Cop shot?

A regular contributor to the letters section of a local newspaper doesn't think it matters. Fucking incredible. This dude, while I feel that he has written some pretty less than stellar pieces before, is pretty gutsy with this one. I can't recall anything specific, but I have a general memory of the guy being pretty conservative. People like that usually worship pigs, but not Raymond:

Proposed death penalty bill creates different classes of victims

In the eyes of state Sen. Robert Singer, (R-Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Mercer) your life is not as important as that of a cop. That is the bottom line of a bill that Singer is proposing (supported by Sen. Jennifer Beck) in a typical politician’s knee-jerk reaction to the murder of a (Lakewood) cop.

The bill could result in the death penalty for murderers of on-duty cops, and for good measure, childkillers and terrorists whose actions cause deaths. Singer does not seem to be aware of or care about the equal protection clause of the Constitution. His bill would use such sad events to justify creating different classes of society.

On-duty cops, like everyone else from the president to celebrities, to athletes, to the pope, are still just people doing jobs. We justify putting cops on pedestals by claiming they are putting their lives on the line every day. Commuters using high-speed highways are also putting their lives on the line every day getting to and from their jobs to support their families.

Same for those working in dangerous jobs, like firemen, mine workers, construction workers. Will murderers of those while working in those jobs also face the death penalty? If not, why?

And why include kids? Before reaching adulthood, the vastmajority have not made any real major contribution to society. And the reality is that the majority of us never make major contributions throughout our entire lives.

Yet if a person with a track record of having made real contributions — created jobs, grown our food, built our homes, helped the poor (e.g., someone like Mother Teresa selflessly helping Camden’s poor), etc. — is murdered, that death would be treated more lightly by a “mere” lifetime of taxpayerpaid meals, lodging and medical care.

There is something hypocritical about the legal process by which a defendant, if found guilty, could be executed. It is nothing short of premeditated, first-degree murder, with the “players” (prosecutor, judge, jury, and the people who do the actual murder) all being willing coconspirators and accomplices. So some murders are bad, others are actually sanctioned.

Raymond Kostanty
Manalapan

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I enjoy how he notes that "the reality is that the majority of us never make major contributions [to society] throughout our entire lives."