Punishment Without Hypocrisy

In a blog post titled, “Capital Punishment: Retribution for the Righteous,” Tammy Huang writes about the topic of Capital Punishment. She talks about how this penalty exists primarily to deter people from committing drastic crimes such as murder, with which I do agree, but unfortunately I have to say that this method is quite antiquated and ineffective.

First off, I strongly believe that two wrongs don’t make a right. I certainly agree that people who commit such offenses must be punished, but when we turn around and murder someone for murdering another, aren’t we actually encouraging these acts through sheer hypocrisy? The whole point of the law is that we as humans do not hold the right to take life from another, regardless of how we feel about them.

The other point that I’d like to make kind of ties in with the last one. Huang talks about striking a middle ground for these criminals and giving them the choice of death by lethal injection, or life in prison. If it were up to me, I would honestly do things a bit differently. I would not offer the option of death at all—especially by lethal injection. It’s too easy and painless. The real punishment would be to let these people spend countless hours confined to a place where they are stripped of their freedom, and have no choice but to come face to face with their own conscience.

Texans Will Now Hit-And-Render-Aid

Earlier today an article titled, “In an Accident, Drivers Have New Reasons Not to Run,” was published by the Texas Tribune. The article covers a new legislation that will be going into effect on September 1 involving hit-and-run accidents. From that day forward, drivers involved in hit-and-run incidents will have a much greater incentive to stick around and help the injured parties. The incentive is fueled behind an increase in penalty for injuring another person and fleeing the scene.

Justin Dehn states that, “currently, it is a third-degree felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The new law raises the offense to a second-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 20 years. Another new law makes failure to stop and render aid after an accident that may have caused injury punishable by up to 10 years.”

Surprisingly, this new piece of legislation was a no-brainer for both democrats and republicans, which is likely due to the trial of a former legislative staff member. Gabrielle Nestande was responsible for the death of a 30-year-old Austinite by the name of Courtney Griffin. She was found guilty of the crime, and then was later acquitted for various reasons.

Quite frankly, I find it saddening that it takes a situation like this for new legislation to be passed for something that practically came down to common sense for all of the involved parties. I am definitely on board with this new legislation, and can only hope that we don’t continue to make new laws to prevent wrongs which have already taken place. We need to become much more proactive and set a new standard for Texans.

Perry's Middle Leans Right

While I do agree for the most part with the student who authored the blog post titled, “Lets Meet in the Middle,” I think there are a few points that can be argued here. On one hand, I can certainly see how pro-choice supporters’ actions can be viewed as a bit extreme. However, given the circumstances these supporters face, I do sympathize with their situation. Anyone who faces a Texas-sized opposition to their cause would very likely kick and scream and wear all of the bells and whistles to try and impress upon them that it is a very sensitive and important issue that they are passionately fighting for.

The other point I’d like to argue is that in my opinion, this piece of legislation actually does have a drastic effect on abortions in the state of Texas. There will only be a handful of clinics who will pass the new standards and the rest will have to either pull a major overhaul or be put to rest. This in turn will leave the masses of women in Texas who seek abortion procedures only a few clinics to choose from, and with their high volume of patients, these clinics will have to turn the majority of them away.