Death penalty

[Guest TrueMetis]

Except prisoners are released and often reoffend in prison as well. Prison is not a violence or crime free environment.

The really violent ones that would have the death penalty used on them, aren't. And I personally don't give a shit about them re-offending in prison, that's the prison guards problem not mine.

[Guest American Woman]

The really violent ones that would have the death penalty used on them, aren't. And I personally don't give a shit about them re-offending in prison, that's the prison guards problem not mine.

So you don't give a shit if they kill again, as long as it's not your problem?

[Guest TrueMetis]

So you don't give a shit if they kill again, as long as it's not your problem?

The guards are there to stop that, like I said their problem.

[Guest American Woman]

The guards are there to stop that, like I said their problem.

That doesn't answer the question.

[Battletoads]

It wasn't expensive when we had it here...as far as a deterent, it is not supposed to be, it is a punishment, just because some are to callous to regard their own lives doesn't mean it should n ot be considered, and further more, as far as deterents go...show me one executed criminal who re-offended.

Show me one innocent man put to death who was exonerated.

[Guest TrueMetis]

That doesn't answer the question.

I think it does.

[Guest American Woman]

I think it does.

Then you think wrong. You said: "I personally don't give a shit about them re-offending in prison, that's the prison guards problem not mine." The question is: So you don't give a shit if they kill again, as long as it's not your problem?

The question calls for a yes or no answer.

[Guest TrueMetis]

Then you think wrong. You said: "I personally don't give a shit about them re-offending in prison, that's the prison guards problem not mine." The question is: So you don't give a shit if they kill again, as long as it's not your problem?

The question calls for a yes or no answer.

Which I have already answered, I personally don't give a shit about them re-offending in prison, that's the prison guards problem not mine.

[Shakeyhands]

Show me one innocent man put to death who was exonerated.

2 secs searching....

Specific examplesMain article: List of exonerated death row inmates

Of the American cases, one often quoted is the execution of Jesse Tafero in Florida. Tafero was convicted along with an accomplice, Sonia Jacobs, of murdering two police officers in 1976 while the two were fleeing drug charges; each was sentenced to death based partially on the testimony of a third person, Walter Rhodes, a prison acquaintance of Tafero's who was an accessory to the crime and who testified against the pair in exchange for a lighter sentence. Jacobs's death sentence was commuted in 1981. In 1982, Rhodes recanted his testimony and claimed full responsibility for the crime. Despite Rhodes's admission, Tafero was executed in 1990. In 1992 the conviction against Jacobs was quashed and the state subsequently did not have enough evidence to retry her. She then entered an Alford plea and was sentenced to time served. It has been presumed that, as the same evidence was used against Tafero as against Jacobs, Tafero would have been released as well had he still been alive.[7]

Wayne Felker, a convicted rapist, is also claimed by some observers to have been an innocent victim of execution. Felker was a suspect in the disappearance of a Georgia (US) woman in 1981 and was under police surveillance for two weeks prior to the woman's body being found. The autopsy was conducted by an unqualified technician, and the results were changed to show the death occurring before the surveillance had begun. After Felker's conviction, his lawyers presented testimony by forensics experts that the body could not have been dead more than three days when found; a stack of evidence was found hidden by the prosecution that hadn't been presented in court, including DNA evidence that might have exonerated Felker or cast doubt on his guilt. There was also a signed confession by another suspect in the paperwork, but despite all this, Felker was executed in 1996. In 2000, his case was reopened in an attempt to make him the first executed person in the US to have DNA testing used to prove his innocence after his execution. This attempt failed, as the DNA tests were ruled inconclusive as to innocence or guilt.[8]

Cameron Willingham was executed in Texas in 2004 for an arson fire in 1991 which took the lives of his three small daughters. Subsequently, doubt has been cast on the forensic evidence which underlay the conviction, particularly whether evidence existed of an accelerant having been used to start the blaze.

Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed in 1915 for the murder of a man involved in an interracial affair two years before but were pardoned 94 years after execution. It is thought that they were arrested and charged because they were not wealthy enough to hire competent legal counsel and get an acquittal.[9]

In the United Kingdom, Timothy Evans was tried and executed in 1950 for the murder of his baby daughter Geraldine. An official inquiry conducted 16 years later determined that it was Evans's fellow tenant, serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie, who was responsible for the murder. Evans was pardoned posthumously following this, in 1966.

Derek Bentley was a mentally challenged young man who was executed in 1953, also in the United Kingdom. He was convicted of the murder of a police officer during an attempted robbery despite the fact that it was his accomplice who fired the gun, and Bentley was under arrest at the time of the shooting.[10]

Exonerations and pardonsKirk Bloodsworth was the first American to be freed from death row as a result of exoneration by DNA fingerprinting. Ray Krone is the 100th American to have been sentenced to death and later exonerated.

