Nebraska legislators will be looking at two options for the future of the death penalty: LB36 seeks to change the method of death penalty to lethal injection; LB306 would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The death penalty is a tough issue. I think we can all agree that taxpayers should not have to pay for the care of offenders. However, the more we move toward a justice system that seeks full restitution (where offenders repay the victim for any damage done and pay for any court or imprisonment costs as well), the less of a burden the criminal justice system in general will be on taxpayers.
There are a couple bills that appear to be moving in the direction of restitution: LB274 would allow the Director of Correctional Services to assign felony offenders (other than sexual offenders) to incarceration work camps, and LB78 would provide for a portion of an inmate’s wages to be deposited in the Victim’s Compensation Fund.
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Certainly, a justice system of restitution is not incorruptible. As with most things, it would work best with minimal government involvement.
As Everett pointed out in his comment, victim compensation going directly to the victim as opposed to the state is crucial to prevent corruption.
In a well-run restitution based system, I don’t believe it would reach anywhere close to the lines of “slave labor.”
A good resource for more information is http://www.restorativejustice.org.
In the land of the free, we have the largest prison populations per capital in the world, perhaps even in human history. Over half of the inmates, are their because of the so called “war on drugs”. A war that, no one in government wants to win, because winning would cut off the vast amounts of money, the taxpayers are forced to support. The worst part, to consider is the fact, the more then one government agency have been caught, transporting these drugs into our country. Greed for wealth, and power by those who promote fear,
in order to dupe the people, and steal our rights to govern our own lives. America is no longer a free nation. The idea, of inmates paying full restitution, may sound like a good way to relieve the burden of the taxpayer, but not when you consider the corruption of those who would control those funds. The whole idea smacks of slave labor, and would take work from the honest hard working citizens.
I believe the problem with our prisons being so full, is because we have lost our moral compass. We kicked God from our classrooms, while supporting the notions that man is just another animal. Forcing the schools to teach evolution, while destroying our rights to express our faith.
The Condemnation of the Unrighteous
Rom.1:18-32 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant breakers, heartless, ruthless. Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.
If we are to survive as a free nation, we must return to being a moral people, who seeks after God.
2 Ch. 7:14 If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.
This is the only way I know, that will save our nation. God help us all, to repent, and pray for this great land, that God has blessed us with.
Excellent points, Everett.
The law must not allow cost restitution to the state
but may be made directly to the victim. If made to the state it would give the state an incentive to create criminals for the sake of raising revenue. This is happening in a number of states for the sake of filling privately owned prisons and this must not be allowed to happen. Also the time lapse between a charge and a trial should be laid out in number of days so that a right to a speedy trial is actually observed and excessive bail and fines should include a finite dollar figure. I see excessive bail and excessive fines everyday in many cases. Legalize all drugs with the exception of Methanphetamines. End the drug war.