As a few of you have read, I have felt a quiver of satisfaction when Paul Powell sat on the electric chair. Oh poor old liberal me! Happy at the death of another human being. You can laugh all you want, republican scum, it's not because I'm happy that the gene pool is cleaner that I think every person that commits murder should die. Last article gave me a resurgence of that old: "My hard earned tax money shouldn't go to murderers. Gas them all!"
As I think it's a fucked up and genocidal thing to say, I'm a man of compromises. I do think death penalty has it's place, but eye for an eye doesn't cut it anymore. That should be a punishment reserved to helpless scumbags that would happily kill again and again if given the choice. When it's something you do with pride and mile sexual excitement, you might like killing too much to stay alive.
Doing more research on that fascinating issue, I found out what I call "an acceptable use of death penalty". The State of Utah is punishing by death people guilty of aggravated murder. Aggravation being a notion hard to describe in American justice, the state of Utah has a clear idea of what can send someone to the gallows. Aggravated murder is:
-The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved (or involved torture).
-The murder was committed incident to a hijacking.
-The defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death for one or more persons in addition to the victim of the offense.
-The defendant committed or attempted to commit more than one murder at the same time.
-The murder was committed by means of poison or a lethal substance.
-The murder was committed for pecuniary gain or pursuant to an agreement that the defendant would receive something of value.
-The defendant caused or directed another to commit murder, or the defendant procured the commission of the offense by payment, promise of payment, or anything of pecuniary value.
-The murder was committed to avoid or prevent arrest, to effect an escape, or to conceal the commission of a crime.
-The capital offense was committed to interfere with the lawful exercise of any government function or the enforcement of the laws.
-The defendant has been convicted of, or committed, a prior murder, a felony involving violence, or other serious felony.
-The capital offense was committed by a person who is incarcerated, has escaped, is on probation, is in jail, or is under a sentence of imprisonment. The actor was under a sentence of life imprisonment or a sentence of death at the time of the homicide.
-The victim is or has been a local, state, or federal public official, or a candidate for public office, and the homicide is based on, is caused by, or is related to that official position, act, capacity, or candidacy.
-The murder was committed against a person held as a shield, as a hostage, or for ransom
-The murder was committed against a witness in a criminal proceeding to prevent the witness from appearing, or for revenge.
-The homicide was committed while the actor was engaged in, or attempted to, or flight from committed or attempted child abuse.
-The defendant was involved in the desecration of a dead human body or dismembering, mutilation, or disfiguring of the victim's body, either before or after death, in a manner demonstrating the actor’s depravity of mind. The homicide was committed incident to the abuse or desecration of a dead body.
-The murder was committed by means of any weapon of mass destruction.
Aside from its acceptable use, this chart has another great thing for itself. It's clear. Follow the chart and don't get the chair...or the injection or whatever you can chose to die with. I'm all for the universal adoption of this chart in the U.S.
Who's with me?