In the U.K., reviews prompted by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have resulted in one pardon and three exonerations for people executed between 1950 and 1953 (when the execution rate in England and Wales averaged 17 per year), with compensation being paid. Timothy Evans was granted a posthumous free pardon in 1966. Mahmood Hussein Mattan was convicted in 1952 and was the last person to be hanged in Cardiff, Wales, but had his conviction quashed in 1998. George Kelly was hanged at Liverpool in 1950, but had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003.[11] Derek Bentley had his conviction quashed in 1998 with the appeal trial judge, Lord Bingham, noting that the original trial judge, Lord Goddard, had denied the defendant "the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen."

Colin Campbell Ross (1892 — 1922) was an Australian wine-bar owner executed for the rape and murder of a child which became known as The Gun Alley Murder, despite there being evidence that he was innocent. Following his execution, efforts were made to clear his name, and in the 1990s old evidence was re-examined with modern forensic techniques which supported the view that Ross was innocent. In 2006 an appeal for mercy was made to Victoria's Chief Justice and on 27 May 2008, the Victorian government pardoned Ross in what is believed to be an Australian legal first.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_execution

[Battletoads]

2 secs searching....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_execution

Well that's a sad list of people killed for pathetic ideals.

[dre]

There are times when the evidence is foolproof. Sometimes there are several witnesses to the crime. I don't think there's any doubt that they got the right man in the Giffords shootings, for example. Or the Fort Hood shootings.

Actually, they are put to death to make other people safer. It's not a simple matter of "making ourselves feel better." Criminals can, and do, escape. Furthermore, if I testified against a murderer who threatened to kill me if I did so, I'd feel a lot safer if he weren't around to possibly carry out the threat. I don't support the death penalty, but I don't get this idea that it's done just to make ourselves feel better. It's done to make sure that the killer doesn't kill again as much as for any other reason.

There are times when the evidence is foolproof. Sometimes there are several witnesses to the crime. I don't think there's any doubt that they got the right man in the Giffords shootings, for example. Or the Fort Hood shootings.

Eye witness testimoney is one of the most error prone types of evidence. And they thought the cases were "foolproof" for pretty much all of the people who have been wrongfully executed or sentenced to death row.

And the threat posed by the escape of convicts serving life sentences is not statistically significant. The death penalty doesnt make anyone safer, and it actually makes prisons more dangerous.

Its terrible public policy with no redeeming qualities.

Which is why almost the entire developed world has abandoned it. The only major industrialized nations that have the death penalty are Japan and the US, Singapore, and Taiwaan.

Even in the US only 2 states outside of the backward Southern slave belt states are still executing people... Almost 120 people have been found innocent after being sentenced to die. Lots of those actually DID die.

The events of the past year and the statistical evidence all point in one direction,” said Richard Dieter, DPIC Executive Director. “The public’s confidence in the death penalty has seriously eroded over the past several years. Because of so many failures, the death penalty is rightly on the defensive. Life-without-parole offers the public a better alternative without all the risks and expense.”

The number of people sentenced to death annually has dropped by 50% since 1999. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 144 death sentences in 2003, the lowest number in three decades, and DPIC projects an even smaller number this year based on figures for the first three quarters of 2004. If the current rate continues, there will be 130 death sentences this year. In addition, the number of individuals on death row declined from 3,504 in 2003 to 3,471 in 2004. Executions also fell by 10%, down from 65 in 2003 to 59 in 2004. This represents a 40% drop since 1999. Of the executions that did take place, only two states conducted executions outside of the south, which accounted for 85% of the executions.

Public support for the death penalty continued to erode in 2004. When respondents were given a choice between the death penalty and life-without-parole as the appropriate sentence for first-degree murder, 50% of those polled favored the death penalty and 46% favored life without a parole. In 1997, the difference between these two choices was 32 percentage points.

Concerns about innocence continue to be a principal reason for the decline in the use of the death penalty. Five people were exonerated from death row in 2004, bringing the total number of exonerees since capital punishment was reinstated to 117. This crisis has led to a series of calls for either significant reform of the death penalty or a complete cessation of executions. Prominent political leaders, Supreme Court Justices, and law enforcement officials in Texas and elsewhere have come to the conclusion that the present system can no longer be tolerated.

[Molly]

Harper will continue to uphold the charter and the wishes of Canadians, I don't see the death penalty coming up any time soon, even though the Liberals are trying to make it one. LOL

PIK is a Liberal? Who knew?!

[yarg]

We don't need a death penalty, we need appropriate punishment. No, 25 years isn't a long time compared to the eternity that is death. A life taken deserves a life taken, no person convicted of murder should ever have a chance at life again, why would we want that sort of person in our society? They had their chance, they blew it, done. There are 7 billion more of us, life will go on without them, of course there are different types of murders and murderers, but cold blooded killers should not ever have any chance at parole. I would be fine with an option of death given to such killers, knowing they had no chance of leaving prison some would likely accept it. This isn't about revenge, it is simple logic, if you kill someone in cold blood you have crossed a line that most of us would not, we simply do not need people like that in society and have no real reason to give them any chance at doing it again.

