Trump on the Death Penalty

Readers in countries outside the U.S. may not know that our states and our federal government have different criminal codes, but they all have one thing in common: the way they criminalize taking the life on another human being depends greatly on the circumstances.  Though our president appears not to understand this, we have killing in self-defense, which is not a crime at all, then all types of accidental killing which occur during the commission of a lesser crime, which is normally some form of manslaughter, on up to premeditated murder, which carries the most severe punishment.

In 23 of our 50 states, there is no death penalty at all, regardless of the severity of the crime.

There are also a variety of domestic and international laws that prohibit harsher treatment for some groups of people than others.

It’s weird how no one expects the President of the United States to know as much about criminal law as the typical high school kid.