TIL two teenagers were found dead in Mexico after they had unknowingly bullied the son of a cartel member at their high school.

I dont think a policeman should be able to fine me for jaywalking but I understand that's how it is. I understand the process to change it. If I cared about such things i'd know what to do. You asked why can they do it, the answer is "because they currently can".

I'm currently a physics student. I don't ever expect anything to be 100% in the physical world in which we live. If you want certainty you're living in the wrong universe. Everything I do is about estimating the error of my measurements and judgements, we deal after all mostly deal with spherical cows, so I'm well aware that we'll never get to zero, but I do believe we're getting closer to an acceptable limit. If we can get to say 1 in 10,000 people executed were innocent and we're only executing the very worst of the worst, and those we can prove with a huge amount of uncertainty (and that's very easily achieved I believe) I doubt we'd see an innocent man executed in the average lifetime, maybe not in a 100 lifetimes. Still you'd be worried about such things, you dont want to fix the current system you only want to abolish it. Fine, that's an admirable goal, but I dont see the harm in reducing the risks and problems as we go. Change the goal post or at least be happy when things move in that direction. People who refuse to budge on a issue generally just cause others to fight back.

Fine, but you were certainly hinting at an ad populum argument. Maybe it'd be more accurate to say its a reverse appeal to authority, (it's really just an ad hominem attack - you're here with these idiots).

Not a false dichotomy at all. Plenty of people rubbed out in prison that the inmates decided didn't deserve to live anymore. Plenty. I'm sure there are plenty of cases where the cops just blow fuckers away to ensure they dont escape justice.

If I said "either they kill these people or others will", that's a false dichotomy. I'm simply pointing out that removing the option might suggest to an unscrupulous portion of the population they might need to step in.

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