Agreed to what? Being murdered?

I'm willing to classify murder (along with a few other things such as slavery) under the title of "Things which you cannot legally accept."
Or, perhaps a better way to put it would be that the state does not (and should not) legally recognize contractual agreements that surrender certain rights (the right to life among them) except possibly in exceptional circumstances.
Thus, after killing someone in "Murder Park" you would still be charged with murder and the "waiver" the victim signed going in would carry no legal significance.

Does anyone remember the story from a couple of years ago when a married woman met a man online who wanted to "snuff" her in some weird S&M fantasy game? She willingly went along with it. The results were predictable.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

I would hope so.

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"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Then they are stupid, thus validating Mark's point.
Don't call him Shirely!

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"Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world, and behold I guard it until it is ablaze."
Gospel of Thomas

I think the people who get shot would be wishing they could start over.

Also does the state have to pay their medical bills if the uninsured get shot but do not die?


I am under the impression that the reason why motorcycle helmet laws exist is not just so Big Brother can meddle in the affairs of riders, but to lower the cost to the state of having to underwrite the medical bills of riders who sustain major head trauma.

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One day, I will sneak across the border into Canada and be an illegal alien. It will be fun.

No do-over's and no time-outs.

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Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

I can't say I know of that particular case, Mark, but you did remind me of something else, which I thought might be of interest:

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | German cannibal guilty of murder

I wonder if a judge could order a retrial here in the states? Considering it's never happened I don't think so, but that's a scary thought.

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Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

Do you have any reason for this calssification?

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"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."
-Thomas Jefferson in his first inauguration address

Several.

But the first to come to mind would be the susceptibility to abuse if it were legally possible give someone the right to murder or enslave you. Imagine the power of "fine print" in such a scenario. Past events have demonstrated that 1) When people are desperate enough they can be convinced to agree to just about anything, no matter how stupid, and 2) There are always people willing to take maximum advantage of such desperation, regardless of the ruining effect on other people's lives.
IMO, society would suffer substantially if slavery and murder became legally acceptable activities (provided the victim had, at some past point, agreed to accept them).

Second, when it comes to giving away some rights, there's almost a Catch-22 regarding "soundness of mind". For example, considering the case of the German cannibal, one might convincingly argue that agreeing to be abused, murdered and eaten is, in-and-of-itself, sufficient evidence that you are not of sound mind and therefore unable to enter into a legally binding agreement.
Regarding contracts that accept one party's murder by the other, it would be a legal nightmare to establish that the victim-party entered into the agreement, not only "of sound mind", but also free from duress or compulsion: after all, the victim-party cannot testify on his own behalf.

The entire scenario is a moral, social and legal nightmare.

EDITED:
This entire discussion, however, does make me wonder precisely how many (and which) rights, in our existing system, it is impossible to give away. I hadn't really thought about it before.

How can you say that one has a right to life if he cannot decide to end that life? This would be like saying that you have a right to own your car, but you cannot sell it. In what sense do you own your car?

My life is mine, and I can decide to keep it, or give it away.

Furthermore, one does not have to die in Murder Park. Are you going to make all risky acts illegal?

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"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."
-Thomas Jefferson in his first inauguration address

I'm against the idea because it seems so much like the Colosseum and gladiator battles in Rome. People killing for entertainment... The sheer barbarism of it is something I could not stand.

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

Nonsense. Fewer motorcycle riders not wearing helmets means fewer medical expenses after motorcycle accidents.

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During the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every profession is chosen as a means to an end but continued as an end in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent act of stupidity.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Wanderer and his Shadow

All good socialists have villas in Southern France. That's not the point.
-Eurosocialist

Did you come up with this yourself?

No, I don't really think it should be legal. It might make an interesting death sentence for criminals though...

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I'm sitting here contemplating this:

how does one allow another to cut off one's penis, and then you both "attempt" to eat it?

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson