Here's The Beef

Okay, I’m Christian so everybody is going to think I’m opposed to the death penalty because of that but, actually, I’m not sure I’m really opposed to the death penalty. I can’t say I’d actually rule it out in every case or that I’d never recommend it if I were part of a jury. I just don’t know, but I do wonder what good it does or what’s the point when the damage has already been done.

I figure Scott Peterson is probably guilty. I certainly didn’t follow the trial closely. I don’t have the stomach or enough morbid curiosity for that kind of stuff, but I would guess the jury made a pretty good call on his guilt. Nevertheless, what’s the point of killing the guy. That seems so… well, irrevocable.

I realize he killed his wife and unborn baby, but killing him won’t get them back and just brings the rest of us down to his level, doesn’t it? And I don’t know if it deters other murderers from doing the same thing. I mean if we really wanted to deter other murderers then we should get rid of the rules against cruel and unusual punishment and institute some of THAT.

If we’d TRULY like to deter would-be murderers, wouldn’t it make more sense to do something cruel and unusual to those who murder, like – I don’t know – amputate their penises and testicles without any anesthesia? Or maybe pierce an eyeball or pull several teeth, something like that? Perhaps Scott Peterson should be forced to sit in a room each day and face a picture of Laci and ultra sound of Connor and write something about them or be caned on a weekly basis for the rest of his life, or both. That would be so much more deterrent than death.

I’ve met some people who had murder potential in my past. Honestly, I’ve met some of the biggest street scum you could imagine, and one thing I noticed was that none of them liked pain – oh no, not one little bit. You could shoot them or knife them, but if you wanted to insert an IV they would be like little babies! They would do ANYTHING to avoid THAT type of pain. I’m thinking that if they knew that for the rest of their lives they would and could be subject to frequent random medical experimentation of a painful nature, or perhaps be a human crash dummy, they would definitely think twice before doing something so heinous as murder.

“Wouldn’t it be horrible to amputate a guy’s penis or stab out his eye or torture him in some way only to find out he was innocent, though?” you ask.

Well, yes… but it’s just as horrible to put him to death and find out he was innocent… as a matter of fact THAT is even worse so my way would not only be a better deterrent but would also allow the person to at least continue living.