Additionally I think in general the death penalty is the wrong approach to punishment. It is more of a tool of revenge. If our system is a system of laws and justice then it should be about incarcerating the offender for an appropriate amount of time. When you consider the fact that as humans we make mistakes that can take away a life it is more the reason why we should choose incarceration as the method of punishment. At least this way you can amend the mistake.
Currently I am in Florida on parent business (my parents) and I came across an article regarding a hideous crime in New York that comes right after I did my paper. Apparently a lady was torched to death in the elevator in her building by a 47 year old man with no apparent criminal past. The guy allegedly accused the victim of owing her money so he lit her up with lighter fluid and set her on fire, then according to other reports set his brother's apartment ablaze. He was allegedly caught on camera doing this.
On first thought I wanted to say that this guy deserves the death penalty. And in all honesty if he is convicted he deserves to die. However after giving the situation some thought, something the family of the victim generally has no time to do, I realize that at this early stage of just reading the information and limited amount of the facts, this guy has no criminal past on record. Not that history matters but this sounds like a very evil act and the act of a person not in their right mind. Similar to the case a half year ago in Borough Park where a Jewish man allegedly killed a seven year old and dismembered him.
In this case the guy also supposedly burned the left side of his face either during the act of burning his victim or while torching his brother's apartment. If I am on the jury that so far sounds like an unstable man who probably shouldn't even be on trial. However if he is on camera he validates an argument I had where the only time a person should actually face the death penalty is if he is caught on camera. It should be a case where the evidence cannot be questioned. This would be the only situation where I might consider the death penalty. But, a sane person would not torch another human being over a few dollars. So I have to question this man's sanity. And since he should face a punishment for his actions I would say that he should be institutionalized for the rest of his life if found guilty. He should never be allowed to walk the streets again.
Below is an article courtesy of TIME:
Crime
A Particularly Cruel Crime in Brooklyn Leaves Neighbors Cringing
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/20/a-particularly-cruel-crime-in-brooklyn-leaves-neighbors-cringing/#ixzz1hSqpV4S6
A day after the arraignment of a man in Brooklyn deliberately set a fire that killed a 73-year-old woman who he said owed him money, people are asking who would do something this heinous, particularly to a woman who never harmed anyone.
Police say Jerome Isaac, 47, was caught on surveillance video waiting for Deloris Gillespie to step off of the elevator to her apartment in the borough’s Prospect Heights neighborhood. Disguised as an exterminator, he doused her with flammable liquid, used a barbecue lighter to set her aflame, then threw a Molotov cocktail at her. Finally, he sprayed more of the liquid on the suffering woman to complete his barbarous crime.
(LIST: Top 10 News Stories of 2011)
Running from the scene, having charred his own face in the process, he tried to burn a nearby apartment where he once lived with his brother, but only managed to set the doorway aflame. Eventually, after hiding out, he went to the local police precinct and turned himself in, telling them he killed the woman because she owed him $2,000 for work he had done for her.
The crime horrified Gillespie’s neighbors, two of whom work for the local media, and wrote of their shock and dismay at what happened to the woman who was popular among the people in the building. “The suspect, Jerome Isaac, is someone I’ve seen many times. He did work for Delores. She was petite and needed help moving furniture. We talked about the weather. He didn’t seem like a psycho who would later murder her in our elevator,” said Lauren Johnston, a deputy editor for the New York Daily News.
“…When I was permitted to re-enter my Prospect Heights building, I was overwhelmed by the weight and horror of the events and I sobbed in the vestibule.”
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Jaime Holguin, a news development manager at the Associated Press
But Isaac does not necessarily fit the profile of a murderer. He has no jail record and no prior arrests. Despite his clean background, prosecutors are making it clear that this crime is unique in its cruelty. “I know this is the defendant’s first offense, but the depravity of this one single act is beyond my description,” Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub said as Issac was being charged.
Isaac was charged with murder and arson and is being held without bail. His lawyer has not requested psychiatric evaluation.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/20/a-particularly-cruel-crime-in-brooklyn-leaves-neighbors-cringing/#ixzz1hSoTydhL
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