David Limbaugh’s piece is interesting, but still, isn’t there something wrong with having a death penalty which is not foolproof? I lean more toward Paul Craig Roberts’ take on this issue: http://www.vdare.com/roberts/wrongful.htm .

Steve Sailer also has interesting things to say, among them that the police in Chicago, where he used to live, routinely torture confessions out of suspects in murder cases. See his comments on his blog-site at www.iSteve.com, under the heading, “iSteve exclusives, updated often,” on the right (scroll down ‘til you come to the entry beginning with, “The Illinois governor commutes all death sentences … “).

Apart from the above: am I the only one who didn’t get Matt’s post at all?

Unadorned you are not alone. Maybe it was an excerpt from the writings/confession of a death row inmate whose sentence was commutted Gov. Ryan.

Although I agree we should abolish the death penalty in cases where the evidence is not conclusive (e.g., Skakel), we should retain it for terrorism and conclusive cases (e.g., Gacy). It seems to me our government can be trusted no more than the rest of us. Considering the corrupt morality of America, I don’t see how we can trust our goverment to be moral.

The post that was there (and is no longer) was not by me. It was someone’s idea of a joke; I have to admit it made me smile.

Part of the problem is our “all or nothing” sense of criminal justice. We have only one standard: beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not a bad standard, and I don’t claim to have a good suggestion as to what to do. On the one hand we need to have an ability to take reasonable evidence and get criminals off the streets; on the other we ought to know beyond any doubt in order to execute someone. The truth of the matter is that in some cases we are more certain than in others, despite the fact that all passed “beyond a reasonable doubt” muster with some jury.

Opening up the Pandora’s box of degrees of certainly is more likely to get criminals released than it is to improve the process in capital cases, though. The current acts of Governor Ryan are a case in point. Culturally we like to either KNOW or NOT KNOW; we have little tolerance for the in-betweenness of mystery even in small doses.

While Roberts certainly makes some excellent points, he too easily ascribes some sort of moral purpose to Ryan’s horrendous action. As a resident of Illinois, my take on this sordid affair is that Ryan was attempting to create a legacy that would be fondly mentioned in media circles when his real legacy is nothing but one of utter corruption and betrayal. When he ran in 1998, I voted for the pro-life Democrat Poshard when I noticed the NARAL/NOW crowd quietly tilting in his direction. Ryan is a completely despicable character on a par with Bill Clinton.

Given his miserable record on moral issues, it is unlikely that the moral/legal principles mentioned in the Roberts article entered the small mind of George Ryan. While commuting sentences of some questionable cases is justified, the majority of the cases left no room for doubt. The end result of this action is profoundly immoral: The families of the victims are now forced (via taxation) to provide food, medical care, education, and legal appeals for the very individuals who took the lives of their loved ones.

Here’s an example of what happens when you don’t have capital punishment:

Gandhi Murderer Gets Married
Israel National News

The Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Ayam reports today that Hamdi Kura’an, who murdered Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in Oct. 2001, was recently married while being held in detention in Jericho.

Kura’an, together with four other PFLP terrorists involved in the murder, has been held in a PA installation in Jericho, in accordance with the terms of an agreement with Israel. Kura’an, the man who actually pulled the trigger, is married to his cousin, who said that she is “proud of him and his actions.” MK Benny Elon, who took over the leadership of the Moledet party after Ze’evi’s death, said today in response, “There is no limit to the immorality. Gandhi’s murderer gets married in a PA convalescent home, while Israel, instead of killing him, transfers a monthly payment of 130 million shekels to Arafat and his henchmen.”

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=37368

Here, from a friend, comes another example of what happens when you don’t have capital punishment:

“Charles Manson has a web site from prison and has an entire business with it. Three meals a day, a gym, a library, cable tv, you sleep late, free medical care, no mortgage payments or rent, etc. And all that because you murdered 8 people. Not a bad deal!”