> > 2) If someone is wrongly convicted, they cannot be un-executed.
>
> McVeigh admitted his guilt. Not only did he admit his guilt, he showed no remorse.
>

I kept the point general, rather than referring to McViegh specifically, but I accept he is probably guilty. However many cases in Britain have proven that a confession is not always genuine. Some are forced, some are by people who will confess to anything.

The point is that once you accept the death penalty, you have to accept that sometimes innocent people will be sentanced to death.

> I, for one, don't want MY taxes going to keep this murdering scum in a nice comfortable jail with three square meals a day for the rest of his life.

It costs more to sentance someone to death than it does to imprison them for life. There are far more costly appeals, and the most common cause of death on Death Row (I am lead to believe) is old age - most prisoners manage to keep the appeals going for the remainder of their natural life. Given that the Death Row cells are less crowded and more expensive, your taxes would be better spent keeping these people out of circulation than on killing them.

> Also, if you believe the bible:
>
> Exodus Chapter 21:
> 12-He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
> 15-And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
>
> In fact, if I remember correctly, this is the only law repeated in the each of the first five books of the Old Testament.
>
> Deut. 17:
> 6-At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

I'm not a Christian, and I don't know the Bible that well, but isn't there also something in there about forgivness and turning the other cheek? Doesn't it say that any sinner can be redeemed in the eyes of God?

> It *is* important not to put innocent people to death obviously, but no one can argue that McVeigh is (or might have been) innocent.
>
> You also can't argue that he is a minority or didn't have adequate counsil. Right there are the 3 major reasons people argue against the death penalty. Racism, poverty, and innocence. All three are thrown out the window in the case of Timothy McVeigh.

People also argue against the death penalty on the grounds that it is vengeance, not justice.

> I was working in a government (IRS, even) building at the time of the bombing. And even though I was hundreds of miles away, I can't even begin to describe the fear that he managed to put into me then. My 2 year old nephew was down the hall, in the daycare center. My sister was in another part of the building. Can you imagine how I felt when I heard about those children that were murdered? THEY were the innocent. They deserve justice. I'm sick and tired of people saying that murderers lives are more precious than the lives of their victims. It's sickening.

Living in London, I'm several times more likely to die in a terrorist bomb than I would be in the US. I can imagine how you felt. I feel the same fear every time an IRA bomb is found. Bear in mind, I also work in a government building, and am therefore at unusually high risk. I have previously worked in Docklands, which at the time was a known IRA target. Every vehical had to be checked for car bombs regularly. I still think that the death penalty is wrong.

> I, personally, am not going to spend another minute thinking about Timothy McVeigh. He's dead. And I'm sure he's in Hell.

Do you also think the FBI officers at Ruby Ridge and Waco are going to Hell? I raise the qusetion because these are two incidents that I know McVeigh was protesting.

At Ruby Ridge for example, a 10 year old boy was shot in the back as he ran to warn his family the FBI were there. His mother was shot as she opened the door with her 10 month old daughter in her arms.

I think the FBI's handling of these events was both extreme and wrong. I think McVeigh's response was both extreme and wrong. I think his punishment was both extreme and wrong.

winter"just making a point"mute