Executions

[BehindBlueI's]

Life in prison without parole is probably the best punishment for the worst crimes.

Why warehouse people you are never going to release? What happens if they rape or murder while in prison? Leave them in solitaire 24 hours a day? Is that not cruel?

Anyway, Tennessee has decided if they can't inject you to death, they'll just go back to electricity coursing through your body.

Tennessee to use electric chair when lethal drugs unavailable - CNN.com

 

[BehindBlueI's]

For a few death penalty cases, guilt is unquestionable. However, the vast majority of the cases is where innocent people are being sent to death row.

Before we go further, can you clarify this? Because it seems like you're saying the majority of people sentenced to death are innocent.

 

[jamil]

I read between the lines a bit, but I thought he was saying, out of the set of death penalty cases, the small subset of unquestionable guilt has no mistakes. But the remaining larger set is where the mistakes are made. I didn't think he was trying to say the majority of death penalty cases convict innocent people.

 

[T.Lex]

For those of you interested in Indiana's death penalty, the Clark County prosecutor, Steve Stewart has a very good website (although it hasn't been updated in awhile).
Indiana Death Row

And yes, I've been avoiding this thread, since I have professional experience in this area. But, I feel compelled to address the risk-of-innocence issue.

The reality is that - and I'm talking about Indiana - the system is set up so that if there is any credible evidence as to innocence, it will be heard. Moreover, the professional people involved are FAR more interested in justice than either revenge or "holding someone responsible." In my experience, this even includes prosecutors and the deputy AGs that defend the conviction and sentence on appeal.

I cannot speak to other jurisdictions, but I am completely comfortable saying that in the modern era, not a single innocent person has been executed in Indiana. Plus, the risk of that is extraordinarily low - a number approaching zero. IMHO.

 

[rambone]

So, have innocent people ever been convicted of rape and murder?

 

[T.Lex]

Yes.

But capital cases are treated differently. Especially in the modern era in Indiana, sometimes it seems more like the system looks for reasons to vacate the death penalty.

ETA: The only reason we know of innocent people convicted is because the system worked and allowed them to make their case. "The system" doesn't stop at trial. Appeals and post-conviction relief proceedings are all part of the system, too.

 

[jamil]

For those of you interested in Indiana's death penalty, the Clark County prosecutor, Steve Stewart has a very good website (although it hasn't been updated in awhile).
Indiana Death Row

And yes, I've been avoiding this thread, since I have professional experience in this area. But, I feel compelled to address the risk-of-innocence issue.

The reality is that - and I'm talking about Indiana - the system is set up so that if there is any credible evidence as to innocence, it will be heard. Moreover, the professional people involved are FAR more interested in justice than either revenge or "holding someone responsible." In my experience, this even includes prosecutors and the deputy AGs that defend the conviction and sentence on appeal.

I cannot speak to other jurisdictions, but I am completely comfortable saying that in the modern era, not a single innocent person has been executed in Indiana. Plus, the risk of that is extraordinarily low - a number approaching zero. IMHO.

Because you have professional experience in this area, should I trust your comfort? Should we concern ourselves with the possibility that you might be biased?

Killing a guilty person, I have no problem with that. But dead is forever. They better get it right. Your personal comfort doesn't provide much in the way of assurance.

You trust your experience regarding the prosecutors. YOUR experience. You can't prove a negative when the universe of discourse is unknown. In other words, you can't say something doesn't exist unless you can know and check all the places that are possible for the thing to exist. I don't think you've been in all the nooks and crannies of everyone's conscience to know what people are capable of.

After the Camm trial, all I'll say is that I lost some faith in the ability of some prosecutors to seek honest justice.

 

[T.Lex]

Because you have professional experience in this area, should I trust your comfort? Should we concern ourselves with the possibility that you might be biased?

My friend, I am not trying to convince you of anything. I'm just providing a perspective from someone who has been a part of these kinds of cases.

Killing a guilty person, I have no problem with that. But dead is forever. They better get it right. Your personal comfort doesn't provide much in the way of assurance.

Fair enough.

After the Camm trial, all I'll say is that I lost some faith in the ability of some prosecutors to seek honest justice.

See, I see the Camm trial as a situation where the entirety of the system worked. Camm is not on death row - in fact, he was acquitted in his 3d trial IRC.

Again, The System does not end with the trial.

