Pickton AGAIN
Ok, yet another wonderful thing that had me wondering about Canadian legal system. The Pickton trials. They are going full swing, victim impact statements are being given and read and all is going along. Now an online survey is asking if he should stand trial for the other 20 remaining murder counts that he is being accused of. Now, on this issue I say both yes and no, though when I cast my vote I said 'yes' because there was no 'other' option.
Here are the tallies (as of 6:30pm, Dec 11, 2007 MST):
Do you think Robert Pickton should be tried on the remaining 20 first-degree murder charges he faces?
Yes 5520 votes (72 %)
No 2164 votes (28 %)
Total Votes: 7684
Now here are my reasons. I think he should be tried for the remaining 20 counts on the grounds of closure for the families. When someone loses a loved one or something happens this tragic, we all want someone to blame. We want to point the finger at someone and go 'he did it'. Even though the pointing of the finger does nothing in the long run, it makes us feel better. Also, if Pickton was tried just for a few of the girls murder and the other 20 he wasn't tried, then the family members of those 20 will always have in the back of their minds the "what? our daughter wasn't good enough to be considered a legal person and he be tried for her murder???". Even if he has been sentenced to life in prison for 4 times over, no chance of parole, they will still want that procedure.
However, it is that reason of the being sentenced for life in prison 4 times over that I say he shouldn't be tried. When a person goes out hunting and shoots a deer, once they discover it is dead, do they go up and shoot it 5 more times? I think the phrase 'beating a dead horse' is used here. Once he has been tried for a certain amount of people, then to try him for more and more murders is just a waste of tax payers money.
In the end, I guess it all comes down to which is better, tax payers money savings or personal feelings of the family. Which is the greater good to do? For those that will ask, no I will not even entertain the thought of capital punishment because I can not think of a possible time or place where capital punishment is considered to be legit. Granted, I am perfectly fine with putting Pickton into general population of a prison with all the gang bangers and thugs and let them do their own form of 'jail punishment' with the usual form of prison protection. If he is being beaten, stop the beating, but if you don't see it, you don't report it or try that hard to find out who did it.
Here are the tallies (as of 6:30pm, Dec 11, 2007 MST):
Do you think Robert Pickton should be tried on the remaining 20 first-degree murder charges he faces?
Yes 5520 votes (72 %)
No 2164 votes (28 %)
Total Votes: 7684
Now here are my reasons. I think he should be tried for the remaining 20 counts on the grounds of closure for the families. When someone loses a loved one or something happens this tragic, we all want someone to blame. We want to point the finger at someone and go 'he did it'. Even though the pointing of the finger does nothing in the long run, it makes us feel better. Also, if Pickton was tried just for a few of the girls murder and the other 20 he wasn't tried, then the family members of those 20 will always have in the back of their minds the "what? our daughter wasn't good enough to be considered a legal person and he be tried for her murder???". Even if he has been sentenced to life in prison for 4 times over, no chance of parole, they will still want that procedure.
However, it is that reason of the being sentenced for life in prison 4 times over that I say he shouldn't be tried. When a person goes out hunting and shoots a deer, once they discover it is dead, do they go up and shoot it 5 more times? I think the phrase 'beating a dead horse' is used here. Once he has been tried for a certain amount of people, then to try him for more and more murders is just a waste of tax payers money.
In the end, I guess it all comes down to which is better, tax payers money savings or personal feelings of the family. Which is the greater good to do? For those that will ask, no I will not even entertain the thought of capital punishment because I can not think of a possible time or place where capital punishment is considered to be legit. Granted, I am perfectly fine with putting Pickton into general population of a prison with all the gang bangers and thugs and let them do their own form of 'jail punishment' with the usual form of prison protection. If he is being beaten, stop the beating, but if you don't see it, you don't report it or try that hard to find out who did it.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 5:26 PM
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