I watched Gone Baby Gone while I was a Charge of Quarters Running (CQR). Basically, you sit in a little office in the barracks and read, work out and watch movies on a 24-hour shift. There's a log where you write down any significant events (e.g. SGT Snuffy conducts barracks check) and - if it's something that needs attention right then and there - you contact the Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge (NCOIC) of your shift.

A pretty solid rental. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to finally watching it. And be forewarned, I'm going to talk about the plot so if you haven't seen the movie and would prefer to be surprised, I'd suggest you stop reading. There's also some strong language from quoting the movie, so if you'd rather not read a few lines of profanity, take that into consideration also.

At any rate, there's a conversation between Detective Bressant and Patrick Kenzie after Kenzie has shot and killed - in a manner consistent with an execution - a child predator after Kenzie, Bressant and Detective Nick Poole (played by John Ashton) raid a house with the predator and two other occupants (all three of whom are killed).

Kenzie has a difficult time coming to grips with his decision to kill the child molester, even after being told by numerous police officers that he did a good job. This is the conversation Kenzie and Bressant have in the parking lot of the hospital (Poole had been shot almost immediately during the raid and later dies from his injuries):

Detective Remy Bressant: I planted evidence on a guy once, back in '95. We were paying $100 an eight-ball to snitches. We got a call from our pal, Ray Likanski. He couldn't find enough guys to rat out. Anyway, he tells us there's a guy pumping up in an apartment up in Columbia Point. We go in, me and Nicky. Fifteen years ago, when Nicky went in, it was no joke. So it's a... it's a stash house, right? The old lady's beat to shit, the husband's mean, cracked out, trying to give us trouble, Nicky lays him down. We're doing an inventory, but it looks like we messed up because there's no dope in the house, and I go in the back room. Now, this place was a shithole, mind you? Rats, roaches, all over the place. But the kid's room, in the back, was spotless. No, I mean, he swept it, mopped it; it was immaculate. The little boy's sitting on the bed, holding onto his Playstation for dear life. There's no expression on his face, tears streaming down. He wants to tell me he just learned his multiplication tables.

Patrick Kenzie: Christ.

Detective Remy Bressant: I mean, the father's got him in this crack den, subsisting on twinkies and ass-whippings, and this little boy just wants someone to tell him that he's doing a good job. You're worried what's Catholic? I mean, kids forgive. Kids don't judge. Kids turn the other cheek. What do they get for it? So I went back out there, I put an ounce of heroin on the living room floor, and I sent the father on a ride, seven to life.

Patrick Kenzie: That was the right thing?

Detective Remy Bressant:[yelling] Fucking A right it was! You gotta take a side. You molest a child, you beat a child, you're not on my side. If you see me coming, you better run, because I am gonna lay you the fuck down! Easy.

Patrick Kenzie: Don't feel easy.

Detective Remy Bressant: Is the kid better off without his father? Yeah. But okay, I mean, could be out there right now pumping with a gun in his waistband. It's a war, man. Are we winning? No.

When I saw this scene I thought, I agree with Harris' character one-hundred percent. I read about the Auburn and UNC-Chapel Hill murders and wonder why I would care if law enforcement officers did what was necessary to ensure the judicial system doesn't have a difficult time deciding whether or not an individual should be removed from society? Why would I care if a law enforcement officer made the decision that such an individual should be removed from this life?

I'm not talking about sending Joe Citizen to jail, either. I'm talking about doing what's necessary for Joe Citizen to go to work, for his kids to go to school without fear; for the biggest concern in his life to be what color tie he should wear with his suit. I'm talking about venturing into the gray area for the Greater Good.

Another part of the Auburn story got a lot of us in the Army pretty pissed:

He was in the Army in Iraq from August 2004 to July 2005 and was court-martialed, sentenced to confinement and given a bad conduct discharge in December 2006 for charges including assault, military officials told The Associated Press.

We saw his mother claim he hasn't been the same "since he came back from Iraq." A friend of mine who went to both Iraq and Afghanistan with 2d Ranger Battalion said this in response: "No, he hasn't been the same since he was dishonorably discharged."

The guy was a piece of shit before he joined the Army, he was one while in the Army and - obviously - he continued to be one. Going to Iraq had nothing to do with it.

Every single one of these people are who the death penalty was created for and each will deserve it.