The United States is now the last industrialized democracy to have a functional death penalty (crime rate, biased)

[Austin13]

Originally Posted by tinman01

Pretty sure 99% of allcriminals who confess later say that it was forced.
As I said when the evidence is solid, the witnesses reliable or caught in the act.
By the rest I assume you mean my inclusion of pedophiles, drug dealers and rapists. Also forcing inmates to watch what happens when they allow their criminals lives to go to far.
I can live with your because I have sat on a few juries and saw first hand the victims getting ripped by defense attorneys.

Even ONE INNOCENT person being wrongly convicted and executed is tooo much. Would you, or any member of your family, like to be that one innocent person executed? Don't ask me why, but for some reason I don't find it shocking that you would broaden the types of crimes eligible for the death penalty.

Your "pretty sure 99%" is just your opinion. Can you find any statistics on that information?

I'm delighted to hear that you have participated as a juror in a few cases. My guess is that the attorneys who questioned you during jury selection had no clue about your negative bias toward defense attorneys.

I've acutally worked in the justice system for a couple of decades. Worked on death penalty cases. Reviews all case files.....so I have an opinion about how many people who make confessions later recant. And I can tell you that people who make false confessions do not usually come forward and tell authorities they made a false confession.

[ovcatto]

Originally Posted by lenniel

I say the crueler and more unusual (and long/painful) the better for these drags on society.

That's fine just as long as you promise to never appear at one of those rally's or on C-D screaming about violating the Constitution.

[TKramar]

I find it hard to argue with the OP. Other than the fact that I don't see a need for a trial. If someone proves themselves to be a danger to the lives of others, that person should be eliminated.

[Austin13]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in the 1970s, not one innocent person has been executed.

Ahhh, Fleet! How about prior to 1970? ONE INNOCENT executed is too much.

Funny thing about investigating death penalty cases......AFTER the person is executed, there is no more money to investigate the cases. Also, after execution, ALL THE FILES on those cases are destroyed. Hmmmm, so what are we to do?

Logic certainly tells us that if DNA has shown us that many people have been wrongly convicted of murder and sent to death row to await execution, so certainly some people who were executed prior to the development of DNA technology were innocent too. Also, you've got cases where there is no DNA involved. The point is, it has been proven that the system is NOT PERFECT and people have been wrongly convicted. This is true not only in murder cases, but other criminal cases as well. Surely you are not saying that our justice system is perfect and no innocent was ever convicted of murder or executed for a crime they didn't commit. That's just not logical..

[Austin13]

Originally Posted by Fleet

You made the claim that the DP is not a deterrent. You are wrong.

Seems like you are the one who doesn't know much about research!

I didn't do the studies. I'm certainly not an expert in the field, yet I can read and learn about this topic. Check out this link.

Facts about Deterrence and the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

I always figured being put to death as punishment was too good. Denying people freedom by confining them up to life in prison is real punishment to me.

I like the California system. 20 years worth of hopeless appeals and then they execute them

[Austin13]

Originally Posted by ovcatto

That's fine just as long as you promise to never appear at one of those rally's or on C-D screaming about violating the Constitution.

WELL SAID indeed.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by lenniel

There was an article in Sunday's Trib about a prisoner on death row (don't recall the state) in which after several attempts to find a suitable vein to inject the lethal dose of drugs, the prison suspended his execution. Now his lawyer is suing for 'cruel and unusual punishment". Why is it that no one ever seems to remember the original murder victim when it comes to the 'cruel and unusual' excuse. Also, why isn't a bullet or bolt to the head suffient death like they give to cows in a slaughter house. It's fast, clean and person never knows what him 'em. (not my preferred method as I believe there should be some suffering involved).
I say the crueler and more unusual (and long/painful) the better for these drags on society.

They should have dunked him and held him under and not just the lawyer, either.

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in the 1970s, not one innocent person has been executed.

Except, very likely, Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004.

I didn't read through this whole thread - I apologize if this has been covered.

[th3vault]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

There are roughly equal numbers of African Americans and Whites on death row. This is argued as evidence of its fairness. Until you ask, where in the country do you find equal numbers of African Americans and Whites. America imprisons more people than any other nation on earth. Again, the majority, by far, are African American. The white men and the few white women in long term incarceration with very few exceptions have proven that they ned to be there. The same cannot be said for the majority of African American offenders. There are hundreds of thousands of black men and women serving life sentences under "Zero Tolerance" drug laws that made the possession of a few ounces of dope 25 to Life offenses.Meanwhile violent white felons are paroled after a few years often to rape or kill again.

I grew up hearing my conservative parents argue for the death penalty in America. I can't. Not knowing how biased the criminal justice system is. It would simply be more excuse for the Prison Industrial Complex to make extra revenue buying 'death tables and paying the personnel using them. Ane while we are at it. The main cost of executions isn't the equipment it is the long drawn out legal appeals and intensive segregation and security that accompany status as a Death Row inmate.

If and when we devise an objective way of interviewing the mind and can definitively determine who, what and where will society be morally equipped to mete out ultimate justice. Witness the growing number of exonerations due to DNA evidence. What is the Criminal Justices response? Argue for a time limit for the storage of DNA material for convicted felons. Nice. At the same time they argue for the collection of DNA material for anyone arrested for whatever reason to be stored indefinitely. Hmmmmm.

H

I don't buy the racism claims regarding the CJ system. The law itself does not specify that one race gets this sentence and another race gets another sentence.

Not everything in this country needs to be artificially balanced towards the portion of the general population. There are other factors at play, such as where the different races are concentrated and the propensity to crime in those areas. There isn't deliberate racism in CJ, and not everything can be artifically balanced to absolute statistical equality.

If someone commits a murder, they deserve to die. How many of one race vs how many of another goes to death row is not my concern. The bottom line is that they are all scumbag murderers that deserve to be executed.