Death Penalty in Linton? Yes or No?

[churchmouse]

Do you think he should have been locked up?

Best,

Joe

Not after reading the article. If he had missed I think the outcome would be different.
Hard to stand in his shoes.

 

[Hookeye]

Forgiveness is an awesome , powerful thing when dealing with folks with morals . It stings up front but overall it'll make you stronger if you can forgive .

I'm no scholar by any means but I've never read anywhere in "the book" that we are meant to be sheep , available for slaughter subject to the whims of any wolf that comes along .

You don't take a liberal mindset and play with evil thinking that it can be legislated out of existence .

I have not forgiven, just kinda sorta went neutral after a time. Never really crossed my mind to even ask for help with it. Probably should have, now that you mention it. Not on my priority list.

In the case of the two suspects in the Linton case..........they are no longer a threat. They're locked up, so that changes things with respect to violent action against them (outside of administering the death penalty per the current laws).

If they break out or the system releases them, then let the sheep act as wolves if they need to protect themselves.

There are multiple families affected by this tragedy.

The suspects are somebody's kids, grandkids, nephews etc.

Torturing them to death, as others have suggested, would do what good to those folks? Life in prison or the death penalty, doesn't that give those who loved them enough of a loss?

 

[rambone]

Since you asked....

My opinion is that the death penalty is too much power/responsibility for the state to wield. Too much for an imperfect bunch of people to administer. I'd prefer to remove it from their bag of tricks altogether.

Again and again we see corruption, fraud, and incompetency throughout the system. From police officers, to detectives, to prosecutors, to DNA analysts, to judges. There are tons of opportunities to botch the trial.

And even when the state manages to convict the correct person, they often botch the execution. Below is a short list of famous botched executions from the recent era.

These archaic death shows on stage are not going to bring back the victims' loved ones. All this talk of torture is disgusting on multiple levels.

Some Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions | Death Penalty Information Center

10. May 24, 1989. Texas. Stephen McCoy. Lethal Injection. He had such a violent physical reaction to the drugs (heaving chest, gasping, choking, back arching off the gurney, etc.) that one of the witnesses (male) fainted, crashing into and knocking over another witness. Houston attorney Karen Zellars, who represented McCoy and witnessed the execution, thought the fainting would catalyze a chain reaction. The Texas Attorney General admitted the inmate "seemed to have a somewhat stronger reaction," adding "The drugs might have been administered in a heavier dose or more rapidly."[14]

17. April 6, 1992. Arizona. Donald Eugene Harding. Asphyxiation. Death was not pronounced until 10 1/2 minutes after the cyanide tablets were dropped.[23] During the execution, Harding thrashed and struggled violently against the restraining straps. A television journalist who witnessed the execution, Cameron Harper, said that Harding's spasms and jerks lasted 6 minutes and 37 seconds. "Obviously, this man was suffering. This was a violent death ... an ugly event. We put animals to death more humanely."[24] Another witness, newspaper reporter Carla McClain, said, "Harding's death was extremely violent. He was in great pain. I heard him gasp and moan. I saw his body turn from red to purple."[25] One reporter who witnessed the execution suffered from insomnia and assorted illnesses for several weeks; two others were "walking vegetables" for several days.[26]

25. March 25, 1997. Florida. Pedro Medina. Electrocution. A crown of foot-high flames shot from the headpiece during the execution, filling the execution chamber with a stench of thick smoke and gagging the two dozen official witnesses. An official then threw a switch to manually cut off the power and prematurely end the two-minute cycle of 2,000 volts. Medina's chest continued to heave until the flames stopped and death came.[39] After the execution, prison officials blamed the fire on a corroded copper screen in the headpiece of the electric chair, but two experts hired by the governor later concluded that the fire was caused by the improper application of a sponge (designed to conduct electricity) to Medina's head.​

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

And I _did_ ask, Rambone. I'm one step toward the death penalty from your position - but I understand and appreciate your reasoning. I am generally VERY slow to grant power like this to the State - since there is a history of mistaken prosecution. Getting it RIGHT is my first concern.


As for all of the "inmate jerked and spasmed" stuff - THAT is all hyperbole. Darn few people die by going peacefully to sleep with a smile on their face. If we're going to do it - I'm all for doing it as humanely and quickly as possible. But dead is dead. And if we do it to an innocent person (even if they go peacefully to sleep) - that's an off-the-charts tragedy. Whether a guilty one jerks a few times or not - is of far less concern to me.

Again, I've been slow to support it, for all of the reasons mentioned. That said, I've seen few cases where the perps were this clear cut and pure evil. And they don't seem to be arguing that they didn't do it.

 

[rambone]

Then there is the slippery slope of giving the state the power to kill for a set of reasons it defines. Lets imagine a few years down the road as the country slides further into fascism. What other offenses will the government be executing people for?

In the last presidential election, we had a Republican candidate running who wrote a bill to execute people for certain drug offenses. Scary right?

Newt Gingrich introduced H.R. 4170, demanding life-sentence or execution for someone bringing 2 ounces of marijuana across the border.
​

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

I understand and agree with the "slippery slope" argument to a point.
That said -there is a BIG difference between what these guys did and 2 oz of the leafy stuff.

In fairness, the State ALREADY has the power to kill you in most states if you are proven guilty of heinous murder of one flavor or another. Let's leave the wacky tabacky out of the conversation.

I guess it boils down to "can the State be trusted at all in matters of life and death". As a general rule - I think you and I would agree on "No". That said, there are times when the state necessarily must rule on life and death issues. How clear cut does a case need to be? And it would appear that your answer would be "no way. never".

 

[rambone]

I guess it boils down to "can the State be trusted at all in matters of life and death". As a general rule - I think you and I would agree on "No". That said, there are times when the state necessarily must rule on life and death issues. How clear cut does a case need to be? And it would appear that your answer would be "no way. never".

It wouldn't bother me if the state were to toss the death penalty altogether. Its not a moral reservation about death being issued as a punishment. Its a practical reservation about the incompetence of the system and the danger of abuse.

A next best option would be to only issue it if the condemned requested it. No chance of getting it wrong then.

 

[miguel]

 

[Kutnupe14]

Do you think he should have been locked up?

Best,

Joe

Yes, 100% without a doubt. Is kidnapping a capital offense? Because that ALL we have confirmed that he did.

 

[churchmouse]

Yes, 100% without a doubt. Is kidnapping a capital offense? Because that ALL we have confirmed that he did.

I think he was referring to the shooter. The kids dad not the freaky fondler of young boys.

 

[Degtyaryov]

Assuming they're convicted in a fair trial by a jury of their peers, hang 'em and chuck the bodies in a ditch.