supreme court ruling, for those that support the death penalty Options

[heyyfrankie]

i heard last night that the supreme court made a new ruling that minors that commit a crime cannot be sentenced to the death penalty. it is effecting 19 states. (i think). i, personally, think that is not right. their age has nothing to do with wheter they should get the penalty or not. because of this new ruling, 9 criminals are going to be free men (in texas). one of the men that is going to be set free is a man that car-jacked a touring couple, made them drive out into the country begging for their lives, rapped the wife in front of her husband, then killed her before killing him.
---
what do you think of this?

[*kryogenix*]

i don't think they will be free. their death sentences will be changed to life sentences.

[yukichan]

i don't think they will be free. their death sentences will be changed to life sentences.

ya i agree...if they r set free i dont think its fair...
but a death sentence to a minor is kinda harsh...i guess it depends what kinda crime they commit..

[picaso_smile]

I don't believe in the death penalty. Let them rot in jail.

I don't know how much age should have to do with sentencing. If the person consciouly knew what they were doing was wrong, then maybe a more harsh sentence. But if a 5 year-old plays with a gun and shoots his neighboor... C'mon.

[Angel_Cece]

i dont like the death penalty. but in the bible... it says that if a man sheds anothers blood his blood is to be shed too...

[sadolakced acid]

the bible also says 'thou shalt not kill', but in the time of the crusades the pope decided he wanted jerusalm, and said it actually ment 'thou shalt not kill needlessly' and sent knights to kill people.

[Teesa]

I agree that it is not right also. Unless the suspect was under a state of insanity or something to that matter, I believe that everyone has an equal right for the death penalty.

[espionage]

But then we're wasting money on life sentences. I think the death penalty should stay, as the really really really bad people like the story in the first post do not deserve to be here anymore. Life in jail is sometimes better than life on the streets ..

[sadolakced acid]

cost more to put someone to death...

anyways; this was already happening...

if you're under 18, and do something that would get you the death penalty, you can run to mexico.

if you make it, they won't (previously) make you go back because they don't support the death penalty, and expecially not for children.

so; murder 100s of people the day before your 18th birthday, make it to mexico, and you're free.

(but not anymore... i belive that mexico may change it's policy and return them to life sentences.)

[Individualityy]

We had this debate in our Civics class..

I think..that instead of setting them free, or in fact, putting them in prison, we should send them to a reformatory, or some place that encourages good behavior, you know? Like..I wish they would do some boot camp for people who have committed crimes so they could go through physical as well as emotional pain..instead of getting shut up in a prison wall..you know?

We should work more on PREVENTION. Not PUNISHMENT.

And yeah. I'm a liberal activist. lol.

[DizBukHahNi]

I cant belive al this nonsense of mercy and redemption. The people going to death row are violent criminals who should be locked up. I've a buddy who works at a rehab and he once said the rehabilitation of adults is a joke, though it does give some ray of hope for minors. This take of mercy you people say, did these violent criminals give mercy to those they've brutalized and murder? NO they did not, I dont believe in god, i think it is a duty to rid our society of trash. What possible good can come out of violent criminals? What good to society can they possibly be? Dont be so naive.

Everybody says that the act of execution is harsh but we do make try and make it as humane as possible.

[*CrackedRearView*]

cost more to put someone to death...

Skewed logic. It costs more, assuming that appeals are allowed. In the case of a serial killer who executes 5 people in a week (Ken McDuff), appeals shouldn't be an option. You will then see that the killer will not camp on death row for 40 years, he'll jump to the front of the line and be injected with a $200.00 helping of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, and the families of the victims can sleep soundly forever.

Now, on the flip side, 50+ years of food, shelter, upkeep, and care of an inmate costs upwards of $60,000, according to a 1999 book by Oxford University's Hugo Bedau. It's 2005 though, and that number could be astronomically higher at this point.

We should work more on PREVENTION. Not PUNISHMENT.

When you figure out a way to alter the chemicals in the brain of a man who just walked in on his wife in bed with his brother, or best friend, or something of that sort, and calm him down, you let me know. Chances are, even with someone with an average level of tranquility can't be supplied with enough endorphins to walk in on that permiscuous act and feel nothing.

1st degree murder? Same situation. No matter how perfect you'd like to believe this world is, there are people out there worthy of being institutionalized. Clinically insane people who just never made it to the clinic. Chances are, you can't PREVENT that, either.


