The Death Penalty

I think a prison sentence of more than 15 yrs is cruel and inhumane. If an act has been committed that is so horrible that the only proper responses would be more time in prison, then the next step up should be death. There has been nothing about the death of criminals in Iraq to which I disapprove. If he's gonna bite it, let the criminal go quickly, as painlessly as possible, then be done and don't look back. The demand for respect - or solemnity - or sobriety - are out of line imo. My opinion is that if the majority believes a certain crime calls for this particular response, then the majority knows that the perp will die, it will probably NOT be a pleasant experience, and remains content with that knowledge.
I don't believe any other claims as to what the death penalty "means" are valid. Is "death" as a response to a hideous crime really a "penalty" - as in "death penalty?" I don't know who came up with that unfortunate phrase. Does anyone care if death is revenge, or a punishment, or even a deterrent? Death is the same thing as a $5 parking ticket. It is society's response to a negative behavior. If my city was similarly upset with my parking in the middle of 3rd and Main as they are with my choking my neighbor, then they would fry me for a parking violation. It would not matter if it deterred any other violators or not. The point is not what the crime says about us or the criminal or the victim,, but what we say about the crime. The crime to which we affix a "penalty" of death is a set of behaviors that we simply will not under any circumstances tolerate, such as shooting a police officer. Or putting living human beings into meat grinders. Saddam's partners in crime got theirs today. The head of one of them was severed in the act of hanging.

Government adviser Bassam al-Husseini said the damage to the body was "an act of God". During his trial for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ites from Dujail, a witness said Barzan's agents put people in a meat grinder.