Texas jury rules - it's OK to kill escorts and prostitutes

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Despite having been in the military, you don't seem to understand it's purpose, and you're a bit mixed up about contract killing as well.

The military is in the power projection business, not the killing business. If we'd rolled into Iraq and everyone had surrendered on the spot, we wouldn't just kill them anyway because killing Iraqis wasn't what we were there to do, we were there to overthrow a regime we believed was dangerous. You can argue all day about the methods used and the reasons for deploying military force, but at the end of the day killing people is only incidental to the goals of the military, if it was the end unto itself we'd simply gas people from the air or use other safe and efficient methods.

A contract killer, on the other hand, is in the killing business, that's all he does, kill. He doesn't care why or who or try to solve problems in any way available, he is hired to kill and nothing more. There's nothing about enemies or morality involved there, just a business transaction; cash for death.

Shooting at the raccoon and hitting someone in front of it is unintentional stupidity. This Texas john was shooting in the direction of the hooker, with the intention of stopping her. That's the difference.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Stopping her as opposed to killing her. You have conceded on the matter of men rea. The law in Texas permits the use of force to stop someone from absconding with their property.

ruveyn

That maybe the law in Texas, but that hardly means I have to like it.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Exactly what method are you going to use to reliably render an assailant unconscious but not dead? How will you determine that said assailant is unconscious, not merely momentarily stunned? Once you have this person stunned or unconscious, then what do you do until the police arrive? Run away? Stand watch over him and hit him on the head with a frying pan if he moves again? Tie him up? What if he recovers faster than you expect and overpowers you as you crouch over him to bind his hands?

Besides, how can you be certain at the time that a burglar who is "just" stealing your stuff is not willing to kill you also?

Ruveyn is right: the only reliable force is deadly force.

The military definitely is in the power business. Nothing projects power quite like death.

Do you really believe that no Iraqis would have been killed by US soldiers if they had all surrendered? You seem to be forgetting the aura of fear and vengeance that was gripping this country at the time. I had to listen to countless calls to nuke Iraq and to kill every Muslim in the country from my fellow enlisted men, and I am certain that there were plenty of soldiers who made sure they got some revenge without bothering to assess whether that individual was the one to get revenge on.

I did not say that contract killing was identical to the military, just that it shared a similar base principle. The contract killer eliminates the threat to his employer. The military eliminates the threat to its employer. Both are paid for it. And by the way, most people in the military don't care why or who or try to solve problems in any way available, they just do what they're told. A large percentage of people serving in the armed forces do it for college money or because they have no other means of employment (not to mention the group who had the choice of either military service or prison).

And before you try to claim the military is there only for defending this country, why don't you look up some of our most prominent enemies of the state from the past 20-25 years and figure out who helped put them in power in the first place. Our country creates enemies to "defend" itself from. How was invading Iraq national defense? The numbers of al qaeda and taliban in Iraq were minimal. Their numbers only started to swell after we showed up.

The U.S. government is committed to prosecuting "The Forever War". It is the only way it knows to keep the economic pot boiling.

ruveyn

This is where I get stuck. That and it seems the sex bit was never explicitly stated, but only an expectation based on cultural propaganda and this dude's stupidity?

I haven't had experience here, but my understanding is with escort services, if you don't seem like a cop or a murderous nut job there will be some genital contact. (but not sex by everyone's standards) Obviously, the woman had the right idea to get away, but didn't act quickly enough!

Personally, this ruling disgusts me, but I'm in a bad mood and I'd be interested in seeing other people in Texas exploit and extrapolate on this law. How far out could it go?

If two criminals rob a bank with the intent to split the profit, it's legal for the one criminal to kill the other? Is it then legal for anyone that has investments at the bank to kill the criminal? What if your method of "robbing" the bank is thru ill conceived investments, short selling, or a Ponzi scheme?

For instance, could the lower rungs of the Ponzi scheme legally kill the ones above them in Texas, even though they were committing a crime themselves?

Seems like laws like this invite people to encourage others to engage in criminal activity, so they have a legal reason for killing them. If it wasn't a sick reality, it'd make a good dystopian scifi pop corn flick movie plot.

If a restaurant advertises good food, you don't like it and they don't give you your money back? Is that theft you can kill over? If diet cola isn't that same great taste. If a repair man comes over on time and you don't see arse crack either? Are those shocking expectation defiers equal to theft?

There are lies society buys into to make itself feel better. You can't expect sex with an escort any more than you can expect a "reduced fat" or "healthy" fast food meal won't still make you a sick fatty if you eat enough of it or that a "great" and "sure thing" investment isn't stealing folks hard earned money.

if you're so all-fired against "hate-filled rants" (from a smart phone on my own porch, thanks), shouldn't you leave your own dingy lair and legislate against it?

Also, becoming citizens, politicians, or law makers in Texas doesn't preclude anyone from still making/posting hate filled rants in, on top of or next to basements. If only we could be so blessed.

crying and whining are always easier than the hard work of doing what is right.

ruveyn

Agreed

So, what else is new for Texas, or as some of my former coworkers call it, "the land of steers and queers."

That is just wrong! Why would you kill someone for doing the right thing and refusing to have sex during a prostitution?

Except you can't use the word "queers" out loud in Texas, or they'll shoot you for that, too.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer