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And what about the innocent ones who get executed anyway like Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas?
That bothers me too, especially if experts can show the earlier experts were wrong but the Court says it's too late to present new evidence. Things shouldn't be decided on timelines. If there's new evidence and the inmate still hasn't been executed, it should be brought forth. I prefer life without parole for cases like that, but when there is no question or guilt, the guilty party has always admitted it, and the crime was particularly heinous, I prefer death.
There have been many of those cases that fit the criteria. A perfect example is Jose Medellin, who later called his crime nothing more than an "adolescent mistake," was executed for the hours-long rape, beating, and murder of two teenage girls taking a short cut home and stumbling on a gang initiation. They could have let those girls go and live with their horrible ordeal, and possibly they would have been arrested and spent a few years in prison, but they decided they needed to kill them and brag about getting "virgin blood" on themselves by raping a 14-year old and a 16-year old. I have no sympathy for that dude or his two other friends who were also executed for the crime. I remember a huge outcry by the International Court asking for the death sentence to be commuted to life because this scumbag, who grew up in Texas but was brought here by his mother as a small child, didn't know he could talk to the Mexican consulate. Why should he think of Mexico when he grew up in Houston? Luckily, the State of Texas decided the International Court had no authority over a Texas jury's verdict. Jose never once said he was innocent of the crime, and there was plenty of physical evidence as well.
Did he get a fair trial with lawyers at his side to defend him?
If not then he shouldn't have been taken out. What did he do? Hug somebody?
If I'm not mistaken, this was the father who was convicted of setting his house on fire and letting his children burn up inside the home. The arson expert testified that certain markers showed that the fire was deliberately set, but later experts determined that the house fire was not arson at all. It is largely believed that the father was actually innocent after all, but he was executed for the crime.
Did he get a fair trial with lawyers at his side to defend him?
If not then he shouldn't have been taken out. What did he do? Hug somebody?
Look it up for yourself. He was accused of killing his daughters by burning his house down. Contemporary forensics showed that the fire was set intentionally. Modern science tells us it was an accident and he was executed for doing nothing despite protesting his innocence to the end. Oh yeah, and he was white.
But yeah, let's keep burning those Salem witches at the stake. They deserve it for their witchy misdeeds.
I guess you are happy to let the government decide who lives and who dies as long as the trial is "fair" then, even if later evidence shows they were dead wrong.
Oh so you decide what is a fair trial or not? It appears you think you do. Go run for office hero.
Obviously if you are executed and there is huge doubt over your culpability you did not receive a fair trial.
No, I do not decide who gets a fair trial because I do not give the government, juries, or judges authority to decide who lives and who dies. My solution -- life in prison -- makes mistakes reversible. Capital punishment allows an innocent man to be executed and potentially to take 45 minutes to do so.
Again, I want to know peoples' opinions on the Amanda Knox case. Because I have seen so much shaming over the Italian justice system over this girl's conviction when she is probably not guilty. But Italy is not trying to execute her and take 45 minutes to do so.
But we have such fair trials and such a wonderful justice system in this country. Ask the witches executed in Salem.
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