Sitting on death row awaiting Execution...?

[Win]

Keeping criminals in jail doesn't always work out that well.

Search: "Paul Ruiz" and / or "Earl Van Denton". Broke out of the pen at McAlester and killed another seven people in a multi state crime spree, others left for dead but survived.

They won't kill again.

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
There is a reason why our legal system is set up the way it is. We rather have 1,000 guilty people set free than convict one innocent person. How much does an lethal injection execution cost? I believe it cost a lot more to execute someone than house them in prison for 31 years.


Depending on the institution, it costs between 30-50k a year to house an inmate. Thats 900k to 1.5 million over 30 years. It also can go up alot more than that if they have to go see the Doctor often, or need surgery for whatever reason. So that number can get ALOT bigger.

 

[Billbert]

[/quote]

31 years does seem excessive, but everyone is entitled to due process. Here in Texas, hardly a liberal bastion, death penalty convictions are automatically appealed by law.

If "we the people" are to be in the business of killing people, we better be sure we get it right. You can't take it back. [/quote]

I believe we need a change in our justice system. For a murder conviction, 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt = life in prison'. 'Guilty beyond any doubt = execution.'

 

[bradepb]

Google the innocence project and you will see why the death penalty is a bad idea even though some certainly deserve it.



There have been 289 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States.

• The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989. Exonerations have been won in 35 states; since 2000, there have been 222 exonerations.

• 17 of the 289 people exonerated through DNA served time on death row.

• The average length of time served by exonerees is 13.5 years. The total number of years served is approximately 3,800.

• The average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful convictions was 27.

 

[mechtech2]

The death penalty is one sure thing to dissuade criminals.
Sometimes only partially, but very real.

 

[Big_Kat]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
Originally Posted By: Artem
If he's sentenced to death, why not get it over with that same day? Maybe give him a few days to make his piece with God, write friends and family, etc.



31 years does seem excessive, but everyone is entitled to due process. Here in Texas, hardly a liberal bastion, death penalty convictions are automatically appealed by law.

If "we the people" are to be in the business of killing people, we better be sure we get it right. You can't take it back.

I agree with you 100% on this.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
There is a reason why our legal system is set up the way it is. We rather have 1,000 guilty people set free than convict one innocent person. How much does an lethal injection execution cost? I believe it cost a lot more to execute someone than house them in prison for 31 years.

But what folks like you miss is that by sending those 1000 people free condemns thousands more innocent people to death. I know that's a complicated concept to follow though.

Originally Posted By: CivicFan

Hopefully, you wouldn't mind to be tried and convicted to death wrongfully and be executed. Even though you would be innocent, you would be all for it, wouldn't you?

Or does it only apply to the others?


Obviously there are innocent people that have been put to death. Last time I checked the human race is not perfect. There are risks/ benefits for everything. There are risks by driving (so why do it). There are risks by not carrying am AED around around 24/7. To live entails risks but again... risk/benefit.

Risks of making a mistake by imprisoning (or worse) an innocent are outweighed by being right 99+% of the time and saving thousands of innocents that are at risk by freeing a killer.

So how about I turn it around on you: One of your beloved criminals gets set free by a "Do-Gooder" and kills your wife. Is that OK with you??

Like I said..pretty deep concept to follow.

 

[PZR2874]

I have a few things to add.

Why do they clean the area where they are about to inject the person?

Also, what judge makes 30K a year?

They NEED to do what Mexico was attempting (allowing inmates to roam Mexico to put an end to this drug cartel issue and bring back bodies in exchange for time served) <-- I actually feel this would work.

 

[PZR2874]

Originally Posted By: Billbert

I believe we need a change in our justice system. For a murder conviction, 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt = life in prison'. 'Guilty beyond any doubt = execution.'


So you're saying if they plee "guilty", then they should be put to death?

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Hopefully, you wouldn't mind to be tried and convicted to death wrongfully and be executed. Even though you would be innocent, you would be all for it, wouldn't you?


