Recidivism Part One

If ever there was an argument for the existence of the Death Penalty, this
web page has dozens of them- I warn you, its hard to read but as responsible, conscientious people,
we must.

With each and every story on that page there is a victim, a life
ended brutally, in every instance. What separates these horrible murders from
the thousands of others that tragically occur each year in this country is that every one of these murders should have never happened . I don't mean this in an existential random and cruel nature of the cosmos type of thing
(ie being in the wrong place at the wrong time) I mean it literally- these murders should have never happened because
every one of them was committed by men who had been previously arrested and convicted of other murder/ or multiple murders in many instances. Having
served clearly inadequate prison sentences, they were all released back upon
the public and in short order, they all killed again.

This set of stories is a must read for everyone, particularly those who consider themselves on the fence concerning the death penalty. More often than not, I hear people say that they are against the Death Penalty "theoretically" And then they go on to say that " in this one case however they feel it is necessary"- At this juncture I usually will suggest to them that this means that
they in fact do believe in the death penalty, and like many other conscientous people, altough they are not gung-ho to put someone to death,
they believe that our courts should have the option of imposing this ultimate sentence, when it is warranted due to particlularly aggravating circumstances, on a careful per case basis.

While there has always been a good deal of controversy surrounding the issue
of capital punishment, as of late the controversy has reached a feverish pitch.
In my own state of Connecticut the largely democratic legislature just recently
voted in favor of a bill to abolish the death penalty. The bill was introduced by the Judiciary Committee a few weeks prior to the
actual legislative vote, taking the Connecticut public by surprise. According to newspapers, the original impetus for abolishment had its origins in financial considerations, ie the state of the current economy as well as a serious state deficit for the first time in years. The legislators were looking for ways to save money and much to the consternation of its citizens, one of the first things they
thought of was to get rid of the "expensive " and""archaic" death penalty.

Fortunately, Governor Rell vetoed the bill soon after it barely passed
muster in the State Senate with a 19-17 final vote. Both the Senate and the house lacked the two third vote margin in favor of the bill, necessary to override the Governor's veto.

To read more about the local attempt to abolish the Death Penalty here in Connecticut, read my April Post on the subject.
http://chasingnormal.blogspot.com/2009/04/committee-pushes-to-abolish-death.html