 Let
me jump into this issue of Andrea Yates.
First of all, I do believe that she was and is very much insane. Anyone
that would do what she did to her own children would have to be crazy.
As far as I'm concerned, each and every person on death row is crazy,
too. They would likely have to be nuts to kill another person. So
I don't make a distinction there. I would be happy to dispense with
the insanity defense, and accept the premise that every killer is
crazy. We can put them all away for life, because if they go crazy
once, they might do so again.
I do not agree that any of them should
face the death penalty. We can say whatever we will about it, but
the death penalty is not a deterrent to anything. It is not justice.
It is revenge, plain and simple. Just because the death is performed
in the name of the state, does not change the fact that a life, no
matter how foul it was being lived is snuffed out. The words "Thou
Shalt Not Kill" does not sound like a negotiation. It can not
be sanctioned by any body of law.
I am glad that even in the self righteous
State of Texas, Mrs. Yates was spared. |
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