Throughout history, one of the primary functions of government has been to punish criminals.
Sure, efforts to rehabilitate criminals into productive members of society have increased over the years, and for those who actually can be rehabilitated, that’s a good thing.
Most people agree, though, that there are some crimes which are beyond the pale, that are so horrible that it’s too late for rehabilitating that criminal, and the punishment needs to become a deterrent instead of a joke (which seems to be happening quite a bit in many left-leaning areas).
As deterrents go, the DOJ has reintroduced a punishment method which seems to have a better chance than many to cause would-be criminals to think twice before doing something terrible. Ryan Mancini writes,
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday it will bring back the use of firing squads and electric chairs for some death penalty cases, as well as “readopting” the use of lethal injections as used during the first Trump administration.
Department officials said in a statement that bringing back these manners of execution “are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.”
Firing squad? Yes, firing squad.
And why are they doing this?
“The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.”
By all accounts, Blanche isn’t wrong. The previous administration and attorney generals in left-leaning areas have given their constituents massive spikes in crime (even if they try to avoid tracking hard numbers so that they can pretend that those crimes don’t exist, which is something that happened under the Biden administration).
But the average person wants to live in an area that they feel safe going outside, walking to the store, taking their children to school.
A return to serious punishments for those who do the most heinous things is a step in the right direction to, hopefully, make them think twice and make another choice.
Of course, you should be training regularly and carrying daily so that you can protect yourself, too, because even with harsher punishments, law enforcement can’t be everywhere at once.
