Maybe, although I like three strikes and you're dead even better.
Why 3 strikes? I'm in favor of 0 strikes.
I met Mike Reynolds when my family was considering our options when my nephew was mauled to death by the neighbors pit bulls. As much as I hate to say it, 3 strikes hasn't helped much. In fact, it was recently watered down.
I'm in favor of the following.
- all violent crime is a federal crime (murder, homicide, manslaughter, rape, assault with deadly weapon, etc.)
- offenders trial begins within 30 days
- if guilty, counsel has 7 days to file appeal
- if appeal not filed (in time), guilty is executed by 9:30 am on the 8th day
- appeal trial starts 7 days after appeal filing
- if guilt reaffirmed, execution by 9:30 am next morning.
All executions are burning at the stake, witnessed by school children (full sight and sound) from 4th-9th grade.
The only way to deter violent crime is to make the up-and-coming class of would-be offenders (i.e 12-15 yo) personally view the punishment their actions will result in.
Regarding currently jailed violent offenders, convert the super jail in CO to an execution center, and bus them in. Then stick them on an assembly line and mass execute..
According to this study, there were 1.3M prisoners in the US. 725K are violent offenders (roughly 55%).
That's 725K criminals who'll no longer menace society, or extract funds to pay for their incarceration. Much more savings if we need less law enforcement resources, though bureaucrats can always find a way to justify their existence/fiefdom.
No mercy. No exceptions.