It’s not random, but it absolutely is arbitrary. Arbitrary means resulting from ideology or individual choice, rather than from specific guidelines.  If you and I commit identical crimes and the prosecutor decides to seek the death penalty in my case because of my race or my socioeconomic status but offers you a…

Ah, I should have checked his history before assuming he was commenting in good faith. Thank you!

I disagree that it’s splitting hairs. Proponents of the death penalty often claim it’s used for “the worst of the worst,” as you did. In actuality, whether a particular defendant gets the death penalty depends far more on factors such as their race, the race of their victim, and their ability to pay for defense…

So you think that shooting one person is “the worst of the worst crimes”? Because there are people on death row for that. I assume you agree that murder is the worst crime, you think shooting a single person is the worst form of murder?

That’s not true, either. People who commit incredibly heinous crimes (murder involving rape and torture) often avoid the death penalty, primarily by agreeing to take plea deals. By contrast, when I was a law student, I worked on the case of a death row inmate in South Carolina whose crime was shooting a police officer…

It’s simply not true that death is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” There is overwhelming evidence that death sentences are primarily reserved for indigent black defendants who killed white victims. It’s not minimizing rape and murder to acknowledge that.

My kids are twins and we bathe them together - they lived inside my ute naked together for 34 weeks, a 20-minute bath isn’t going to hurt them.

If you employ someone to watch your children full-time, you have to comply with the relevant labor and tax laws. My brother-in-law watches my twins while I work and I had to apply for a federal employer number and get workers comp insurance and disability insurance, and I pay state and federal taxes. It was a pain,…

There is one in Rochester! https://www.facebook.com/events/1327637253961849/