Death Penalty Poll

[Barb]

My father-in-law actually shares your opinion on capital punishment, but he's liberal, anyway, I had asked him, "if the horrific crime happened to one of your grand kids and was overwhelmingly found guilty of the crime, would you still be against the death penalty?" His response to me was, "oh no, I would want the guy to get the death penalty in the worst possible way." Of course I pointed out to him, "wait a minute, you said you are against the death penalty." The he said, "I am, but when it comes to my grand kids, that's different."

I do respect your opinion. I just had to share that story.

I wholeheartedly agree with Amanda. I agree with your dad-in-law too, to a point. The state simply can't get it right, especially in an increasingly privatized prison system. Me, god forbid, I'd take care of it myself.

Someone who has a life sentence has a lot to lose

Namely, the prison conditions he will see for the rest of his life. Big difference between solitary and being in the general population

I understand. I also have a thread between the me I choose to be and, well, me. That thread is my kids, and their kids. That isn't right or proper, but it is what it is.

 

[ArcticDaishi]

I'm not really sure where I stand on the death penalty. I can see the benefits of both arguments. Ultimately, I believe it should be left to the states.

 

[rightwinger]

I have a feeling I'm going to stay a small minority as an anti-capital punishment conservative.

One of the leading reasons I am against capital punishment is because it is not administrated fairly. People who can afford good lawyers have so much better chance at getting out of it than poor people.

Since justice can't be blind, and since it does appear that people have been condemned to death who were innocent, I have slowly abandoned the capital punishment position I was raised to believe in.

My father-in-law actually shares your opinion on capital punishment, but he's liberal, anyway, I had asked him, "if the horrific crime happened to one of your grand kids and was overwhelmingly found guilty of the crime, would you still be against the death penalty?" His response to me was, "oh no, I would want the guy to get the death penalty in the worst possible way." Of course I pointed out to him, "wait a minute, you said you are against the death penalty." The he said, "I am, but when it comes to my grand kids, that's different."

I do respect your opinion. I just had to share that story.

That is a common argument and one of the reasons that civilized societies took vengeance out of the hands of victims and placed it with society

 

[Missourian]

I have a plan for reversing the lefts resistance to the death penalty.

Simply sew the condemned into a womb.

 

[Flopper]

IMO there is no point to it. It does not deter crime. It costs more than keeping someone in prison for life. It comes down to the desire for vengence and punishment, which I don't support. Also, there are innocent people who have been put to death because they were wrongly convicted. The possiblity of that makes the whole system wrong. And bottom line, for me, it just brings me down to their level, i.e., the State killing people in my name. Life without parole is my preference for heinous crimes.

you are a real bigot show me prove of somebody executed for a murder they didnt commit not that i agree with CP for all murders but if we are discussing it lets separate facts from opinion

Wrongful execution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed February, 2004, for murdering his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas. Nationally known fire investigator Gerald Hurst reviewed the case documents, including the trial transcriptions and an hour-long videotape of the aftermath of the fire scene and said in December 2004 that "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire."[12] In 2010, the Innocence Project filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas, seeking a judgment of "official oppression".[13]

Statistics likely understate the actual problem of wrongful convictions because once an execution has occurred there is often insufficient motivation and finance to keep a case open, and it becomes unlikely at that point that the miscarriage of justice will ever be exposed. In the case of Joseph Roger O'Dell III, executed in Virginia in 1997 for a rape and murder, a prosecuting attorney bluntly argued in court in 1998 that if posthumous DNA results exonerated O'Dell, "it would be shouted from the rooftops that ... Virginia executed an innocent man." The state prevailed, and the evidence was destroyed.[14]

Johnny Frank Garrett of Texas was executed February, 1992, for allegedly raping and murdering a nun. In March, 2004, cold-case DNA testing identified Leoncio Rueda as the rapist and murderer of another elderly victim killed four months prior.[15] Immediately following the nun's murder, prosecutors and police were certain the two cases were committed by the same assailant.[16] In both cases, black curly head hairs were found on the victims, linked to Rueda. Previously unidentified fingerprints in the nun's room were matched to Rueda. The flawed case is explored in a 2008 documentary The Last Word.

