David McFadzean [david@lucifer.com]wrote
<snip>
Maybe we weren't talking about innocents before, but I wanted to bring
it up because there will be mistakes in any conceivable practical
justice system.
<snap>
[Blunderov]
This is the point that I was hoping to make: if the state is permitted
to run a death industry there will, inevitably, be mistakes. Individual
felons may be as guilty as all hell (DNA is very convincing I agree) but
the fact remains that, if we permit this institution, we have reconciled
ourselves to certainty that someone who is innocent will be executed.
There is also the very considerable possibility (some might say
certainty) of bias - some population groups are routinely perceived to
be "more" guilty than others by criminal justice systems, even when
there is little or no substantive difference between the crimes
committed.
If there was a justice system that could guarantee [em]absolute[/em]
fairness and [em]absolute[/em] infallibility, then such a system might
be able to justify applying the [em]absolute[/em] sanction. Maybe.
Warm regards
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