fandomhigh | Polar Opposites, Tuesday

"All right, we've been practicing a bit these past few weeks," Alistair announced, "But now it's time to bring in the serious topics. Now, none of you are allowed to throttle anyone else about your opinion, even if you might be tempted..." Morrigan.

Morrigan didn't throttle! ...but the spell for frogging anyone who got physical or rude about the debate was waiting on the tip of her tongue.

"Capital Punishment," she said instead. "Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. In most places that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy."

Looking at you, Alistair.

Alistair looked back at her. He was still ticked off about that whole being a woman thing, all right? "I don't think it should be a penalty for apostasy," he said. Mildly. "I'm not denying that there are crimes where the death penalty is the only one that could and should be applied - treason, for one. But I've been told that there are people here who think differently about that. And I'm sure we can all have a reasonable debate about it without anyone getting hurt or being turned into anything."

Morrigan just smiled.

It probably wasn't very reassuring, the way it showed all her teeth.

[OOC: OCD is up, FYI, today's class is debating the death penalty.]

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For or Against!

Doing whatever it is you do while these two bicker.

Supporters of the death penalty argued that death penalty is morally justified when applied in murder especially with aggravating elements such as multiple homicide, child murder, torture murder and mass killing such as terrorism or genocide. Some even argue that not applying death penalty in latter cases are patently unjust. It would be unfair that those who have committed these horrible crimes stay alive, even incarcerated.

Abolitionists often argue that retribution is simply revenge and cannot be condoned. Others while accepting retribution as an element of criminal justice nonetheless argue that life without parole is a sufficient substitute.

As you do.

Indeed.

Once she tags in.

They're around!

I'd rather be playing DA:O today.

"I'm not... a proponent of killing people, usually," Alistair said. "I believe that life should be respected, and that with many crimes, it's better to teach them a lesson than to chop anything off."

He looked around the class.

"And then there are the worse cases," he said. "Traitors, who may have cost thousands of people their lives with their actions--" He had no idea how relevant that bit would become for him soon. "--Murderers who won't stop killing. People who have committed terrible crimes and still show no remorse. What good would it be to keep them alive? What kind of example does it set if you can do that kind of thing and still keep on going?"

And so he went on for a while before taking a step back and opening up the floor for the students to pitch in their bit and debate it.

Alistair was present, but a bit quieter and less jokey today.

This was serious subject matter, after all.

"Execution is, in simplest terms, sanctioned murder," Morrigan began simply, "-and it devalues the supposed respect you place on human life; how can you say that killing is wrong if we sanction killing criminals?"

"Do you kill a cat for being a cat? Or a wolf for being a wolf? If so, then more shame upon thee, but all creatures kill, turn on each other, and all creatures steal, humans included. I, myself, have killed humans, but always in self-defense. Does that make me worthy of the pyre? Shall we kill those who kill animals, too? For I assure you, they too feel pain, and fear, and love. Once you draw that line, where do you stop drawing it? And who is it, exactly, that decides what is worthy of the axe?"

"More importantly, for those of you with the moral inclination, There is the proven risk of executing innocent people. For many, the avoidable killing of an innocent person can never be justified, in any circumstances."

Edited 2012-01-31 16:28 (UTC)

Quinn Fabray

"I believe in an eye for an eye," Quinn said. "Imagine somebody you loved -- your boyfriend, your mom, your sister -- got pointlessly taken from you. Wouldn't you want to kill whoever did it?" She put her hands in her skirt pockets, gave a wry quirk of her lip. "I know what this school is like. Probably some of you don't have to imagine."

"But without a death penalty, families are in pain forever and ever. Revenge on the murderer isn't pretty, and it isn't something we should cheer for -- but sometimes it's a necessary step to peace for the families of victims. And that's something most societies throughout history have recognized."

"That's all."

Quinn was listening carefully. She knew where she stood, but she was always interested in the arguments on the other side.

This one gets the Quinn's-politics-are-not-mine disclaimer. Sigh.

Annie Edison

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Polar Opposites, Tuesday

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