Death Penalty

"No man is to be put to death this day, for today the LORD has saved Israel."
-1 Samuel 11:13

Everyday God saves us from something, whether we realize it or not. Without the protection of his angels we couldn't survive the unfounded hate leveled against us. That's why it's easy for me to be against the death penalty, despite the satisfaction that families of victims think they will find in the death of the perpetrator. The killer of three Pittsburgh policemen is on trial now with the jury deciding between death or life in prison.

I think it would actually be in the defendant’s favor to make jail less hospitable because as unfair as letting him live may seem to those that lost a loved one, it seems even more unfair that he gets more meals than my students get, cable (which I don’t have), exercise equipment (which I don’t have), and porn (which I don’t think anyone should have). I would like to see convicts be given a simple cell with access to books, including books on tape for those that are illiterate, if they wish to better themselves. Anything deemed lewd, like porn, can be eliminated. No TV. No exercise equipment. Low calorie meals, since they won’t be burning as much.

I realize this wouldn’t deter crime because criminals are usually too impulsive to care about things like that. Since the criminals have already taken away so much from the innocent public, it seems fair that taxes provide them with the bare minimum rather than making cuts to other programs like Pennsylvania is doing. Pennsylvania has about 46,000 inmates and each costs $32,000/year. That’s about $1.5 billion dollars. There has to be room in that budget to make cuts if cuts are needed.

Since school has ended, I have had trouble finding time to do everything I used to, so things like checking email and blogging regularly have gone by the wayside because they were less important than other things like attending to my wife and kids. I had set a deadline to finish the first draft of my book and that is done. Now I just have to meet the next deadline(s) I set for myself.