The Relevance of Feeling
The opening sentence of the piece really captures it all:
The line I heard as I was leaving echoed the above; it went something like, "Presecutors will attempt to replay the emotion that overtook our nation in the days following September 11, 2001."
Should that really be the goal? I understand the prosecutors may be out to get as harsh a punishment as possible, but do we really want the sentence for a crime to be dependent upon the emotion evoked by its commission?
Jurors are being asked to relive the raw emotion of Sept. 11, 2001, as prosecutors argue that Zacarias Moussaoui should be put to death for conspiring with the hijackers.I caught a bit about this as I was headed out the door this morning that really got me thinking about the sentencing phaseof the trial.
The line I heard as I was leaving echoed the above; it went something like, "Presecutors will attempt to replay the emotion that overtook our nation in the days following September 11, 2001."
Should that really be the goal? I understand the prosecutors may be out to get as harsh a punishment as possible, but do we really want the sentence for a crime to be dependent upon the emotion evoked by its commission?
posted by Steve Heyduck at 8:18 AM
1 Comments:
Emotionalism works.
I've only sat on one jury trial, but I was aghast at how easily my colleagues were swayed by emotional testimony.
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