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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The IB Dude who wrote (32540)	8/21/2000 3:11:32 PM
From: Juli	Respond to of 50167

OT - I am sorry for continuing this off topic discussion and I promise this will be my last, but I had to get these two incidents in. One, a man in Texas has served ten years for a rape that he did not commit. He was cleared through DNA testing three years ago, yet the courts refused a new trial. Only a week or so ago, did the Parole Board finally grant him a pardon, three years after he was cleared. I wonder if the Presidential election had anything to do with it since the Governor has a lot of influence over the Parole Board. Just recently the Gary Graham execution, right here 80 miles from Houston, received worldwide attention. Many celebrities and no other than Jesse Jackson himself pleaded for his life and attended protest demonstrations. Only several days before this incident that I am about to mention occurred, two people were put to death in one night just 80 miles from Houston. Yet, two men attempted to rob a 69 year old woman in the middle of the day in a large mall in Houston and shot and killed her when she resisted. My point is that punishment never has and probably never will deter crime. Yes, criminals should be put away for the protection of those they will hurt, but not as any deterrent for those who will commit crime in the future. To think otherwise is to stick our heads in the sand. Harsh and brutal punishment diminishes a society. Children do not usually grow up to be violent unless they have a physical or mental problem, or unless they have been brutalized themselves. A brutal society breads violence in the society, just as a brutal home breads violence in children. Yes, a brutal, repressive society may prevent open violence for awhile, but the violence is there none the less. By the way Gary Graham was executed for the exact same crime that those two young men committed. I should make clear that I have no sympathy for Gary Graham. If anyone deserved the death penalty, it was probably him.