Terri Shindler's death was *not* an "honest mistake."
It was a deliberate killing. Murder, for the morally unsqueamish.
And there is nothing inconsistent about being pro-Life and pro-death penalty.
Well, now, not so fast, k2!! Some people thought that a mistake was made about her status. Not everyone thought she was in a "persistent vegetative state." Some people felt that she was just in a diminished state of consciousness and that she might even benefit from rehabilitation. And I'll bet there are others who still think it was a mistake for the court to conclude as it did about about "what Terri said she wanted" under these circumstances.
My point is perhaps just a minot one. If we want to give courts the power to make life or death decisions that depend upon findings of fact, we have to accept that mistakes will be made from time to time. However, I'll be the first to admit that most of the time, the judicial system does get most of the facts right. It's not a perfect system for finding truth, but it's usually pretty darned good!
I think it was a judicial homicide and, after several years of litigation, I guess it has to be described as deliberate. I thought it extraordinary that the court ordered her death. The court didn't just make a determination that, under these circumstances, Mr. Schiavo would be justified in removing the feeding tube. The court went beyond that and actually ordered him to pull the tube. Specifically, the court:
It was, like you say, a very deliberate act, but deliberate acts are often based upon honest mistakes as to the underlying facts.
Agreed, they aren't necessarily inconsistent. Even with the occasional mistakes, the operation of a death penalty might, on balance, save lives in the long run. If, for example, the death penalty does deter others from criminal acts, it will serve as a deterrent without regard to whether the person executed is actually guilty or innocent. Some people, though, just aren't very comfortable with those kinds of calculations. ;-)