Bible in Criminal Sentencing

[JoeyKnothead]

From the article here:

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

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?

[McCulloch]

No. The Bible, the Qu'ran, the Gitas, the Book of Mormon are not part of the law of the land (except in Texas). Should jurors be allowed to consult their horoscopes, magic 8 balls or the spirits of their ancestors, in their deliberations too?

[East of Eden]

I say whatever reasoning a juror uses is nobody else's business.

A side issue here, I heard in a recent sermon on the radio that the OT biblical provision for punishment does not include prison. If you murdered, you got the death penalty, if you committed crime X, you got X number of whacks and were released. Same thing if you repeated. If you stole, you provided restitution to the victim, etc. Makes sense to me when you think what an expense and sheer waste of human capital imprisoning criminals is. Its kind of like a school for crime.

[drhoecker]

From the article here:

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

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?

Nay.however the world is ready to and desires to punish you for breaking religious law.this is the final control of you!

[VermilionUK]

I say whatever reasoning a juror uses is nobody else's business.

A side issue here, I heard in a recent sermon on the radio that the OT biblical provision for punishment does not include prison. If you murdered, you got the death penalty, if you committed crime X, you got X number of whacks and were released. Same thing if you repeated. If you stole, you provided restitution to the victim, etc. Makes sense to me when you think what an expense and sheer waste of human capital imprisoning criminals is. Its kind of like a school for crime.

Yes, but you could also be stoned to death for being an unruly son :Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

There's a very good reason that we don't use the bible in criminal sentencing. For one we'd be a very barbaric and cruel state...

[East of Eden]

Yes, but you could also be stoned to death for being an unruly son :Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

I'm not too worried about unruly children coming before a jury trial, let alone being sentenced to death.

There's a very good reason that we don't use the bible in criminal sentencing. For one we'd be a very barbaric and cruel state...

My argument is lets consider our policy of imprisonment (1 in every 32 US citizens) may be barbaric and cruel.

[micatala]

Yes, but you could also be stoned to death for being an unruly son :Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

I'm not too worried about unruly children coming before a jury trial, let alone being sentenced to death.

There's a very good reason that we don't use the bible in criminal sentencing. For one we'd be a very barbaric and cruel state...

My argument is lets consider our policy of imprisonment (1 in every 32 US citizens) may be barbaric and cruel.

I would agree. It seems to me we should be able to come up with a better system that is more likely to actually reduce crime in the long run. This is especially true when we consider how many people are in jail for simple possession and use of drugs. We imprison more people than most other countries, and we also have more crime, including violent crime, than most other countries.

One has to ask why this is.

[JoeyKnothead]

I say whatever reasoning a juror uses is nobody else's business...

Scary thought, that.

I'd hope in a nation full of so many diverse views we'd try to find some common ground when considering our peers.

My experience has been a sentence of "atheist" alone is enough for torment, harassment, and various other religious biases.

[VermilionUK]

Yes, but you could also be stoned to death for being an unruly son :Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

I'm not too worried about unruly children coming before a jury trial, let alone being sentenced to death.

There's a very good reason that we don't use the bible in criminal sentencing. For one we'd be a very barbaric and cruel state...

My argument is lets consider our policy of imprisonment (1 in every 32 US citizens) may be barbaric and cruel.

I would agree. It seems to me we should be able to come up with a better system that is more likely to actually reduce crime in the long run. This is especially true when we consider how many people are in jail for simple possession and use of drugs. We imprison more people than most other countries, and we also have more crime, including violent crime, than most other countries.

One has to ask why this is.

I'm all for having a reshuffle of the laws and such - but using the bible is, in my opinion, a step backwards. I think with better education, scrapping legal guns, and having more events in local communities, with all reduce crime in some form. I'd say that violent crime in the US is partly due to the fact that guns are legal - but thats just my thought on the matter.

[T-mash]

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

Why would we use a 2000+ years outdated book, written by men that think women are sexslaves, stoning is okay and gay people are demons as a way to determine sentences in a modern day society? Isn't following the morals from the bible just 2000 years of moral development down the drain? I think I'd rather not go back to the bronze age