All things considered, I don't care if the person is 13 years old. If he/she takes the lives of multiple people vindictively, he/she should have their life ended in the same fashion.

[sadolakced acid]

well, this is america, and usually appeals ARE allowed...

anyways: i have a solution to this. (originally posted on my xanga.)

So the topic of this sector is antarctica, the world's most underrated continent. that and world domination.
now why i have a facination with antarctica, i have no idea.  I don't particularily like the cold; but i like snow, and i like the idea of antarctica.  If you have never noticed, my location is listed as antarctica, and the place is shackleton's memoria.  This is because shackleton's memorial doens't fit.

(brief history of shackleton- he was an antarctic explorer who set out to circumnavigate the contienet, as well as reach the south pole (on different expeditions).  on his circumnavigation trial, his ship got icebound, they had to hike some hundreds of miles, the had to build thier own boats (3) and attempt to sail to south america, through the toughest seas in the world.  one boat was lost, but found the day after. for two years his expedition was lost, but he never lost a man.  that's why shackleton is the coolest.)

anyways- back to antarctica.  This is my plan to own antarctica.  first i shall create a company that builds and operates prisions for the world.  once i have enough capital, i shall build the ultiment jail on antarctia.  The death penalty can be abolished, and people could be sent to my prision.  and the prision would be cheap to run; as if you escape you die.  these prisoners would provide workers who would run a small farm (contained in a plexiglass dome).  Now, you say it's too cold.  well; i'd build a nuclear powerplant.  (this is essensial).  this would be heavyly guarded and such and would melt ice for water and make heat for the plants.

it would work so well that i could built a colony in another location that doesn't use prisioners.  it would use 'vollunteers', or people from my company randomly selected to bring thier families there.

i'd have to be careful not to melt all the ice tho.  under-ice cities could be built.


now for the world domination-  i'd have enough nuclear reactors to threaten the world.  No army in the world is suited (with the possible exception of russia's) to fight in antarctica, while my security force would be.  I would threaten to melt all the water and re-enact the day after tommorrow.  the heat would come from my many nuclear reactors.

so; they'd have to give antarctica to me.

tada! antarctica is mine!

mar 7th post ©2005 by me. now you can't steal any of it. muhahahahahaha!

well i think it'd work...

[DizBukHahNi]

Even a thirteen year old knows that theres no coming back from death and that killing others is wrong, especially nowadays with tv and the internet. The bible did not say "thou shalt not kill", it said "thou shalt not murder".

To save even more on cost, we should use firing squads, it's humane, effective, painless, and does not destory many organs. The best part is that the bullet cost bout 50 cents or less.

[sadolakced acid]

Even a thirteen year old knows that theres no coming back from death and that killing others is wrong, especially nowadays with tv and the internet. The bible did not say "thou shalt not kill", it said "thou shalt not murder".

To save even more on cost, we should use firing squads, it's humane, effective, painless, and does not destory many organs. The best part is that the bullet cost bout 50 cents or less.

50 cents or less? are these BBs you're talking about?

the cost is not in the execution. it's because death row inmates are allowed many appeals, at the cost of the state.

[DizBukHahNi]

They are allowed too many appeals

[sadolakced acid]

how many is too many?

isn't it better to make sure someone's guilty before they die than to find out they're innocent after they die.

[*CrackedRearView*]

appeals, at the cost of the state.

I've already pointed out the solution to this in my post.

EDIT: Here's a situation.

A man kills 15 people in a bombing, check.

The man goes to prison for life without parole, check.

60 years in prison times $60,000 = $3,600,000, check. (Now, this is one inmate in pool of hundreds of thousands of people sentenced to life)

Now, here's another situation.

A man kills 15 people in a bombing, check.

The man is sentenced to death, and I'm the U.S. Representative from Kansas who passed the bill that disallows such lenient appeals, check.

That very same week, the man gets his $200.00 injection, check.

So -- recap:

LIFE IMPRISONMENT: Decades, millions.
MY PROPOSAL: Weeks/Months, hundreds.

[racoons > you]

^^

man convicted for bombing, check

man executed to save state costs, check

new evidence emerges tat would have prooved his innocence, check

too f**king late, mate, hard luck, but at least we saved som cash

[sadolakced acid]

I've already pointed out the solution to this in my post.

EDIT:  Here's a situation.