Jesse Tafero was convicted of murder and tortuously executed via electric chair May, 1990, in the state of Florida for the murders of two Florida Highway Patrol officers. The conviction of a codefendant was overturned in 1992 after a recreation of the crime scene indicated a third person had committed the murders.[17]

Carlos DeLuna was executed in Texas in December 1989. Subsequent investigation[18] cast profound doubt upon DeLuna's guilt for the murder of which he had been convicted

Once a person has been executed, the criminal justice system is done with the case. They're not going to reopen the case unless there is a lot of pressure to do so which isn't likely. There can be no restitution for the wrongfully convicted and execution and if such an investigation proved innocence it would seriously undermines confidence in the system.

To support capital punishment is support the execution of a few innocent people for the supposed good of the many.

 

[rightwinger]

you are a real bigot show me prove of somebody executed for a murder they didnt commit not that i agree with CP for all murders but if we are discussing it lets separate facts from opinion

Wrongful execution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed February, 2004, for murdering his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas. Nationally known fire investigator Gerald Hurst reviewed the case documents, including the trial transcriptions and an hour-long videotape of the aftermath of the fire scene and said in December 2004 that "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire."[12] In 2010, the Innocence Project filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas, seeking a judgment of "official oppression".[13]

Statistics likely understate the actual problem of wrongful convictions because once an execution has occurred there is often insufficient motivation and finance to keep a case open, and it becomes unlikely at that point that the miscarriage of justice will ever be exposed. In the case of Joseph Roger O'Dell III, executed in Virginia in 1997 for a rape and murder, a prosecuting attorney bluntly argued in court in 1998 that if posthumous DNA results exonerated O'Dell, "it would be shouted from the rooftops that ... Virginia executed an innocent man." The state prevailed, and the evidence was destroyed.[14]

Johnny Frank Garrett of Texas was executed February, 1992, for allegedly raping and murdering a nun. In March, 2004, cold-case DNA testing identified Leoncio Rueda as the rapist and murderer of another elderly victim killed four months prior.[15] Immediately following the nun's murder, prosecutors and police were certain the two cases were committed by the same assailant.[16] In both cases, black curly head hairs were found on the victims, linked to Rueda. Previously unidentified fingerprints in the nun's room were matched to Rueda. The flawed case is explored in a 2008 documentary The Last Word.

Jesse Tafero was convicted of murder and tortuously executed via electric chair May, 1990, in the state of Florida for the murders of two Florida Highway Patrol officers. The conviction of a codefendant was overturned in 1992 after a recreation of the crime scene indicated a third person had committed the murders.[17]

Carlos DeLuna was executed in Texas in December 1989. Subsequent investigation[18] cast profound doubt upon DeLuna's guilt for the murder of which he had been convicted

Once a person has been executed, the criminal justice system is done with the case. They're not going to reopen the case unless there is a lot of pressure to do so which isn't likely. There can be no restitution for the wrongfully convicted and execution and if such an investigation proved innocence it would seriously undermines confidence in the system.

To support capital punishment is support the execution of a few innocent people for the supposed good of the many.

Dead men tell no tales

 

[rightwinger]

My objection to the death penalty is simpley that it is a barbaric practice that most nations have abandoned. Most states have essentially given up the practice

It is only the "bible belt" states and Muslim extremist nations that continue with the death penalty

 

[nodoginnafight]

My objection to the death penalty is simpley that it is a barbaric practice that most nations have abandoned. Most states have essentially given up the practice

It is only the "bible belt" states and Muslim extremist nations that continue with the death penalty

The radical right is the radical right. No matter which set of clergy is leading them to the bastardization of their religion to pursue political ideology.

 

[Kondor3]

...

Capital punishment has been used in almost every part of the world, but in the last few decades many countries have abolished it. Usage of capital punishment is usually broken into the four categories set out below.

Of the 195 independent states that are UN members or have UN observer status:

...

100 (51%) have abolished it.

7 (4%) retain it for crimes committed in exceptional circumstances (such as in time of war).

48 (25%) permit its use for ordinary crimes, but have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions, or it is under a moratorium.

40 (20%) maintain the death penalty in both law and practice. These countries make up approximately 66% of the world's population in 2012.[1]

...

Use of capital punishment by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[rightwinger]

I am all for the death penalty in cases of murder and treason, but only those crimes.

