A Progressive Forum should never advocate the Death Penalty.

[freshwest]

223. If the definition of Murder is Unlawful Killing, the State that enacts the Law, is not criminal.

That is another form of B & W thinking. The problem we have is that people want a quick fix to complex social problems and social justice because they don't want to do the hard work of reform or paying taxes.

In contrast to that view, the primary argument against the imposition of the death penalty in regard to systems of law and government is that mistakes can and have been made all the way down the line. From the arrest, charging, trials and convictions.

At every stage of the proces there is possibility of prejudice, venality, corruption and just plain callousness. But there is no possibility to restore life to the victim of any of these after the death sentence is carried out.

To assume that in every case or as a given that the State is in all instances committing a crime is to say it has no authority at all. Reform the system, don't slit its throat and hand the imposition of punishment over to the mob.

America doesn't need capital punishment to take care of public safety, which is the goal that all of us can support. It's the rest of the system being deemed illegitimate by those who have been bitterly disappointed or want something else - like the Tea Party - that will do us in.

If you didn't see it, you may want to check this article by Will Pitt which explains what I don't have time to put into words:

Random Notes from the Police State

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/15895-random-notes-from-the-police-state

Well worth the read for what we need, and not sensationalizing as we humans tend to do.