1000th execution in the USA

The USA... The world's finest democracy... How sad and inhumane.

 

 

Yeah... not better...

Why should a State be allowed to take lives, what and/or who makes it legitimate?

Many prisoners still see their close ones while incarcerated, maybe we should think about the families too, what would you say?

Capital punishment doesn't arrange anything (in the US) - statistics prove this...

More executions does not lower the crime rate.

Wow, 1,000 dangerous and worthless human beings are no longer cancers of society, that really breaks my friggin heart.  I'm ashamed that number isn't higher, like 10,000 or 25,000, god knows it needs to be.

Originally posted by sedamoun Wow Genghis !!! What would happen if you were to become US president?!!!  Bush has nothing on you !!!

Thanks!

I personally am against the death penalty on moral grounds, but I support it in the U.S. on pragmatic ones. I would much rather that it would be banned, but I understand why a big segment of the U.S. supports it.

There are two reasons why the death penalty exists in the U.S. One of them is the cultural values of a huge component of the U.S. population and the other one is the U.S. legal system.

A significant portion of the U.S. population have something like a Wild West view of justice. The crime must be paid, and those who murder should be killed themselves. This is punishment against the criminal and a lesson to society, or at least it intends to do so.

Keep in mind that the payment for the crime is ritualistic; the public execution must occur, regardless of the real cupability of the accuss.

I must qualify that only a segment of the population believes this. The U.S. is a nation formed of many different cultures, and they offend have different or opposite views on different issues.

The legal problem is that the U.S. legal system cannot deal with recidivist criminals who escalate their crimes each time they come out of jail.

A common theme is the following: a sexual predator starts by raping women and letting them live. One of their victims will go to the authorities and identify them from a suspect's line. The person goes to prison for about four years.

When they come out, all what they have learned is that they need to make the victim unconscious, maybe kill her.

If they are caught again, because the victim survived a poorly executed murder, they learn to increase the violence the next time, to make sure that she will die.

Rape is, in most cases, a ten-year sentence. With good behavior, most criminals only serve a third, so that means that in four years, the rapist is out again.

There have been a few cases where a person almost killed their victim during rape, but because they didn't murder them, they get 15 to 20 years for attempted murder. This translates into five to seven years of actual prison time.

So, when these people actually murder someone, the only way to keep them off the streets is to give them the death penalty.

The legal problem is what sways moderates or leftists into suporting the death penalty.

Now, there are many problems with the way how the death penalty is given. This varies from state to state. Most condemned are poor Black of Hispanic in Texas, the death penalty capital of the nation. Virginia, the second state with most executions, seems to execute people more in line with its population numbers, the majority of the cases being white.

Some states want a death conviction regardless of the true culpability of the accused.

Furthermore, having death-sentenced prisoners is way, way more expensive than having life-time setences. Normally, after a sentence has been given, there will be another ten to fifteen years constant legal battles, and lawyers in the U.S. are not cheap.

On the other hand, havign life sentences with no parole is not somethign that prisons look forward too. Parole is the main way of keeping prisoners under control. Removing it creates the possibility of increasing in-prison violence.

As you can see, this is a very complex issue.

Only 1000 since 1976?
Well, no wonder we still have so much crime!

I wonder what percentage of those 1000 were rightwingers who believed

"1,000 dangerous and worthless human beings are no longer cancers of society, that really breaks my friggin heart.  I'm ashamed that number isn't higher, like 10,000 or 25,000, god knows it needs to be."

Then one day were mistakenly arrested for a crime they didn't commit, convicted because they a poor quality legal aid defence, sentenced to death, executed and had 1000 rightwingers say

"Wow, 1,000 dangerous and worthless human beings are no longer cancers of society, that really breaks my friggin heart.  I'm ashamed that number isn't higher, like 10,000 or 25,000, god knows it needs to be."

As they were executed.

Hopefully a really high percentage.

Originally posted by hugoestr I personally am against the death penalty on moral grounds, but I support it in the U.S. on pragmatic ones.

I agree that the US prison system is extremely rotten and counterproductive, but to solve that the prison system (or rather the entire juridical system) should be changed. Death penalty is never justified, a corrupt juridical system makes it even worse.

Don't you americans think that you should deal with your HUGE social problems that are the root of your criminality - maybe stop believing that owning guns is a constitutional (which was valid some 22 years ago) right and only a billion dollar industry' will that doesn't giving any value to citizens lives?

The social inequalities leaving the large majority of americans living in terrible conditions? not equal opportunities (healthcare, education...) for all... like minorities?

I think i just fired up a bomb, heheheeeeee.

While waiting for your answers, as one of your great philosophers said :
"The needs of the many...outweigh the needs of the few" Mr. Spock.

By the way hugoestr, your post was really good, i understand your point of view.

Cheers my friends.