Inspired by the debate in the Jerome Ersland thread. The proposed Jerome Ersland Act - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board
If it was your choice whether persons committing felonies could lawfully be subjected to summary execution, what would you choose?
and… I somehow didn’t click poll. Let’s try again…
“Frontier Justice”? O, *HELL *NO! I’m a crappy driver and if California allowed citizens to shoot each other over perceived slights I’d be very very dead within weeks.
Society should be run by the rule of law not by people who are pissed off and have a gun.
If the people want to enact a law that says that somebody who commits armed robbery can be sentenced to death after a trial and conviction, than that’s one thing. But nobody should be shooting people at the crime scene.
Or who are willing to murder and lie about why they did it. I don’t want to live somewhere where claiming I was stealing something is a valid excuse for killing me.
If you can shoot a crook in commission of a crime, why not? I would be quite certain if your son or daughter cam up and told you that someone raped them you would like to go and castrate the guy.
Is this not precisely why those most directly involved should be the last people to have any influence on the process of criminal justice?
I might “like” to do a great many things, but I believe that it’s not right to pass judgement in the heat of anger. Vigilante justice leads to bad things.
Because killing someone is a heavy thing. I will kill if needed to protect myself or another person. If I catch some kid stealing my car, I’m not going to shoot him unless he draws a weapon. Grand theft auto is a felony, but not something I’m willing to take a life over. I’ll call the cops, provide the best description I can, and testify truthfully if the case goes to trial. I’ll also either get the car back, or my insurance company will buy me another car.
You can, in some circumstances, shoot a crook to prevent the completion of a crime. But you can’t shoot somebody because they committed a crime. Once the crime has been committed, it belongs to the legal system.
Sure, I’d want to kill anyone who raped my child. Then again, I might also want to kill somebody because his dog pooped in my yard. I might just have a bad temper. Which is why I said above that justice shouldn’t be determined by who’s pissed off and has a gun.
I wouldn’t support killing people, period. I can understand if you feel your life is in immediate danger that you’d kill as self-defense, but nobody should be executed, much less executed without a trial.
The potential for misunderstanding is high. Is the man breaking into your neighbour’s house doing so to steal their possessions, or is has he heard cries of help from inside?