Subject: Re: FLEMING'S FOLLY
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
X-Comment: The Transnational Radical Party List
I for one dropped out of the Dorry vs. everybody else CP thread when
it became clear what we agreed and disagreed on, given that the area
of disagreement concerned predictions of the outcomes of policy about
which nobody has real knowledge, with the predictable result that
reasoned argument gave way to rhetoric.
We both agree that CP at its present level has no discernible effect
on the murder rate, while an automatic (and prompt) execution of 100%
of convicted murderers, thereby increasing the rate of executions
from a few dozen to a few thousand a year, would have a dramatic
effect.
But that is where the difficulty begins. Most Americans say they
support CP, but would they support an increase such as this? And if
they didn't, juries would become reluctant to convict defendants of
murder. Right now, the criminal justice process leading to execution
a slow process indeed, partly due, Dorry claims to recalcitrant and
unelected justices thwarting the will of the people. As a result,
DA's are often reluctant even to ask for the death penalty (the O.J.
Simpson trial aside). Should we do away with separation of powers,
one of the fundamental principles of our Constitution? How can we
assure that accused murderers get a speedy and short trial and
execution if found guilty, without mangling the Constitution and
surrendering important freedoms (e.g. perhaps rules of evidence,
perhaps presumption of innocence, etc.) to say nothing of increasing
dramatically the execution of innocent people. Again, how can we be
sure that such measures would dramatically increase the hostility,
violence and militancy of the inner city poor against the rest of us,
especially given the current enthusiasm for dismantling the very
social programs which might defuse the situation--even now, the US
has the greatest disparity of income of *any* industrialized country,
while educational opportunities (including the GI bill) are
disappearing. These are important questions. I don't know the
answers. But I do know that they can't be anwered by rhetoric.
--Craig Harrison, San Francisco
