SAYING WHAT HAS TO BE SAID...IN TRUE LIBERTARIAN FASHION
Britain moves to devalue human life
Published Tuesday, December 20, 2005 by Editor | E-mail this post
This week, the Law Commission in the United Kingdom proposed introducing grades or categories of murder, not unlike the system in operation in the United States. Presently, murder convictions in the UK carry a mandatory life sentence, as they should. There is no 1st or 2nd degree murder. Now under new proposals from the commission, courts should consider a person’s intent and whether or not there was an intention to kill.Frankly, a person’s intention is and should be considered irrelevant. The fact of the matter is a person is dead due to the actions of another, in such a case a person should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Only in a situation of self-defense or an accident should there be an exception. Murder is murder, no manslaughter, vehicular homicide and so on and so forth. Why should we hold such a carefree and cavalier attitude toward the value of human life? If a person kills out of rage or through methodical planning it should make no difference, just as it makes no difference to the mortality of the victim who is just as dead.
Under the British proposals, for example, a person who’s plan was to cause "serious harm," but not kill, could be charged with 2nd degree murder. Such a proposal is a victory for criminality. If a person intends to cause harm and their actions result in the death of another, that is murder without question and no distinction should be made in Britain, America or anywhere else for that matter. It is unfathomable that a civil society would seriously consider such a move. We at the Phalanx can only ask why.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4544238.stm
2 Responses to “Britain moves to devalue human life”
Leave a Reply
About Us
- We are Editor
- Location
- Our profile
About the Phalanx Editor:
Previous posts
- Transit union cripples NYC
- Left "outraged" over domestic spying
- Historic election in Iraq, much to the chagrin of ...
- What kids are learning these days...
- Iran: a case study in the politics of distraction
- What’s wrong with vengeance?
- Polls prove validity of Phalanx argument
- Mid-East War set for March!
- The price of appeasement
- Katrina “evacuees” protest return of Mardi Gras
Archives
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
Links
- Google News
- So what is pulling a Mussolini?
- Why is Johnny so stupid?
- Why is Johnny so poor?
- Why does Johnny vote Democrat?
- The Quotable Phalanx
- JasonPye.com
- The Liberty Papers
- Atlas Blogged
- Adam Smith Institute
- Slow Turning
- My Right Mind
- Reason's Hit and Run
- Adam Smith Institute
- Hammer of Truth
- The Conservative Voice
- The Patriot Act Research Website
- The Drudge Report
- Nealz Nuze
- Cato Institute
- Balanced Politics
- Americans for Fair Tax
- Alliance for School Choice
- My 4 Cents
- Democratic Underground
- MoveOn.org
- National Education Association
- Democratic Party
- Republican Party
- Westboro Baptist Church
- United Nations
- Kyoto Protocol
- Kelo vs. New London
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
Phalanxian Diatribes:
Other Important links:
Know your enemy (or least those with diametrically opposing points of view):
Earlier Archives:
ATOM 0.3
It is not "devaluing human life" to take circumstances into account. In fact, one might suggest that is "devaluing" to reduce people and events to homogeneous, interchangeable units.
And degree-based homicide is most definitely not a "victory for criminality." Quite the opposite. By allowing lower degrees of homicide, you increase the likelihood that a wrongful taker of life will in fact be punished. Thinking strictly in terms of the guilty, it is far better that they be convicted of manslaughter than acquitted of murder.
Perhaps watering down laws may make the prosecution's job a little easier, but it doesn't change the fact that a murder has been committed. Circumstances should be taken into account in cases of self-defense or accident, but whether or not someone planned to kill days ago or acted in the heat of the moment, will not reassure a weary public when a murderer is allowed to roam the streets. If anything, a person who kills in rage should be punished more severely as they clearly lack self-control and short fuse killers on the loose would present a serious threat to civil society. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree.