Bible in Criminal Sentencing

JoeyKnothead · Post by **JoeyKnothead** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:52 pm

From the article here:

Watch that caption on the image, it's not part of this OP...

Them folks wrote: A convicted murderer faces execution in Texas after jurors consulted the Bible while deliberating on his sentence...
...It later emerged that while deciding whether he should be given the death penalty, jurors consulted the Bible. Four jury members admitted that several copies had been in the jury room and that highlighted passages were passed around.
At one point, a juror reportedly read aloud from a copy, including the passage: "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death."

Topic for debate:

Should the Bible (or any other religious text) be consulted when determining the sentence of a convicted person?

I say nae, who says yae?

dgruber · Post by **dgruber** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:56 pm

joeyknuccione wrote:Should the Bible (or any other religious text) be consulted when determining the sentence of a convicted person?

I say nae, who says yae?

It is up to the juror what he/she chooses to use to make a decision. That is the nature of having a jury in the first place. Whether someone else agrees with that decision is completely irrelevant. One should not restrict what another uses to make what they believe is an informed decision.

With that being said, I don't think the Bible should be used as an official document of reference in criminal cases.

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:24 pm

dgruber wrote:It is up to the juror what he/she chooses to use to make a decision.

Actually, no it is not. A jury is charged to evaluate the evidence in light of the laws of the land. Nothing else.

dgruber · Post by **dgruber** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:33 pm

McCulloch wrote:Actually, no it is not. A jury is charged to evaluate the evidence in light of the laws of the land. Nothing else.

Of course it has to be "in light of the laws of the land", but the point still remains that jurors often use "outside influences" to make decisions.

Do you know of a way to screen those decisions or streamline the process to make it better?

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:38 pm

McCulloch wrote:Actually, no it is not. A jury is charged to evaluate the evidence in light of the laws of the land. Nothing else.

dgruber wrote:Of course it has to be "in light of the laws of the land", but the point still remains that jurors often use "outside influences" to make decisions.

Do you know of a way to screen those decisions or streamline the process to make it better?

Yes, but in context of the OP, it appears as if they were using the Bible to determine the definition of murder.