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This Year We Can End the Death Penalty in California
- tptacek 10y agoDuplicate of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847611 (taking advantage, it looks like, of the WWW here and no WWW on the original).
- nothrabannosir 10y agoIt seems that one was flagged off the front page? According to the top comment there, at least..
- labster 10y agoYeah, that's on page 4 now, because people tend to flag political articles they disagree with now. I can't wait for the election to be over; hopefully sanity will return to HN.
- tptacek 10y agoI agree with this article about as forcefully as I agree with anything, and I flagged it, because political appeals don't belong on HN. Either way: this is a duplicate, and should be killed or merged with the first post.
- labster 10y agoIt isn't really a political appeal, you know. It's an argument about effective processes. Which is what hackers do all day, look for the best process to solve a problem. I urge you, in the strongest terms, to click the [unflag] button now.
- tptacek 10y agoThis is the problem with political discussions on HN: we've all read the guideline that says "don't post political appeals to HN", and so we waste time rationalizing that our preferred political appeals are something other than politics --- often with some superficial veneer of engineering-speak. I've been here for a pretty long time, long enough to have seen the same tropes used to get Ron Paul's RE[LOVE]OLUTION on the front page. I'm not impressed. What makes this one worse is that it has Paul Graham's name on it. Naturally, half the site thinks that means it's pre-approved for HN. But no: just because he wrote it doesn't mean he thinks it merits a shitshow political thread on HN about it.
- unethical_ban 10y agoIt's clearly a debate based in philosophy and religion for many, as much as it's a "hacker's debate" on the efficacy of the death penalty. A submission framed as that kind of discussion would be one thing. This post is an appeal to support one of several political choices. Even as I agree with the principle of the matter, I find it odd that it's allowed on here, except PG posted it.
- triplebit 10y agoThey're ending abortion?
- unethical_ban 10y agoIf the opinion "the death penalty is bad" can be broadcast on the site, then the opinion "Abortion is bad" should be allowed as well.
- BipolarElsa 10y agoStop trying to equate a glob of goo with a person. Please stop. It's nonsensical.
- orthros 10y agoIf you truly believe that an unborn child of 8, 6 or even 4 months is just a blob, the local 4-D ultrasound center would like to have a word with you.
- BipolarElsa 10y agoIt's not your body; It's not your choice; the glob of goo is not a person. Pretty clear. You wouldn't call a zygote a human being would you? A sperm? An egg? The "pro-life" position is purely based on Abrahamic religions. They then covertly deny this when you talk with them. This is just more patriarchy determining how a woman can or cannot use and live with her body. It's so wrong.
- orthros 10y agoSorry. I didn't realize Tumblr was leaking over into YComb. Carry on.
- BipolarElsa 10y agoWhy can't you let women decide whether or not they want an abortion? If you don't like it. Don't get one. We could learn a thing or two from the wise Chinese: they have unlimited legal abortion. That's a system we should model ourselves after.
- danieltillett 10y agoRepost from the dead thread. There is one good reason to keep the status quo (death penalty without any actual deaths) which is that anyone given a death sentence gets their case reviewed and appealed by excellent lawyers working pro bono. The people who get life get no help at all and are just left to rot in jail. I have read of prisioners being upset when given a life sentence as they know that no one will help them appeal their conviction. If you are innocent you want to be given a death sentence and sit on death row since you will have people helping you get your conviction overturned.
- BipolarElsa 10y agoGood luck getting it passed in California. I voted already to ban it (and against the law proposing to speed up the death penalty), but according to all the major polls done on it, it won't pass. Californians are, by and large, religious savages. They'll toke up before slaughtering prisoners like farm sows. 3 strikes? You're out. Thank prison lobby! On death row? Hurry up and die you sow! Pretty pathetic. Thinking of moving to a more progressive state like Oregon or Washington.
- danieltillett 10y agoWell a death penalty that does not get applied in practice is really just a life sentence with a lot more judicial oversight. I am not in favour of the death penalty myself, but until the poor are given adequate legal representation it might be the best way of avoiding miscarriages of justice. The quality of legal representation poor people on death row get is orders of magnitude better than those serving life sentences.
- labster 10y ago"If you're a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to our legal system." - Peter Thiel http://www.marketwatch.com/story/single-digit-millionaires-like-hulk-hogan-cant-afford-justice-says-peter-thiel-2016-10-31 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/single-digit-millionaires-l...
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- sctb 10y agoWe've moved most comments to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847611.