I don't know about sacred, but one of my friends preferred that money not be spent on a life sentence. I don't know how the utilitarian argument parses out, but I don't think the LEOs should be allowed to kill without need.
Neither do I. We're in agreement on your closing point.
As for the arguments over "death penalty vs. life sentence"...I prefer the life sentence not only because you cannot apologise to or compensate the wrongly executed, but because death lets the righteously arrested, charged, tried and convicted of such offences as may merit drastic punishments off the hook on this side of the graveyards far too soon for my liking.
You know what? I'm fine with that. What I'm not fine with is skipping one's place in line. You can have all the revenge you want once the prosecution makes a sufficient case to a judge and jury of the accused's peers, but not a goddamned second earlier.
We, society, are entitled to get to try people who commit crimes, most especially heinous ones. Trials have value to society. Every time police kill someone – whether justified or not – they deprive society of the trial to which it is entitled, encroach upon the prerogatives of the Judiciary, and thwart all the social effects that trials are supposed to give us. This may be forgivable under some circumstances of life-and-death, but it is always a bad thing and should be seen as such, because they deprive society of something valuable.
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Which part of "protect and serve" does 'executing without trial' fit into?
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As for the arguments over "death penalty vs. life sentence"...I prefer the life sentence not only because you cannot apologise to or compensate the wrongly executed, but because death lets the righteously arrested, charged, tried and convicted of such offences as may merit drastic punishments off the hook on this side of the graveyards far too soon for my liking.
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We, society, are entitled to get to try people who commit crimes, most especially heinous ones. Trials have value to society. Every time police kill someone – whether justified or not – they deprive society of the trial to which it is entitled, encroach upon the prerogatives of the Judiciary, and thwart all the social effects that trials are supposed to give us. This may be forgivable under some circumstances of life-and-death, but it is always a bad thing and should be seen as such, because they deprive society of something valuable.
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