“An Eye For an Eye…A Tooth for a Tooth.” This saying was coined from the Code of King Hammurabi, who was the King of Babylon (1792-1750B.C). The Saying was also used in the Bible…
“Ye Have Heard it hath said, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Matthew 5:38). Most people, even those that have are uneducated have heard this phrase many times. However, most people that hear it may misinterpret the true meaning. Nonetheless, it means exactly what it says. Seriously, have you ever thought deeply about the saying and how it applies in modern society. Oh yeah, that’s right, it doesn’t…At least not in the United States.
Speaking of this saying, I thought about it just the other day when I was watching CNN, and saw the Jodi Arias trial come to a conclusion… well not really. Jodi Arias was convicted of First Degree Murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. For those people that are not familiar with the Arias case, Jodi Arias, now 32 was just convicted for brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend. The trial, which took over five months, became a very high profile case and Jodi was made a celebrity because of it and received a ton of publicity.
Jodi was convicted for the stabbing and shooting murder of Travis Alexander in 2008. Jodi Arias and Travis had dated for a short period and then broke up. Well, Arias became obsessed with Alexander and stalked him…they still met up a few times for physical relations. After the murder, it was discovered that Arias and Alexander shared a pretty intense and over the top sexual relationship. When Jodi was arrested, she first denied the murder. Jodi was a beautiful blonde “bombshell” who would never fit the stereotype of someone who could commit murder. However, all of the evidence pointed to her guilt. Any intelligent person can see that this case became high profile for a few reasons…Jodi’s looks, the sexual escapades of her and the deceased, and the back and forth, changing stories that were thrown around by Arias.
Although Arias was found guilty by the Jury in a unanimous decision, the Jury could not give her the Death Penalty. Arias had claimed the entire time that she was mentally and physically abused by Alexander before she killed him in cold blood. The same Jury that found her guilty of the crime could not come to an agreement on the Death Penalty or Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. Now a retrial will occur with a new jury, beginning on July 18th where she can either be sentenced to Die or Go to Prison for the rest of her adult life.
This is just one of the many cases that shows how futile America’s Judicial System is today. First of all, I am totally against the Death Penalty if it is not used in the proper way. What I mean by this…is that I support the Death Penalty 100 Percent, but it must be used in the right way. The Death Penalty, otherwise known as “Capital Punishment” is a legal process where a person is convicted to die for a crime. Currently today, 58 Total Nations practice Capital Punishment…while 97 Countries have abolished it. There are currently 32 out of the 52 States in the U.S. that institute the Death Penalty.
New Jersey does not use the Death Penalty, as it was abolished in 2007. Capital Punishment is one of the most controversial topics in today’s society. I actually wrote a Thesis on the topic in College way back when, lol. But in all seriousness, the Death Penalty today is a “joke” with all of the appeals and even the way it is used, today almost all states use lethal injection, which has deadly chemicals injected into the criminal as they are put to death.
In my opinion, America’s Judicial System sucks today for many reasons. The main reason that our Criminal Code fails miserably is because it is “weak.” By weak, I mean there are too many cracks in the surface and it is so inconsistent, but mostly these codes do not do much to stop would be crimes from occurring. This could be very different if the system was revamped under the “Eye for An Eye” Method.
Lets first look at the Death Penalty. If someone knowingly commits murder in any way, besides self defense (domestic violence, abuse, law enforcement, etc.) and the person is found guilty, there should be No Life In Prison. The person should automatically be sentenced to Death, with no possibility of appeal or years of time in death row. If a criminal shoots someone, they should be shot execution style. If someone stabs another human being to death, that person should also be stabbed to death. If a person burns someone, they should be set on fire. This would go on where the penalty matches the crime. Think about it…do you not think that people would think twice of committing murder if they knew that they would automatically get death themselves. And don’t you think it would be even more effective if the criminal knew beforehand that the penalty would match the crime??
Capital Punishment, as I stated is a complete joke today. All of its layers real of weakness and focus too much on the humane side of the argument. Was the murderer humane when they committed their crime? Hell No!!!! Well, if you shoot someone in the United States you will be executed by a firing squad. For the terrorist in the Boston Bombing, you will face a bomb in a steel cell that is made up of all of the same materials that were used in your crime. For Jodi Arias, you will be hacked to death with a meat cleaver and stabbed with a knife. If you kill someone with a baseball bat, you will then be beaten to death. This list could go on and on…but I think my point was made.
Lets look at other crimes. If you steal, your hand should be chopped off. If you steal multiple times, all of your limbs should be cut off. If you beat someone and abuse them, you should be beaten and abused. If you rape someone and are convicted…you should be raped by someone in prison. How about credit fraud or identity theft, well this crime should be in the form of punishment that hurts your pockets.
Lets look at other crimes like Driving Under the Influence. First of all, if you kill someone while under the influence and are successfully convicted of manslaughter, you should automatically be sent to prison for life, without the possibility of parole. If you are arrested for a non fatal killing and are convicted of a DUI, you should lose your license for no less than 10 Years…no exceptions. Not the puny 6 months to a year that is now the current standard in the US for first time offenders. If you are found guilty of a second DUI…your license will be revoked for life. Once again, do you not think that these crimes would decrease dramatically?
The United States Crime Code is terrible. First of all it is extremely weak. Second of all, it does not strike fear into would be criminals. Also, our foreign policies suck. We always think more about other countries than ourselves. When 9/11 occurred, we should have tool out the Middle East in one shot. America will pay the price…trust me. I know this may seem like a radical opinion, however it would surely decrease crime in America. People would truly be scared and think twice about committing these crimes. I feel that the only way that our Justice Department and Judicial System will be bettered is if we take the “Eye For an Eye” approach.
I firmly believe that the “Eye For An Eye” code would help this country. There are so many reasons to be happy that we live in America where we have many rights. However, with rights comes responsibility. Also, with responsibility comes ownership. With ownership comes being held accountable. In order to be held accountable these criminals should be tried in a fair manner. The only true fair and just method is to be consistent across the board…no loopholes. I am sure that this type of action will never occur in my lifetime…but I truly believe that it would solve Americas Criminal War. Also, speaking about foreign crime and the War on Terror, if these countries are responsible for committing crimes against the United States, we should stop funding and helping immediately. Wake Up Washington…there will be a revolution if things don’t get better. The writing is on the wall.
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