Trump wants death penalty for drug dealers..thoughts?
Now, this completely bothers me. He praises systems where people are killed without due process and thats another moral issue...but anyway.
The first issue is whether or not the death penalty should be allowed. I'm not the biggest fan of the death penalty, but personally I believe it can be appopriate in certain circumstances.
One major issue is that the definition of "drug dealer" is too broad. Drug dealer could mean the foreign drug trafficker or major enterprise. But it could also mean that friend you know that sells weed on the side. Of which I know many people. Of course, this is intended to mean opioid dealers, not weed. I know opioid dealers too, much in the same vein. Anyway what are your thoughts?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I decided to speak to the first part of your question, because it ultimately gives you a sense of my thoughts on the second part of your question.
When you have time, and if you're interested, check out this talk about the death penalty and criminal justice system by Bryan Stevenson. It's a bit lengthy, but honestly I love this talk so much I've watched it a handful of times now; my father, who has always felt as you do (that the death penalty might be warranted in some instances), and who rarely changes his mind, changed his stance a bit after I shared this with him, and it's worth your time, I promise:
The argument against the death penalty that got me in this talk comes somewhere in the middle/end, where he relays a story of teaching a class and a German woman comments that in Germany, they don't have the death penalty; she says it would be "unconscionable" for them to set about systematically killing people, given their history. He then makes an argument that's pretty eye-opening: here in the U.S., you are more than twice as likely to be convicted of a crime if you are black than if you're white, and more than twice as likely to be given the death penalty if you are black than if you are white. Furthermore, research has shown that for every 9 people sentenced to death, 1 person has been shown to have been innocent. He likens the craziness of this to airplanes--would we allow anyone to step foot on a plane if 1 out of every 9 that takes to the skies crashed? The shocking argument, for me, is what he says after the German woman in his class made her comment about it--can you imagine if the death penalty were alive and well in Germany, and Jews were disproportionately being sentenced to death? That's essentially what's going on in the U.S., but no one bats an eye.
I'll admit; I'd be the first to want to cast the stone at child rapists and murders, and I think that there are some people that this world would be better off without, but the argument he makes is not whether criminals deserve to die, but rather, do we deserve to kill?
Such an interesting query!
Recordstatic
Level 5
Mar 20, 2018
0
I've actually seen it before in class, but its good to be reminded! And I think you're right. And he's right. Any support I've had for the death penalty always has been within the realm of a "perfect hypothetical" which assumes there is no errors or racial bias or that its not retributive in nature and anything like that.. but thats not the world we live in. Even within those parameters I'm not convinced of my own position haha. In fact i'm not sure I even find it defensible on further introspection.
I think you're right that we shouldn't have the death penalty in the US. Because we're not mature enough to have it. The racial injustice alone, or the examples of false convictions evidenced by the exoneration of so many through DNA testing.
He's right on so many levels. Especially on the "how you treat your poor" idea.
So, yeah I think I needed to hear this again and be reminded.
Thank you for posting 
Now if we could do something about incarceration rates. I mean, we have over 50 % of the imprisoned population of the world...
@Ersomething I'd say "amen!" to your last point if it were relevant here! Haha. I totally agree with your sentiments as well about the "perfect hypothetical" where the death penalty might be permissible. In the case of our current climate, I can't defend the death penalty, but I'll be damned if I don't feel like the actions of certain people don't deserve it, even in retribution. The dissonance between wishing it were so and actually making it so is just too great for me to bear or fathom, hence my stance.
I think we're definitely on the same page--and thank YOU for the food for thought =)
I find this an unacceptable abuse of power.
LadyAlyxandrea
Level 8
Mar 19, 2018
4
I'm inclined to agree with you, but could you explain in more detail what you mean?
(And by inclined to, I mean I know I will haha)
@Ersomething he's using his authority to attack those he doesn't agree with. First he kills drug dealers, but that doesn't deter. Then he comes for pharmacists. Then he comes for those who oppose him. Then we have putin. Ugh.
Sounds about right to me. It's this creepy overhanded "I want complete control over everything because then people will respect me" dictator crap. Drugs can be dangerous, but due process exists to prevent..well..this, actually.
Because nothing says maga like shitting on the constitution*, right?
*(I don't find the "due process not being in the constitution" argument compelling)
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