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Death Penalty, for or against

Do you support the death penalty?


  • Total voters
    134
Do you apply that to all crimes? If just one person has been wrongly imprisoned there's no moral authority any more to put anyone else in prison ever?

For one, an erroneous prison sentence can be corrected, while a misapplied capital punishment cannot.

If the government needlessly kills an innocent American citizen, how can it claim any moral authority over that of the murderers they are supposed to be punishing?
 
Personally, I think that, at the least, the required proof and evidence of a crime must be extremely complete before I would consider supporting the death penalty - if there is a chance that the person is innocent, death is an unacceptable option.

Well, in the case I mentioned earlier, there was video from the ATM not to mention DNA and the confession. There's a synopsis of the case here.

Texas Execution Information - Report: William Berkley

He went from trial to dead in about eight years which is quite quick. Can't say I shed one single tear over him. I do, however, sometimes think what it must have been like for the girl who was ultimately dumped on the road like garbage.
 
Well, in the case I mentioned earlier, there was video from the ATM not to mention DNA and the confession. There's a synopsis of the case here.

Texas Execution Information - Report: William Berkley

He went from trial to dead in about eight years which is quite quick. Can't say I shed one single tear over him. I do, however, sometimes think what it must have been like for the girl who was ultimately dumped on the road like garbage.
From the sounds of things that case isn't one I would consider questionable.

Mainly due to the DNA test.
 
Do you apply that to all crimes? If just one person has been wrongly imprisoned there's no moral authority any more to put anyone else in prison ever?

It's essentially the basis of our system. The individual is assumed innocent and the government must prove the case. Of course if you apply the "if just one person" argument to the whole, it will fail. But the death penalty deals with government sanctioned killing of its own people, and perhaps on that we can have stronger restrictions.

Overall, the DP is not necessary in today's world. It's expensive both in terms of money and life. We keep finding innocent people on death row, etc. In this case, it is worth getting rid of because by eliminating the death penalty, you put society at no greater risk than before.
 
That is besides the point. The point is that he had bad legal representation during a death penalty trial because he was poor and could not afford it. Are you seriously stating that none of this matters to you as long as people can still get the death penalty? What kind of priorities are these?

And they were excusing his act because of his childhood! (or attempting to). Na huh.
 
The problem with your little theory here is that if a person doesn't have adequate representation, then he doesn't have a good chance to prove his innocence.

I do believe in adequate representation...if the DP is a possible sentence, then IMO the bar should be even higher.

In the last post, I focused more on the reasons, rather than the representation.
 
REALLY?! You'd rather be put to death than spend even one day in prison? I think you are being silly.

I don't know. I am not in a gang. I am not going to be somebodies bitch and get raped over and over. I am not going to be the subject of my families shame, or worse, having them think I am actually guilty. I would rather kill myself and have my family find out years later that I was innocent and then build me a shrine.
 
The death penalty is in the news again in America because states are turning to new, untested drug concoctions to use for lethal injection, and sometimes the drugs being used in executions cause complications and prolonged dying. There was a case a few months ago out of Ohio, but the story coming out of Oklahoma seems the most controversial yet. It actually delayed another man's execution.

A link to the story is below...

So do you favor the death penalty?

Do you think the death penalty will last in America considering the declining availability of traditional lethal injection drugs?

Oklahoma’s horrible ‘botched execution’ shows again why the death penalty should be abolished

I understand the desire for what some might consider "justice" but really it seems to appeal to our darker nature. Meaning, it seems more motivated by revenge then anything else. Couple that with the chances of them convicting then executing the wrong person and it just seems to serve no real purpose. I think in the big picture we are all better served with a life sentence being handed down instead.
 
In theory I am VERY for the DP. It is the right thing to do and upholds a societies stance that innocent life is the most precious thing. My problem is in the application. Innocent people are sentenced and it is too costly. If they are truly guilty just use a bullet and I whole heartedly support the DP.

I never know what to make of your posts. You either have multiple personality disorder or you just enjoy ****ing with people.
 
So far; 55% against, 42% for.

That's about what I figured it would be.

So slightly more people are enlightened then UNenlightened on this.

;)
lulz

Yeah. You guys are 'enlightened'.
 
I do believe in adequate representation...if the DP is a possible sentence, then IMO the bar should be even higher.

In the last post, I focused more on the reasons, rather than the representation.

It's not going to change. It's the way things work for the poor. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much mostly poor people who face execution anyway.

I'm not sure if you saw it, but this is from a link I posted this link earlier.

Almost all defendants who face capital charges cannot afford an attorney and rely on the state to appoint one for them. However, often times appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, lack critical resources, and are either incompetent or inexperienced. As a result when death sentences are set aside by the federal courts, it is often because among other reasons the trial attorney was so incompetent that the accused's constitutional right to effective counsel was violated. (See ACLU Report: "Slamming the Courthouse Doors: Denial of Access to Justice and Remedy in America")

In 2009, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions conducted an official visit to the United States to examine the administration of the death penalty in Alabama and Texas. Alabama has the highest per capita rate of executions in the United States, while Texas has the largest total number of executions and one of the largest death row populations after California and Florida. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about deficiencies in the administration of the death penalty in Alabama and Texas, including "the lack of adequate counsel for indigent defendants." He called for the two states "to establish well-funded, state-wide public defender services" and recommended that "[o]versight of these should be independent of the executive and judicial branches." The state of Alabama has no statewide public defender system even though its death row occupants are overwhelmingly poor with 95% indigent. (See ACLU Report above)

An examination of 461 capital cases by The Dallas Morning News found that nearly one in four condemned inmates has been represented at trial or on appeal by court-appointed attorneys who have been disciplined for professional misconduct at some point in their careers. ("Quality Of Justice" Dallas Morning News, September 10, 2000).
An investigation by the Texas Defender Service found that, "Death row inmates today face a one-in-three chance of being executed without having the case properly investigated by a competent attorney and without having any claims of innocence or unfairness presented or heard." (Lethal Indifference: The Fatal Combination of Incompetent Attorneys and Unaccountable Courts Texas Defender Service, 2002).

In Washington state, one-fifth of the 84 people who have faced execution in the past 20 years were represented by lawyers who had been, or were later, disbarred, suspended or arrested. (Overall, the state's disbarment rate for attorneys is less than 1%.) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aug. 6-8, 2001).

According to an investigation by the Chicago Tribune, 12% of those sentenced to death from 1976-1999 were represented by, "an attorney who had been, or was later, disbarred or suspended--disciplinary sanctions reserved for conduct so incompetent, unethical or even criminal that the state believes an attorney's license should be taken away." An additional 9.5% inmates, "have received a new trial or sentencing because their attorneys' incompetence rendered the verdict or sentence unfair, court records show." (Ken Armstrong and Steve Mills, "Inept Defenses Cloud Verdict," Chicago Tribune, November 15, 1999)

In North Carolina, at least 16 death row inmates, including 3 who were executed, were represented by lawyers who have been disbarred or disciplined for unethical or criminal conduct. (Charlotte Observer, Sept. 9, 2000).
 
And they were excusing his act because of his childhood! (or attempting to). Na huh.

Not sure what you mean here. The point was that he had inadequate legal representation during a death penalty trial. That's some serious ****!
 
I never know what to make of your posts. You either have multiple personality disorder or you just enjoy ****ing with people.

When I am Steve I like messing with people but when I am Edwardo I often wonder why people give me nasty looks...
 
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