Thursday, September 22, 2011

Death Penalty Offers Little Closure


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/in-debate-davis-execution-offers-little-closure.html?_r=2&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=US-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-IDE-092211-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

9 comments:

  1. Funny, I had just written a rant about the use of punishment. With the many people who are opposed to the use of the death penalty. One needs to remember that this system has been around for a very long time. So to remove the death penalty is almost close to trying to ban the running of the bulls in Spain. It is something that will not go away with the stroke of a pen. As far as errors go, this can go back to my rant. There were people later proven innocent who already received the death penalty. Remember back in 1692? Removing the death penalty, to me, seems to be trying to outlaw abortion. The real victims of these issues are unable to speak for themself, because they are already dead. There is no way a person can ask someone who has be executed already to tell what are their opinions on the death penalty.

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  2. I agree with the death penalty, in order to get justice for the victims. Throughout this entire article there is no mention of the victim and the suffering he ensued. I feel that this man was correctly prosecuted and convicted and if not then how come all of the appeals judges upheld his conviction? The CJ system has its flaws, but for the most part it works itself out even when the death penalty is imposed. If sentenced to death, the defendants receive numerous appeals, in order to prove their innocence or to prove that a wrongdoing through the court was administered. Also I have a problem with the issue of race that continually seems to find its way into the argument of the death penalty. Yes I agree that racism exists to some extent but I don’t think it played a part in this case. I do not see how the NAACP has a place to oppose the death penalty, if this were a white man who was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer would he be receiving the same media attention?

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  3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/28/death-row-prisoners-last-meals
    I am in shock! How do you take away someone’s last right? Someone’s last humane
    act before we put them to death for probably some horrific crime. If it were
    me, I would definitely want a last meal request. Knowing a prison chef offered
    to continue this ritual for free should say something! How did one man make
    this possible? Shouldn’t the criminal justice committee have voted or
    something? Even better yet, shouldn’t the taxpayers be voting for this? What
    about all of the convictions that have been overturned due to new DNA evidence?
    I hope all death row cases are reevaluated before execution. I would not want
    to execute an innocent person and have that on everyone’s conscious.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. In this case, I agree with Bailey Clark, I am for the death penalty; and I am against the length of time criminals sit on death row, awaiting the death penalty. I do however; understand the great concern for sentencing and then killing an innocent person. However, at that point, the death penalty is not the problem, the problem is obviously the CJ system; and so, we should obviously work harder on making the system better and completely prove someone guilty before sentencing them to the death penalty. However, in this case, I am giving my personal opinion on the death penalty and I know in my heart that although two wrongs don’t make one right, most of the criminals sentenced to death, aren’t exactly angels who committed small careless robberies. I truly am saddened and sorry for anyone who has ever been wrongfully sentenced to death and then killed, it truly is heartbreaking that the system failed, and I grieve with their families—their loss, and I hope that never happens. However, for those who were righteously convicted, sentenced and killed, because they chose to commit horrific acts of crime, I can’t say I’m too upset that the world is a safer and better place without their evilness around.

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  6. Personally I am not a fan of the death penalty, due to the fact it never solves anything, Also, the fact that there may be a possibility we are executing the wrong individual. In the Troy Davis case I do believe that race played a big part, and I believe this man was not given a fair trial. There was no evidence that proved 100% without a doubt, that Troy Davis did commit this murder. It is funny how the justice system listened to the witnesses to convict this man, but when they stepped forward to take back their testimony, the justice system did not want to listen. People say “what about the officer that was murdered and his family”. My heart goes out to his family for their loss, However if it was a member of my family, I would want to make sure the right person is being punished for the crime, black or white. In the end it should be about justice and doing the right thing!

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  7. I definitely don't agree with the death penalty, I don't think that we should have the right to decide who lives and who dies, especially because errors can be made and there is no way to give a life back. It does seem as if this case was not completely fair and that it wasn't for certain that this man was guilty. Whether or not race had something to do with this is definitely another story, and to be honest I don't really know how I feel about that one. But at the same time, I don't necessarily think that this man should be up for the death penalty when the evidence against him doesn't seem to be that strong. The entire argument over death penalty can be argued for ever, but ultimately I think it's important to think about each person as a human life, not just a case in court.

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  8. The death penalty will always be a touchy subject. I am from the great state of Texas and as the comedian Ron White has said "most states are trying to abolish the death penalty. My states putting in an express lane!" The state he is referring to is Texas. The problem with the death penalty is that, sometimes people are wrongly accused. That is where the touchiness of the subject begins. If someone is wrongly accused and is given the death penalty, wow, that is just unbelievable. I wouldnt know what to do if that happened to one of my family members. It is sad, but it is a reality of life, no one is perfect. Our CJ system should not be able to use this excuse however. In regards to one's life, there is no room for error. If insufficient evidence was planted and used against someone to falsely accuse them just close a case, those people should tried and sentenced to prison time in my opinion. I dont know, I am kind of wavering back and forth now after reading this article. There is always a possibiility of someone going on death row when they shouldnt be....but there is also the possibility that inmates have murdered people/children etc...and those are the people I am strongly pro-death penalty about. They do deserve to die in my opinion, because they took someones life, they decided when that person died. Why is it wrong for us to decide if he or she dies then? "its a crime" Yes I understand that murder is a crime, and in a sense, the death penalty is murder. But it is different, it is killing someone who put themself in that position. Don't kill anyone, and you wont be on death row is kind of how I feel about that.

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  9. I know that I am commenting on this issue way after the fact. This is a touchy situation for most people and plays on the boarder of racism and prejudice. There is speculation that since there was not going to be a pardon or stay of execution for Lawrence Russell Brewer a white man accused of dragging a black man that Troy Davis was no way in H*** going to be released from be executed for allegedly killing a white police officer. It is just a racial game of “tit for tat.” The last two executions in the United States were like a chain reaction effect, first Brewer and immediately after was Davis’ execution. With Davis’ case, speculation of evidence overlooked and not reviewed. The death penalty is one that needs to be reviewed and revised for all. However, judging from today’s society that will not be in the near future.

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