>>>Very disturbing story
>>>
>>>the alleged murder is charged with second degree murder. Why not first degree?
>>>
>>>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,493645,00.html
>>
>>I guess we had the same sort of misunderstanding about the difference. I thought premeditation was enough, but apparently not.
>>
>>Personally, I think they should do away with all the junk and just have a charge of murder. I'm clearly not a lawyer, so maybe my thoughts are too simplistic, but for me, killing somebody when it's not in self defense or defense of another, should simply be called 'murder', and that should be the charge. (Let's stay out of the argument about when somebody becomes a somebody for now - that's for another time.)
>>
>>Killing somebody while dui should be murder, not manslaughter, not 'dangerous driving causing death'.
>>
>>Pushing somebody down the stairs as a joke that ends up killing the person should be called 'murder'.
>
>But you still have to draw a difference between accidental death and 'death by purpose', don't you think?
>
>Many states will prosecute on 1st and 2nd degree charges with the major difference being that 1st degree carries the death penalty while the 2nd degree does not. That way, if they have a jury that will not (or cannot) agree on the death penalty, they can still get a conviction. Several states will go ahead and throw in 'manslaughter' on that same logic.

The death penalty should go the way of high button shoes. The system should just forget about the death penalty. It's a pointless act of revenge. Killing someone while committing an illegal act (whether that act is the murder itself, or driving drunk) should be called murder because that's what it is. Doing away with the death penalty will also help to get rid of the jury problems too.

The victim doesn't really care about the fine nuances of the legal system. He/she is just dead and won't be back partying with friends or caring for his/her children any time soon. And as I said before, when he/she is back with us, the murderer should be let out of jail. Fair's fair.