----- Original Message -----
From: "Gautam Mukunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 5:17 PM
Subject: RE: Human Rights
> > Behalf Of dendriite
> > From: "Kevin Tarr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > dendriite:
> > Sure........I believe that murdering children is a horrendous crime
> and
> > (comparitively) harsher penalties should be applied to those who
> murder
> > children with intent.
> > Law officers are adults working in a dangerous job that they
> *chose*. I do
> > not believe that the harsher penalties prevent the deaths of law
> officers.
> > Law officers are not better or more important than other citizens,
> and the
> > fact that they have become a special interest catagory only
> increases the
> > insulation from the society they work to protect. Law enforcement is
> a
> > necessary function in society, but giving officers elite status with
> special
> > protections only leads to corruption, not better law enforcement.
> >
> > xponent
> > rob
>
> First, of course, I think very few policemen would agree that harsher
> penalties prevent the deaths of law officers. Most cops can tell you
> stories of criminals who were unwilling to fire at policemen, knowing
> that it would almost certainly result in their death either at the
> hands of the police or the state itself.
> The second problem I have with this is your idea that because
> policemen _chose_ to do what they do they deserve no special
> protection. Exactly the opposite is the case. _Not all choices are
> equally virtuous_. A police officer _chooses_ to put his life at risk
> in order to defend society against its malefactors. That is not a
> morally neutral choice - it is a positive one. In return, society
> owes those who implement its laws certain things. The first and most
> important of those is honor. As we should respect soldiers for what
> they do, so should we respect police officers and fire fighters for
> what they do - because all three put their lives at risk to protect
> those who (presumptively) would not necessarily do the same were the
> situations reversed. The second, however, is that society must take
> every step that it can to protect those officers - to make sure that
> this sacrifice remains potential, as opposed to actual. One of the
> easiest things that can be done is to say, simply, that killing an
> officer of the law is not simply killing an individual person - it is
> an assault on the fabric of society itself, and as such, must be met
> with the harshest possible punishment. Police officers are not above
> the law, but they are the instruments of the law, and because they are
> human beings who have demonstrated their willingness to risk their
> lives on behalf of their fellow men, punishing those who harm them
> does not give them a special status - it is the least that society can
> do to protect its guardians.
>
<Cincinatti.>
xponent
rob
