I would think that would be a personal deterrent. I know it deters me! Can't speak for others; but then again corporal punishment worked for me in school too!

You are correct about the crime rates - but there are MANY different factors that go into those figures too.

USMCFLYR

 

I think they sterilize them in case of a last-minute stay of execution, right? Or maybe to protect the executioner and the inmate from infections.

I understand your argument, but respectfully disagree.

What's sad is that the legal system could perform so much better. Unfortunately, it is rarely a lack of forensic technology that plants an innocent man on death row. Indeed, many convicts on death row are being acquitted after years behind bars as new DNA findings and things of the sort come out.

If it is the legal system's fault, then the system is not good enough. The court-appointed lawyers who frequently represent convicts are the worst-paid and least-experienced and skillful lawyers in the country. None of the 50 states meet the standards put forth by the ABA for their defense attorneys to ensure a good defense in a death penalty case. The convicts are not being given an adequate chance to defend themselves.

I'll quote someone who has far more experience in this stuff than me or anyone else here:

"I have yet to see a death case among the dozen coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial... People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty."

- Ruth Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice

"The reality is that capital punishment in America is a lottery. It is a punishment that is shaped by the constraints of poverty, race, geography and local politics."

- Bryan Stevenson, Death Row Lawyer

Hypothetically, what if it were you or me?

It may be instant, but it sounds more like barbaric revenge than it does justice.

"Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders."

- Camus

"I have never heard a murderer say they thought about the death penalty as consequence of their actions prior to committing their crimes."

- Kansas Policeman

 

This statistic is due to pretty much one thing: DNA

- Many folks were convicted before DNA testing (or ubiquitous video cameras) was available. Back then, circumstantial evidence was often the only evidence available to weigh. If you disallowed circumstantial evidence, then very few criminals would ever be held accountable, and crime rates would soar.

- It is now possible to go back and apply DNA technology to old pre-DNA cases. The 40% rate is due to this corrective action.

- Going forward, wrongful convictions should be greatly reduced, largely due to DNA (essentially all death penalty cases involve murder, and DNA evidence is usually available unless a professional hitman is involved).


This is an artificiality...there is no law of physics which says it HAS to cost that much. You could probably execute a criminal for about $2500 in labor and materials I would guess. The process should be dramatically streamlined, with a fixed time limit for appeals (say two years). The scope of the appeals should also be severely narrowed...the fact that one of the criminal's assistant defense attorneys fell down and skinned his left knee at age 5 is not relevant...limit the appeals to the facts of the case.

Obviously the standards required to hand down a death sentence need to be very high...which I believe they are today, more so than in 1980.

 

Hi!

I'll always remember the case of a black guy in TX who was executed. Several years later, he was exonerated.

At his trial, EVERYONE at his workplace testified that he was at work, ALL DAY LONG, just like everyday, and he could not possibly have been at the scene of the crime.

One eyewitness said he did it, and he was killed by the State of Texas.

When he was found to be innocent (SURPRISE!!!), Texas told his family they were sorry.

Nice.

Cliff
NBO
PS-DNA evidence only works, if there is evidence. At LOTS of crime scenes, there is not enough evidence to make any sort of DNA ID. It is NOT like on TV!!!

 

I think the problem is that the criminals get more chances than a normal person. For example, people who are in gangs, do they even pay taxes? I know I do! Why do they even get second chances? They just do their time, and go back to doing what they were doing, because they know they will get out again. I was watching this documentary called "Gangland" on national geographic, and one of the gangbanger was angry that he didn't get a chance to kill the people who killed his 2 year old kid. He didn't even show any kind of emotion when he was talking about his innocent child. I think I should stop watching TV, it makes me angry.

 

C'mon Planespotta!!!! You only used half my quote there pal.

How you can call it barbaric revenge as oppose to justice?



atp

 

Firing squad, don't waste the money on bullets... Use a rope it's reusable. And why do they take the time to sterilize all the needles used in an execution, I mean does it really matter? Us the same needle....

 

What about these lawyers that take on these cases!!! Truly the Lowest form of life!!!! No respect for these types of lawyers....

 

Some of them are do-gooders.

But some bottom-feeder defense attorneys are scumbag predators in their own right...they reel in someone who is facing big prison time and feed them full of false hope. But the catch is they need to get paid up front, so they insist that the criminal sign over his house, car, bank account etc. Once he gets all the money he can, the attorney puts up a half-ass defense...he actually WANTS the defendant in jail, otherwise he might come after the lawyer when he finds out how badly he's been hosed.

 

It's understandable that people need to earn a living, but to defend a low-life who is guilty and reduce the punishment other than life in prison is unbelievable! What about letting these prisoners join the military? Im pretty sure that they'll get their act together.....