So does goverment have right to take someone's life after all, according to law?

Question

I was wondering about one contradiction in US legislative system. Accprding to the Declaration independence it is "self-evident" that every human being has right for freedom, pursue of happiness AND LIFE. But as I know in USA the death penulty is not prohibited. So doesn't means that state can violate the right of a man for life. Please correct me if I am mistaken! Thank you for your attention!

Answer 1

The declaration of independence is not controlling.  It was a statement of men explaining why they were revolting against the king. It was not establishing a new form of government.  Twenty three years later, the constitution was approved.  That document does indeed control the government of the u.s.  That document provides that no person may be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.  It follows that with due process, one may be deprived of life, liberty or property.   It also vests the judicial authority of the u.s. in the supreme court.  That court has not held (yet) that the death penalty is prohibited in all circumstances.  In fact, they have approved death sentences on many occassions.

Answer 2

The death penalty itself is a good idea. All God's creatures kill. In fact, the creature who cannot bring himself to kill is mentally sick, and the disability is not something to be bragged about. Intelligence serves to improve our choices of when and whom to kill; however, it makes killing neither unnecessary nor unwise.

A wise government would not forbid killing in self-defense, since such a prohibition would be futile. In the very worst case, a man who killed in self-defense would, at least, get to live long enough to be condemned for execution, which is more life than he'd have gotten if he had been killed on the spot by the aggressor.

The death penalty should be used to discourage the kinds of killing that, in the long run, would harm society. The sort of killing that robbers do does nothing more than transfer wealth from productive citizens to unproductive citizens, and costs society the life of the productive citizen. So robbers who kill ought to be executed. Politicians who betray their constituents, judges who betray their offices, police officers who egregiously break the laws, also, ought to be executed.

The Declaration of Independence is war propaganda written by Thomas Jefferson to stir up anti-British sentiments among the American colonists. It served that purpose. However, the Declaration is not law now, nor has it ever been law, and you ought not to confuse it as such.

The Constitution of the United States is, at least in theory, the supreme law of the land. In practice, the US government gives the constitution only an unctuous token respect, while violating it at their convenience whenever they believe no one (important) will raise (too much of) a fuss.

The US government has committed murders of US citizens, for example: murders contrary to law, not executions upon due process. Read what you can about the federal murders of Vicki Weaver and Gordon Kahl.

In addition to murder, the US government has committed several acts of high treason within the definition of treason provided by the Constitution.

Our government is very corrupt and depraved; it does not deserve to hold power over us; and we should replace it, providing new guards for our future security. The problem, however, is that the government is very, very powerful, and, as I've said, there's ample evidence that it would not mind murdering us by the thousands, even to the point of genocide, if we ever presented any serious threat to its security!

I could make a list of things that Americans ought to be able to do, but aren't allowed to do. One of them is make homemade explosives. Another is distill spirits. Another is to bear any type of small arms, concealed or open, without a license of any sort. Another is driving the car you bought on the roads your taxes paid for, without having to pay six or seven additional fees and taxes so that the state will, grudgingly, stay out of your way.

But so much greater is the government's military power than any of its organized rivals, at present, that there is nothing to do except wait things out. Historical forces have not stopped working, and sooner or later the government will run out of cash, or run out of energy, or fall short of some other necessity in a way that not all of its power can remedy. Then it will fall. And then we can try to start over again

Perhaps we will learn from our mistakes, but I'm not optimistic. Men have been making governments for a long time, and the same mistakes keep cropping up, again and again, because the human lifespan is short, compared with the march of events in history, and because the average human intelligence is not high enough to let man distinguish between what is virtue and what makes him feel virtuous.

Remember that the present evil US government was originally one of the finest efforts by Man to create a noble, virtuous government. It didn't stay noble or virtuous very long.

Answer 3

Well they have to execute you when you are violating someone else's life, liberty and their pursuit of their happiness!

Many criminals should be happy that they got off as light as the death penalty.  I've got a different punishment system in mind and the death penalty actually wouldn't be the worst punishment.

Answer 4

The government takes peoples lives all the time; not saying that they are always technically right for doing so, but they can pretty much do whatever they want. Remember how they did JFK, Ivins, the D.C. Madam & Brandy Britton, just to name a few...

I personally am not for the death penalty...I think it's a waste. If convicted beyond reasonable doubt, I feel they should be donated to science, so that way they are contributing to society.

Answer 5

Death penalty varies from state to state.  Some states have it, some don't.  

Once someone commits a crime, they give up a lot of rights.

Answer 6

You lose many of your rights once you are convicted of crimes.