Manic Monday #1

Another MeMe - this looks like a fun one! This one provides "thought" questions to jump start your brain on Monday mornings - and boy do I need it this morning, running on 3.5 hours of sleep and trying to get back into budgeting here at work! So...here we go!

Would you be able to serve on a jury and sentence the defendant to the death penalty if he/she were found guilty of a crime that the court felt warranted the death penalty?
Yes. I absolutely believe in the death penalty and its use in American society. I don't believe in it because of proportionality - as the kids I judge in LD debate argue, we aren't going to start raping rapists or stealing from thieves. I also don't believe in it because I have a God complex and want the power over someone's life or death. I do believe in the death penalty, however, because I feel that there are simply some crimes so heinous and some criminals so horrifying that there really is no other suitable punishment for their transgressions than death. Having said that, I believe in the very judicious application of the death penalty - it is not appropriate in all cases and should never be applied without great thought and an overwhelming body of evidence testifying to the commission of the crime.

Have you ever faked being ill to avoid doing something you didn’t want to do?
Yes, yes I have. It's been only rare occasions, however, few and far between.

Would you state you were guilty of a crime you didn't commit to free a loved one?
This is a very odd question to me. It's a variation of the "would I jump in front of a speeding bullet to save a loved on" question. And my answer, as it is for the variation, is more than likely, no. Not because I'm selfish; but because I don't see the point in the self-sacrifice of my life or freedom. Would I try to aid my loved one? Of course. Would I lie to take their place? No. That seems a simply ridiculous concept to me. They're captured for a reason; it seems far more prudent to learn that reason and work to correct any mistakes in that reasoning than to simply trade places.