A man kills 15 people in a bombing, check.

The man goes to prison for life without parole, check.

60 years in prison times $60,000 = $3,600,000, check. (Now, this is one inmate in pool of hundreds of thousands of people sentenced to life)

Now, here's another situation.

A man kills 15 people in a bombing, check.

The man is sentenced to death, and I'm the U.S. Representative from Kansas who passed the bill that disallows such lenient appeals, check.

That very same week, the man gets his $200.00 injection, check.

So -- recap:

LIFE IMPRISONMENT: Decades, millions.
MY PROPOSAL: Weeks/Months, hundreds.

you have been accused of mass murder. Outrage. the jury was paid. you get the death sentence.

well, i guess you could appeal, if you weren't dead. oh well. we saved a bit of money, didn't we?

by that standard, it'd be a lot cheaper if policemen just shot anyone they thought was doing a crime.

eliminate courts altoghether!

hey look! that guy stole 20 bucks! BAM. problem no more.
hey look! that guy's digging in his pocket. He won't stop. (sees shiny metal) IT's A GUN!!!! BAM. wait... that's an inhaler... oops. Oh well, saved some money.

or, we could save some more money!

calculate who looks like they might commit a crime and kill them now.

save you the trouble later...

[to-devastate]

They should be treated as adults. I mean. If they did it once.. wouldn't they do it again? The government is so crappy these days. Sigh.

[*CrackedRearView*]

Three points:

1) How awful I am to suggest that appeals (those things you guys hate that cost so much money) be gotten rid of. You guys need to make up your minds, for one. I'm willing to guess that both of you lean left, because I can never seem to satisfy any of my Democrat comrades, but bear with me. Now, you guys want to spend millions on locking someone up for good. Fine, but I'd like to save a few of those million dollars, and eliminate unnecessary appeals. So we have our positions...

So, all these awful, wrongful executions are happening and capital punishment is a blemish on our country! Sorry, but as a prenote, I must point out that in this imperfect world, nothing worth having comes without risk. Even so, far, far more innocent lives get snatched by convicted murderers than the, according to the American Civil Liberties Union [nice, reputable source, pfft], 23 people who have been mistakenly executed this century.

In fact, I challenge the two of you to find me even ONE example of an innocent being wrongfully executed in the last century. Give me that substantial evidence; my money's in the betting corner that says you can't.

Let's also not forget the upwards of 13,000 Americans who are murdered each year by released and paroled criminals (Stuart Banner, Harvard). One U.S. Senate report said:

All that can be expected of...[human authorities] is that they take every reasonable precaution against the danger of error... If errors are...made, this is the necessary price that must be paid within a society which is made up of human beings.

I hate to burst your bubbles, but the pundits lean my way...

Also, the death penalty isn't the only institution that contain risks in exchange for social benifits. We, in fact, mindlessly use far more dangerous institutions that take the lives of innocents by the hundreds every day, like the three or four tons of lethal metal we call automobiles for example. After all, how can we accept the average 45,000 person a year death toll in this nation due to car wrecks for our personal conveniences when the very slim risk of wrongful executions is so unbearable?

Things that make you go 'hmm...'

[sadolakced acid]

i still like my antarctica idea.

completely reversable; you can alwasy be shipped back to america if you're innocent.

there is no escape (because the nuclear reactors will make heat, there will be no need to give prisoners coats. thus, they can't go out of the domes. you don't even need locks...)

they would support themselves, and could research thier case (if we gave them a library... ) and do the appeals themselves.


saves tones of money, no?


good point... i probably can't find an instance of an innocent being executed...

but there have been many (over 10) people on death row released because DNA evidence proved they were innocent.

the reason why peoople who've been executed aren't proved innocent is because there's no point, and you don't have the DNA anymore.

[sadolakced acid]

i still like my antarctica idea.

completely reversable; you can alwasy be shipped back to america if you're innocent.

there is no escape (because the nuclear reactors will make heat, there will be no need to give prisoners coats. thus, they can't go out of the domes. you don't even need locks...)

they would support themselves, and could research thier case (if we gave them a library... ) and do the appeals themselves.


saves tones of money, no?


good point... i probably can't find an instance of an innocent being executed...

but there have been many (over 10) people on death row released because DNA evidence proved they were innocent.

the reason why peoople who've been executed aren't proved innocent is because there's no point, and you don't have the DNA anymore.