I only support the death penalty for people who fart in elevators

 

[JohnA]

IMO there is no point to it. It does not deter crime. It costs more than keeping someone in prison for life. It comes down to the desire for vengence and punishment, which I don't support. Also, there are innocent people who have been put to death because they were wrongly convicted. The possiblity of that makes the whole system wrong. And bottom line, for me, it just brings me down to their level, i.e., the State killing people in my name. Life without parole is my preference for heinous crimes.

you are a real bigot show me prove of somebody executed for a murder they didnt commit not that i agree with CP for all murders but if we are discussing it lets separate facts from opinion

Have you been living under a rock?
Google: Innocent people executed and get up to speed.

the articule does nt say that its written by advocates against the DP just a legal argument none have been officially declared *innocent * some were released when new evidence came to light SO they were not executed were they ?

my reply was to post #8 & 15 STATING thousands of innocent folks have been EXECUTED no evidence exists that thousands of innocent folks have been execute NOT one piece

 

[blackhawk]

I support the death penalty but not because I think it's a deterrent simply because some crimes or so horrible the person deserves it.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

No. I favor it for a much more pragmatic reason. If a scumbag who has committed multiple murders is serving consecutive life sentences and will never get paroled, what threat is left to hang over his head? How are the other inmates and the guards protected from HIS violent behaviors?

If a person is already serving a life sentence and commits another murder, then an additional life sentence is not a concern to him at all. The only real thing left to hang over his head is the threat of executing him.

And if that doesn't work to stop him from killing again, then the death penalty becomes a societal right of self-protection. Put him out of OUR misery.

The same argument can be made AGAINST imposing the death penalty. Once sentenced to death, this inmate REALLY has nothing else to lose. There is absolutely no deterrent left. That's why keeping inmates like this on death row for 12 years or so (average in 2006) is more expensive than housing an inmate in the general population for the remainder of his life.

That's not an argument against the death penalty.

It's an argument against taking so long.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

My objection to the death penalty is simpley that it is a barbaric practice that most nations have abandoned. Most states have essentially given up the practice

It is only the "bible belt" states and Muslim extremist nations that continue with the death penalty

The People's Republic of China is neither in the Bible belt nor a Muslim extremist nation.

Moreover, WE quite properly don't gauge the efficacy or the propriety of our laws and behaviors by the standard of what "other nations" do or don't do.

 

[rightwinger]

My objection to the death penalty is simpley that it is a barbaric practice that most nations have abandoned. Most states have essentially given up the practice

It is only the "bible belt" states and Muslim extremist nations that continue with the death penalty

The People's Republic of China is neither in the Bible belt nor a Muslim extremist nation.

Moreover, WE quite properly don't gauge the efficacy or the propriety of our laws and behaviors by the standard of what "other nations" do or don't do.

Yes, you are correct

The Peoples Republic of China closely approximates the barbarity of the State of Texas

 

[IlarMeilyr]

My objection to the death penalty is simpley that it is a barbaric practice that most nations have abandoned. Most states have essentially given up the practice

It is only the "bible belt" states and Muslim extremist nations that continue with the death penalty

The People's Republic of China is neither in the Bible belt nor a Muslim extremist nation.

Moreover, WE quite properly don't gauge the efficacy or the propriety of our laws and behaviors by the standard of what "other nations" do or don't do.

Yes, you are correct

The Peoples Republic of China closely approximates the barbarity of the State of Texas

Wrong. At WORST, the State of Texas, in a very pale way, imitates the reliance China places on the Death Penalty.

And one might also hazard the claim -- in fact I will:

It is sometimes MORE barbaric NOT to put a mass murdering son of a ***** to death.

 

[rightwinger]

Report: China, U.S. in top 5 for executions worldwide - CNN.com

 

[JohnA]

IMO there is no point to it. It does not deter crime. It costs more than keeping someone in prison for life. It comes down to the desire for vengence and punishment, which I don't support. Also, there are innocent people who have been put to death because they were wrongly convicted. The possiblity of that makes the whole system wrong. And bottom line, for me, it just brings me down to their level, i.e., the State killing people in my name. Life without parole is my preference for heinous crimes.

you are a real bigot show me prove of somebody executed for a murder they didnt commit not that i agree with CP for all murders but if we are discussing it lets separate facts from opinion

Have you been living under a rock?
Google: Innocent people executed and get up to speed.

no ive not been living under a rock but you have a rock between your ears

 

[Noomi]

you are a real bigot show me prove of somebody executed for a murder they didnt commit not that i agree with CP for all murders but if we are discussing it lets separate facts from opinion

Executed man pardoned over 1921 murder - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

That's one.

 

[Noomi]

Joe Arridy Receives Posthumous Pardon 72 Years After Execution

That's two.