tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6063106.post8750295435728041629..comments2024-01-22T08:27:40.801-08:00Comments on project mayhem: The New Yorker - "Trial by Fire Did Texas execute an innocent man?"the narratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774503436545764912noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6063106.post-41965252072011147242009-08-31T19:06:01.711-07:002009-08-31T19:06:01.711-07:00"Each official had a separate role in the pro..."Each official had a separate role in the process, so that no one person felt responsible for taking a life."<br /><br />The sheer violence that the above sentence does to any reasonable notions of moral responsibility and causation, not to mention the English language, is incredible.<br /><br />Imagine that five of my friends and I go out one night to beat up some homeless people. One of our victims dies and we are arrested and each of us is charged with murder. Is it any defense, either morally or legally, to say that I personally did not strike the killing blow? Or if the victim died because of the cumulative effects of his or her injuries, can I get off by mentioning that I did not personally cause each of those injuries, only a couple of them? To suggest so would be silly, and its only benefit in a real criminal trial might be to give support to an insanity defense.<br /><br />The death penalty is perverse and immoral no matter how you slice it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16544954353921319940noreply@blogger.com