Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

I wouldn’t have believed it …

December 23, 2004 By David

if I hadn’t read it with my own eyes.  Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby routinely turns my stomach with his paleoconservative rants.  But this one is nothing short of breathtaking:

California has 641 murderers on death row, yet it has executed only 10 people since 1992. That is a travesty — no less so than if hundreds of killers sentenced to life were routinely released after only a few months behind bars.

Think about that for a sec: Jacoby is saying that there is no difference between murderers rotting in prison waiting to be executed and murderers out on the streets after serving a few months of a life sentence.  Did it occur to him that at least the guys sitting on death row don’t pose much of a threat to the public?  And did it occur to him that a big part of what the criminal justice system is supposed to do is to protect the public from dangerous people by locking them up?  Christ!

To the eye-for-an-eye fanatics like Jacoby, justice and vengeance are essentially interchangeable.  And the big danger of that position is that it completely loses sight of the possibility that criminal justice might actually do some good in the world, either by protecting society from dangerous people, or by making dangerous people less dangerous, or maybe even both.  In my view, reasonable people can and do disagree about the death penalty.  But Jacoby’s obsession with execution as an end in itself borders on being downright ghoulish.  It’s particularly frightening coming from someone who considers himself a religious man.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: jacoby, massachusetts

Recommended Posts

  • No posts liked yet.

Recent User Posts

Predictions Open Thread

December 22, 2022 By jconway

This is why I love Joe Biden

December 21, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Garland’s Word

December 19, 2022 By terrymcginty

Some Parting Thoughts

December 19, 2022 By jconway

Beware the latest grift

December 16, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Thank you, Blue Mass Group!

December 15, 2022 By methuenprogressive

Recent Comments

  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftSo where to, then??
  • Christopher on Some Parting ThoughtsI've enjoyed our discussions as well (but we have yet to…
  • Christopher on Beware the latest griftI can't imagine anyone of our ilk not already on Twitter…
  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftI will miss this site. Where are people going? Twitter?…
  • chrismatth on A valedictoryI joined BMG late - 13 years ago next month and three da…
  • SomervilleTom on Geopolitics of FusionEVERY un-designed, un-built, and un-tested technology is…
  • Charley on the MTA on A valedictoryThat’s a great idea, and I’ll be there on Sunday. It’s a…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2025 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.