I'd take that over being imprisoned any day! Allowing voluntary executions would probably save a lot of money.

 

[Billbert]

No, I am saying if they ars found guilty.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: Win
Keeping criminals in jail doesn't always work out that well.

Search: "Paul Ruiz" and / or "Earl Van Denton". Broke out of the pen at McAlester and killed another seven people in a multi state crime spree, others left for dead but survived.

They won't kill again.

Also don't forget that the victimization will continue in the pen. The really nasty criminals (the ones I'd like to execute) will victimize other inmates during their remaining time in the pen. I speak from first hand experience.

 

[Jarlaxle]

They shold spend their time in solitary confinement 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

 

[PandaBear]

A lot of the process is to make sure they got their chances to appeal all the way to the end, making sure that the system did not get the wrong guys or any doubt that the punishments are deserved.

A lot of the cases end up being life in prison or shorter, only those very serious ones end up on death rows.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: dave1251
There is a reason why our legal system is set up the way it is. We rather have 1,000 guilty people set free than convict one innocent person. How much does an lethal injection execution cost? I believe it cost a lot more to execute someone than house them in prison for 31 years.

But what folks like you miss is that by sending those 1000 people free condemns thousands more innocent people to death. I know that's a complicated concept to follow though.

Originally Posted By: CivicFan

Hopefully, you wouldn't mind to be tried and convicted to death wrongfully and be executed. Even though you would be innocent, you would be all for it, wouldn't you?

Or does it only apply to the others?


Obviously there are innocent people that have been put to death. Last time I checked the human race is not perfect. There are risks/ benefits for everything. There are risks by driving (so why do it). There are risks by not carrying am AED around around 24/7. To live entails risks but again... risk/benefit.

Risks of making a mistake by imprisoning (or worse) an innocent are outweighed by being right 99+% of the time and saving thousands of innocents that are at risk by freeing a killer.

So how about I turn it around on you: One of your beloved criminals gets set free by a "Do-Gooder" and kills your wife. Is that OK with you??

Like I said..pretty deep concept to follow.


I see, you never answered whether it is acceptable to you if you were executed even if you were innocent... I am guessing it's not OK for you but OK for the others.

To me, the alternative to the death penalty is not "setting them free". I don't know where you got that idea. A perfectly good alternative is life imprisonment without parole.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
A lot of the process is to make sure they got their chances to appeal all the way to the end, making sure that the system did not get the wrong guys or any doubt that the punishments are deserved.

A lot of the cases end up being life in prison or shorter, only those very serious ones end up on death rows.


Appeals are about procedural irregularities. They are not retrials. A result of an appeal may be a retrial but an appeal itself is not a retrial.

 

[demarpaint]

A possible solution for those in favor of life in prison but opposed to the high cost of jailing them, might be to jail them in a foreign country where the cost is cheaper. Win, win, the US saves money, and a country where costs are less can make some money from us. We pay a foreign country to house our prisoners, we become exporters of prisoners. It might help boost some foreign economy, and save the US tax payer a few dollars. I know but it would violate a killers rights. LOL

 

[Shannow]

For starters, I'm against the death penalty, as unlike imprisonment, it's pretty hard to say "oh, so sorry, we were wrong"...it's way closer to "kill them all and let God sort them out" than being anti death penalty is to "don't arrest anyone", and it's ok for a freed guilty person to kill my wife".

And equating the innocent deaths to the risks that you take driving a car ???...

Comments on it should be made as horrific as possible just indicate that the death penalty is a quest for vengence, not justice.

There are plenty of people, who given the tabloid evidence, I would happily see no longer drawing breath, but I don't believe in society doing that.

 

[rick9009]

I honestly don't see any real difference between life in prison without parole and execution. IS being wrongfully imprison for life in someway better, because ether way your life is over.

 

[rick9009]

The modern use of the death penalty is about the elimination of evil people for good. A murderer that received life in prison can kill again, the dead can't.