[Bob]

Yes I think people deserve the chance to get out of prison after 25 years.

I specifically stated that I was talking about the most reprehensible criminals. You approve of people like Bernardo being eligible for parole after 25 years? Bear in mind, that many serious offences committed by repeat offenders are eligible for parole after less than 25 years. You're ok with that?

I think people like Bernardo, at a minimum, should never be eligible for parole.

[Keepitsimple]

As much as one side of me says "fry 'em" for cases like Picton and Bernardo, I am OK with the status quo - providing that they rot in jail. Having said that, that "other" side of me wishes that we had some sort of Devil's Island that would treat these scumbags differently than those that are protected by the Charter of Rights. I'm not saying we should torture these guys but life should not be filled with entitlements. Should we really feel good about conjugal visits for these guys that result in little Bernardos and Picktons?

[PIK]

I found it hard to believe too , but looking around all the sites said it was the cost of appeals and the millions that would be spent on them. If 2 appeals go on, and at say $1.2m each, that gives us 40 years of costs to keep him lokced up.

ETA....that last meal costs a bitch too !

And how much has olsen cost the taxpayer with all his BS in the courts?

[PIK]

PIK is a Liberal? Who knew?!

OMG I did not know either, maybe I better hang myself.

[Bob]

As much as one side of me says "fry 'em" for cases like Picton and Bernardo, I am OK with the status quo - providing that they rot in jail. Having said that, that "other" side of me wishes that we had some sort of Devil's Island that would treat these scumbags differently than those that are protected by the Charter of Rights. I'm not saying we should torture these guys but life should not be filled with entitlements. Should we really feel good about conjugal visits for these guys that result in little Bernardos and Picktons?

I'm under the impression that the status quo is giving light sentences. Consider that Karla Homolka was released after twelve years. Granted, it was a plea deal. I have a feeling it'd be very easy to find many example of absurdly lenient sentencing - I have personal examples I can share, as well.

[Pliny]

I am of the opinion that the death penalty should not be re-instated.

If a person faces the death penalty it should be at the scene of the crime, if at all possible.

Basically, in keeping with my main political concept of limiting the power of the State, the State should not have the right to execute any of it's citizens.

Esq made some good points about, rather than concentrating on punishment, extracting what benefit to society they could serve would be a better choice.

It seems this is a subject that the left and the right are mostly in agreement about. Why the left is making such a big deal about Harper's statement is what is odd?

[Esq]

It is a cost savings to get rid of the ones who want to go.

The courts are so slow it would take years to impose a death penalty on an unwilling person.

It is funny that it is always the "media" sensationalized cases that illicit the desire for the death penalty.

It is not as if there arn't heinous crimes that don't get media attention that are the equal of those that do.

[Mr.Canada]

I support capital punishment in certain especially heinous cases. Certain criteria would need to be met. First degree murder is not enough in and of itself for me. There would need to be aggravating factors in order for me to consider its use.

[M.Dancer]

I support capital punishment in certain especially heinous cases. Certain criteria would need to be met. First degree murder is not enough in and of itself for me. There would need to be aggravating factors in order for me to consider its use.

Could you make up your mind?

I'm advocating the death penalty to be only used in the most heinous of crimes and only where there is DNA evidence or more than one eye witness to the crime. The Jury would decide who gets the death penalty of coarse. A jury of the convict's peers. I find it hard to believe that the victims families of Bernardo's victims or Olsen's victims would object. We should hold a referendum on the matter and see what the people want.

I oppose the death penalty.

[madmax]

Not much help when do-gooders like Amnesty International or Desmond Tutu are lobbying for more hearings or commuted sentences. Frankly, it is somewhat difficult to get the condemned executed on time, even in the US.

I thought you had more executions then China?

[madmax]

Could you make up your mind?

LOL...

Its Mr. Canada.

Seriously, his points aren't that much different then your own. You waffled in those early threads.

You both believe in it for Heinous Crimes, but then all the 'variables" and problems get in the way.

Every individual has a different criteria.

There is a reason why this is a dead issue in Canada.

I am not certain why the Conservatives wanted it in the question format for the PM.

All questions are submitted prior to the interview and only those approved are answered.

Just saying that any individual could be radicalized into supporting the death penalty if something happened to their family. Just as there are some that I see change their opinion in a victim impact statement.

There are some bizzare stories and life is stranger then fiction when it comes to the death Penalty.

I don't see the trap door opening.

Canadians will stick with the cell door closed.

[guyser]

And how much has olsen cost the taxpayer with all his BS in the courts?

How many appeals has he had?