On Wednesday, March 11th the Debating Our Rights series will continue with a discussion of the Eighth Amendment at 7 PM at the Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St. in Brattleboro.
The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive fines as well as cruel and unusual punishment. For opponents of the death penalty, the Eighth Amendment prohibits any form of execution. For supporters of the death penalty, the Eighth permits any method that is not cruel. How can the same words be used to justify such different political agendas?
The Debating Our Rights series started after the 2016 election as an effort to bring people from across the political spectrum into the same space for a robust discussion. Meg Mott, professor emerita of Marlboro College and Putney Town Moderator, will lay out the arguments in two death penalty decisions at the Supreme Court, one of which put a moratorium on capital punishment in the 1970s. She will also review the arguments for and against capital punishment in the New Hampshire legislature last year. Once the various arguments for and against capital punishment are understood, participants will be encouraged to weigh in. "The point of the series is to understand your opponent's point of view," explained Mott, "even if you can't endorse it."
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Brooks Memorial, the event is free and open to the public. The venue is accessible to people in wheelchairs.
For more information, contact Brooks Memorial Library at 802.254.5290 or visit www.brookslibraryvt.org.
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