That’s why I said that the sentencing judge should have some discretion. This being said, I don’t actually think that killing a cop should be considered worse than any other murder. Not until cops are routinely subjected to much higher punishments for crimes committed by them in the line of duty, which isn’t the case right now. Fair is fair.
Personally, I’d be OK with a general sentence of say 15 (25 in particularly heinous cases) to life for murder, with parole boards having discretion to decide on release depending on how the convict’s rehabilitation is going.
Death penalty should either be abolished or reserved for military, police, and government officials who misbehave flagrantly. (i.e. the cops in NM who were basically party to the repeated rape of some poor man, or people like Lt. Calley of My Lai infamy) Maybe also for convicts that murder a guard or kill during an escape attempt, but that’s about it.
