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Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by anigbrowl on Friday May 29, 2015 @09:18PM (#9628460)
Somewhat. I'd much rather just amend the Constitution, but that's a slow and unreliable process. I do not see it as inevitable that the Supreme Court will just get rid of it. The Constitution specifically mentions capital crimes so it cannot be argued that the DP is inherently cruel and unusual or otherwise prohibited by the Constitution - sure some people try to make that argument, but like all people that try to cherry pick only the parts of the law that suit their argument, they're wrong. An amendment is the only way to go, and frankly we should be making more use of the amendment process instead of treating the Constitution like some religious artifact that's going to disintegrate if we alter it.
Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by sukilot on Friday May 29, 2015 @09:49PM (#9628534)
Cherrypicking parts of the law is the entire purpose and design of the USA judicial branch of government. When a situation is ambiguous or inconsistent , judges decide.
Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by jonlucc on Friday May 29, 2015 @11:20PM (#9628768)
I think the parent's point is that the constitution isn't that vague.
Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by Retric on Friday May 29, 2015 @09:30PM (#9628499)
You can easily argue that 30 years on death row and 6 stays of execution is Cruel and unusual punishment.

Basicly, while in theory there is nothing inherently wrong with the death penalty our current system is broken.

Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by anigbrowl on Friday May 29, 2015 @09:53PM (#9628545)
I'm not in favor of the DP and agree it's both monstrous and unworkable as it is in the USA, and that it's not perfectible. But from a purely legal point of view, abolition has to come from the legislative branch.
Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by Retric on Friday May 29, 2015 @10:17PM (#9628590)
I don't think it's quite that black and white. The judicial branch could decide anyone on death row for more than 10 years automatically has there sentence committed to life.

Remember, the judicial branch is supposed to be equivelent to the other two. They don't get to create the law on a whim, but they can get rid of any of them.

Re:Capital Punishment: The end of the death penalty by venomsnake on Saturday May 30, 2015 @01:25AM (#9629132)
Life without parole is also cruel. Sadly not unusual.