A friend just asked me my view on the death penalty. In answer to her question and to impart to her how my thinking on this topic has evolved over the years, I forwarded her this review I wrote some time ago of the documentary film: The Thin Blue Line. As we recently discussed the police state on the show, I thought I would share it with you as well.
THE THIN BLUE LINE: A REVIEW OF THE DOCUMENTARY FILM
(spoiler alert)
Synopsis from Wikipedia:
Randall Dale Adams (December 17, 1948 – October 30, 2010) was wrongly convicted of murdering police officer Robert W. Wood, and was subsequently sentenced to death. He served more than 12 years in prison, at one point coming within 72 hours of being put to death. His death sentence was reduced through appeal to the United States Supreme Court, and eight years later he was released when evidence was uncovered to prove his innocence. Adams’ case is profiled in the documentary THE THIN BLUE LINE.
My Opinion:
I always argued in favor of capital punishment because it is so obvious to me that in murdering someone the murderer forfeits his rights totally. I couldn’t stand the arguments that every life is equally valid and who are we to take a life and judge a person, blah blah blah. I’ll tell you who we are–we are innocent people who have but one life to live and if some out-of-control sociopath kills us it’s over forever but for him, he may serve ten or twenty years, maybe even his whole life, but he gets to live and we don’t–it’s just not fair.
Over time, however, I have come to distrust the State to such an extent that I now believe it is dangerous to entrust it even with this, one of its few arguably legitimate functions, so I must withdraw my support for capital punishment.
I will never in a million years