Having said that, I was in that world when the Camm case started. The admissible facts were much different by the time of the 3rd trial. It doesn't mean he should not have been charged (although I'm sure he would disagree).

The harder cases involve mental illness, like Vincent Prowell:
PROWELL, VINCENT JUAN # 80

 

[T755]

I am digging the bolt gun idea. Prepare to be judged…..put your hand on the yellow circles….. kaaaa chunk…… thud… Next!

 

[ArcadiaGP]

turns out many states are considering replacing lethal injections with the electric chair.

Probably not the result activists were looking for...

 

[T755]

How bout something like that movie no escape. One a month you airdrop a load of food and a load of knives. Johnsons Atoll would be suitable. Give them a warm fuzzy feeling while they stay there

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

Death by Bolton! Lock the murderer in a room with a .45 handgun and a single bullet. Then continuously play Michael Bolton songs until he loads and disperses the .45 bullet into his own head. Cruel and unusual punishment? Depends on how fast he disperses the bullet into his noggin!

 

[findingZzero]

The Innocence project using DNA techniques since 1992 has freed 316 wrongly convicted people, 18 of who(m) were on death row. Some studies estimate that 4% of folks on death row are innocent.
Innocence Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I had a choice, I would prefer firing squad to any other methods when I go down. I would also like to choose the executioners after seeing their range scores.

http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/findingzzero/yousucktarget_zps1c21c194.jpg

I have no doubt that I would choose INGO members. Also I would like to settle the 9mm vs .45 debate by being offered that option. For my last meal I would like baba ghanoush and pita bread. Heart healthy.....



Why is everything about me...?

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Apologies for being unfamiliar with the case. **** happens and things fall through the cracks sometimes. Maybe he should have had a better defense team? I'm not saying my idea is perfect, but maybe it would prompt reform in the system to make it more efficient in finding the real facts of the case instead of trying to force the case fit the most convenient suspect.

To make an omelet you gotta break some eggs in the beginning.

Either way I bet he wouldn't do it again. Whatever it was.

Pray to whatever deity you choose that you're never wrongly accused or convicted of murder, and pray further that you're never subject to your own draconian edicts that you would enact for your fellow man.

That goes for everyone espousing beheading or other savageries - if you would not to receive the punishment you would mete out if you were on the receiving end, give a good reason as to why it should be implemented and why you wouldn't want to die in that manner.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Here's a quick multiple-choice question:

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith _____."

A.) The LORD
B.) INGO

 

[Denny347]

Before we go further, can you clarify this? Because it seems like you're saying the majority of people sentenced to death are innocent.

No, its my wording. What I was saying is that there are those few cases that their guilt is so unquestionable and beyond refute that the death penalty is no problem. Its the lesser cases that seem to be where SOME of the guilty sentenced to death are actually innocent. That's all I was saying.

 

[Shiver]

Pray to whatever deity you choose that you're never wrongly accused or convicted of murder, and pray further that you're never subject to your own draconian edicts that you would enact for your fellow man.

That goes for everyone espousing beheading or other savageries - if you would not to receive the punishment you would mete out if you were on the receiving end, give a good reason as to why it should be implemented and why you wouldn't want to die in that manner.

Rest assured that IF I am ever "accused" of anything it will more than likely NOT be wrongly. I try to live and let live with as little trouble given or attention paid to those around me as possible to stay safe without being a bother to my neighbors. I do not go out seeking trouble.

I am usually a fairly mild mannered man but there are a small number of pains that, if they were to befall me or a member of my family, would drive me to great lengths to ensure the inflicter of those pains would feel 10 fold that pain before I let them be released of their mortal coil. And after all were said and done I would turn myself in and gladly accept what ever punishment was sought to fit my deeds.

The wicked deserved to be punished, If it means I must become a wicked man to ensure it happens, then so be it.

 

[Shiver]

Here's a quick multiple-choice question:

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith _____."

A.) The LORD
B.) INGO

God works to slowly.

 

[findingZzero]

Here's a quick multiple-choice question:

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith _____."

A.) The LORD
B.) INGO

Dirty Harry?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The Innocence project using DNA techniques since 1992 has freed 316 wrongly convicted people, 18 of who(m) were on death row. Some studies estimate that 4% of folks on death row are innocent.

Not convicted or conviction overturned does not equal innocence. A courtroom is designed so that any truth about the guilt of the accused can be excluded for reasons both real and imaginary.