Death Penalty
 

http://www.djournal.com/view/full_st...es_left_column

Another Mississippi execution this Wednesday.

I cannot say that I feel sorry for him.

Re: Death Penalty
 

Turn on the Honda generator and fire up ol sparky!
(Although I am sure Mississippi has lethal injection...)

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I remember that book...John Grisham wrote ...The Chamber.

And The Green Mile...except in that book I believe that the big gentle black man was actually innocent and some puny white jail guard was taunting him. Been a long time ago that I read that book.

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One of the things I liked about living in Texas was that, as the comedian Ron White put it, "when you kill somebody in Texas we kill you right back!"

When we moved to Tennessee in 1999 they had not had an execution in several decades so when one finally came up to do the angst was ridiculous. They brought up so many falses issues, etc I just told everybody that if they wanted to know how to successfully execute people they just needed to get advice from Texas.

I hope every single death row inmate makes things right with God before their exectuion but I also hope 100% of them are executed. Repentance and coming to Christ should be no escape from your earthly punishment but it sure can make eternity a lot better!

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One issue (and it's not "false") that prevents me from supporting the death penalty is that a lot of convictions are wrong. Some are overturned, but not all. Many innocents have been executed, even in Texas!

Re: Death Penalty
 

I think the percentage is so small I am willing to live with it (no pun intended).

I think the safeguards in our judicial system weed out 99.9% of errors. In the small number of cases where an error has been made the person is usually still a terrible person with prior convictions for rape or some other violent crime. Not justifying executing people innocent of the crime they are accused of but just saying very few people on death row are good people.

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Just to stir the pot a little bit, I believe the "state" has a right to sentence people to death.
However, I personally oppose both abortion and capital punishment.
My main reason is abortion is always taking an innocent life.
And there is a chance that capital punishment may be also.

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Think about what you are saying.

Really, really think about it.

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The ones who yell the loudest against the death penalty yell the loudest for abortion. Hypocrites !!!

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Ya, that has always been glaringly obvious to me.

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"Since 1973, 140 people in 26 states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence." http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/inno...-death-penalty

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How many innocents have been executed?

Documentation please.

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German,

Trust me I have. Long and hard and over an extended period of time.

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Since the death penalty was re instituted that is.

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No one knows, of course. Some have been exonerated, post-execution, but most of the time, nobody bothers to find out, after it's too late. But here are two examples, both in Texas:

Cameron Todd Willingham http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-..._b_272327.html

Carlos DeLuna http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1507003.html

Recommended reading: http://www.the-slammer.org/carousel/...ystems-do-fail

Re: Death Penalty
 

Texas had a lab problem with DNA evidence. I don't remember if any were death penalty cases.

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Thanks for the info....not sure whether this means that capitol punishment should be abolished, but rather that the proof should be irrefutable before we execute.

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I'm with you on that.

With technology today, there shouldn't be any reason for a person to be sentenced to death without sufficient, irrefutable evidence.

I'm not against capital punishment, but can't stand to think about our history when it comes to this form of punishment and the innocent people who have died in this country.

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Timmy this may shock you but I dont disagree with you. I think the standard for a death penalty execution should be extremely high. Higher than it is.

However when we have a solid conviction, I am for the DP.

The standard should always be the protection of innocent life. There are times when that requires a person be put to death.

Re: Death Penalty
 

... like when a pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.

Re: Death Penalty
 

:thumbsup I agree. The idea that an innocent would be put to death for another person's crimes is repugnant. Currently, I believe that trial outcomes are more reliable with forensic evidence playing a bigger part and more accountability for law enforcement. However, a lot of older trials need to be reexamined.

Esther, actually that's not true. The Catholic church, which vehemently opposes abortion, is also one of the most vocal opponents of the death penalty. I appreciate their consistency.

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I do agree that the standard for the DP should be beyond beyond a shadow of a doubt. Strong circumstantial evidence is enough to get someone a life sentence but should not be enough to get them death.

Having said that once the weight of evidence IS strong enough to warrant death I am not against the manner of death being somewhat consistent to the heinousness of the original crime. For instance why do the guys who broke into the home in Maryland, stole, molested and finally tied the family up and burnt the home down around them be "rewarded" by simply being put to sleep via lethal injection? A more fitting punishment for them would be to be tied up standing up, having about 4-5 extra dried logs placed around their feet, a cup of gas -no more, poured on the logs, the logs set on fire, then close the room the pervs are in and come back in an hour to see what condition they are in.

Re: Death Penalty
 

MS no longer does electrocutions.
From what I've read, there are a few states
that still allow the prisoner to choose that means
if they want.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair

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I would choose decapitation, myself. Want to see how long I'd remain conscious. At least a few seconds, I think. How cool would that be?

Yeah. I know. I'm sick!

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uh, yeah.....very!! :blink:

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I know what my choice would be. Old age.

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:heeheehee

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LOL! mine too!

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I think dying in one's sleep is probably the easiest way to go.

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Or the guy who dies with a smile on his face, while having sex.

Now THAT would be the ultimate way to leave this world.

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What if he dies without the smile on his face?

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Working in the hospital, I have seen cases like this happen. Rare...but they do happen.

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My wife has many stories from her short time working in a Hospice setting. No death by sex to her knowledge but many very peaceful passing's.

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Randy Im not sure I can agree to burning at the stake.... well maybe for the one you cited.... but they ought to have a death clock counting down their every second of life left...

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I suppose the only way I could answer the question of whether or not I support the death penalty would be in the form of actually serving on a jury where the death penalty is being considered.

Used to, I would jump on it. "Kill 'em! They deserve to die!" Well, not so fast there. After all, I've never served on a jury, period, even though I've been summoned but dismissed.

Honestly, it's a tough topic for me, although I would probably lean 60/40 toward being against it, if anything. Sure, we deal with overcrowding in prisons. I get that. But, there are people in prisons for non-violent crimes. No one got hurt. No one was sexually abused/molested, etc. Yet, they sit in a cell thinking of better things/places they could do/be. The flip side is that we, the taxpayer, are paying for a person who committed a violent crime to live, see the light of day, eat a meal, drink water, etc, until their execution all the while the person they supposedly killed is, well...they're dead. And the victim's family deal in agony with that fact. I could see the support for the death penatly from that aspect. The family and friends want their piece of the justice pie.

However, until I'm actually part of a jury where the death penalty is being considered, I can't answer honestly without knowing for sure...

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Dagwood, you bring up some good points about who we put in prison and why.

If I was king for a day, I would drastically change things.

First all non-violent convictions would be put into mainstreamed holdings where the individual would be required to go to work every day at some job in the real world and their sentance would be a monitary one.

They would have to work until they paid the fine off. They couldnt get mommy and daddy to pay or use their existing bank account to pay. They would have to go make the money.

if they couldnt get a job, they would be forced to get training for something (the cost of which would be added to their sentance) and then after training go get a job and pay off the debt... all the while living in the jail...or whatever you call it.

violent criminals would be forced to hard labor. and by hard labor, i mean HARD LABOR. Things that benifit society.

Re: Death Penalty
 

In the case I linked to at the beginning of this thread, I cannot say I am sorry for him. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was heinous, it was subhuman. Any normal human being would vomit cutting up another human being and using bolt cutters and knives from his place of employment.

My POV would probably change on a case by case situation. There have been many innocent people who have died at the hands of selfish mongrels and many people who have been innocent of what they were accused of doing.

Like some here, I would pray that the crime is proven without a shadow of any doubt that it was committed by the person who received the DP.