I just read the first post and following replies again. It makes me wonder: could the problem be in part due to a lack of cohesion between the judiciary, the legislative and the executive branches of government?
In the States and elsewhere, for instance, what happens when the president and congress are from different parties the result is often paralysis and filibusters. It takes the form of one 'camp' sharpshooting the other in order to
1 - block their general agenda
2 - impact the public negatively so as to gain the upper hand next election.
This is a bit obscure. I'll clarify: if a 'liberal/progressive' (so called) legislative body wants to oust a 'conservative' (so called) executive, can they not pass laws contrary to the executive's agenda in the hopes to get it out of office, by putting pressure on the public?
We recently had such a situation between Democrats and Republicans during the current budgetary crisis in California.
With regards to the death penalty, it gets trickier for me. I cannot trust the State with it, nor can I trust the State to recognize my individual right to defend myself and my property. There are a few (no idea how many) people on death row here, who are not guilty of the crime(s) they are accused of. This certainly does not mean they are innocent people as the driven snow, but it means that the real culprit(s) is/are not behind bars.
Every once in a while some such person goes free after being exculpated and having spent a few years on the row.
How many of those have already been executed, who knows.
Where I am 'stuck' is the question of 'what to do about bringing fairness and efficiency to the judiciary system'. Many times have I felt that some perpetrator of a particularly heinous crime should be executed summarily. But in my case at least, it's part of a larger fear. Looking back to olden days (in my case an over simplification: I'm thirty-eight) when I thought I could make some sense of things.
One way to put it: it is now 2003 and instead of flying cars, we have new diseases. The way in which I deal with people is more and more impersonal: either via the internet or, when at work, via company e-mail. I ride in elevators with people whose name I do not know, yet converse with daily by e-mail on work issues. They are strangers and their face unknown. As well, I do not work for people, but for machines and networks whose demands for service are immediate (my pager and cell-phone ring any time day or night) and there is no delaying, reasoning or making excuses...
The future looks much bleaker now than before, and to quote a movie line 'the present is trivia'. I sometimes long for the old rotary phones of black bakelite, before programmable portable phones you have to dial with the tip of a pen, the pad being so small. And I long for swift, hard justice, the kind I used to think existed.
This was all still a bit obscure and off topic, must be all the existentialist horse puckey I was fed as a kid....
I'd thought of doing the same and for exactly the same reasons (which remind me too much of why I left the Corps in the first place) but I think my posting will be limited in future. It was only having such a great time on the yomp and meeting such great people that has kept me with it up till now, and also meeting some good eggs generally on the forum. Don't sign off though mate, keep in touch. I have to dash now but I'll be in touch Monday mate. And yes we should 'do lunch' soon dahhhling 
) whatever this forum is, it ain't a place where you can have a serious debate on important issues. It's all just a bit of fun isn't it? The one thing I do seriously object to is personal abuse. Even in anonymous forums there's no place for it.
