be part of a religion, at least pretend like you follow it.
So Doug, I understand what you are saying about someone just killed someone, and now I would want that same act we deemed a crime to be laid upon that criminal… your logic is not flawed and I agree that it sounds like my logic is flawed. But I stand by what I wrote… if a person committed a premeditated murder or, and I am not a lawyer so pardon my layperson terminology, or if a person while committing another crime against another person accidentally killed the victim, then that is where I believe an eye for an eye comes into play. It isn’t the act of death that I want, it is the feeling that the person inflicted on another person. Just as I wrote in my original post, sitting in a jail cell for the rest of a criminals life is nowhere near what the victim probably felt at the time of a rape, beating, or murder. That is my point. If a criminal can continue to read books, watch TV, and have visits from family members while in jail… if their only fear is what is this weeks special at the cafeteria, then that is not enough of a punishment for me. I want them to experience the full intensity of what their victims were feeling while they were being surprised, then stalked, and then brutalized and murdered. How else do you think someone will understand how wrong their actions were. I don’t care if in the process they have to die, all I want them to know before they die, is how it feels to be so scared for your life that you are begging for it, that the last thoughts are of your family and flashes of a friends laugh or a loved ones smile are mixed in there with the raw emotions of being chased or raped or drowned. Do you understand Doug? Its not the act of murdering someone for murdering someone, it is about making that person feel the fear and pain so that they know what they did to another human being. So you say I am doing away with all humanity… I believe I am all for preserving those of us who choose to be humans. I am preserving humanity for those of us who don’t want to look over my shoulder for a predator while I walk to my car in a parking garage, or run a trail by myself, or have my wife be home alone while I am on a trip.