Random thoughts and observations
I received an email in Afrikaans during the week asking if I had any information about the death by hanging of Cornelius Johannes Claassen at Somerset East, South Africa, on July 24, 1901.
I have posted my wife Juliet’s Claassen family tree on my website, and although Cornelius is not listed, he is presumed to be related.
A cousin of Juliet, genealogist Johann Claassen, replied to an email I sent him:
It’s unlikely that capital punishment will ever be reintroduced in Australia, and I don’t have a problem with that. However, my philosophical objections to capital punishment have receded as I get older. In some circumstances I believe it may be appropriate. In February 2009, I wrote an article elsewhere about what should happen to arsonists who ignited the terrible Victorian bushfires. I said the time has come for the community and politicians to seriously consider reintroducing capital punishment.
I attended part of a Coroner’s inquest today for the first time. It was in relation to a newborn baby who died in October 2006 from a streptococcal infection seven hours after her birth. The mother, who went full term, had earlier tested negative to the bacteria at 39 weeks, which was why no antibiotics [...]
I used to be strongly opposed to capital punishment. Then I was ambivalent about it. Now, if there was a referendum tomorrow, I would probably vote in favor of it. I made capital punishment the theme of a talk I gave once for a public speaking competition when I was in Year 10 or 11 [...]
The resident magistrate has a worthy program in which he invites community members to sit with him on the bench. Today it was my turn. I am probably more familiar with court procedure than most of his guests, but I found it interesting to compare what happens here with what I have seen in Kalgoorlie [...]
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