Posted on 10/28/2004 4:10:00 PM PDT by GailA
US Death Penalty Foes want Kerry presidency
10/17/04
US death penalty opponents hope that Democrat John Kerry, a former prosecutor who opposes executions, wins the presidency from George W. Bush, who strongly supports the death penalty.
Anti-death penalty groups do not officially endorse any candidate. But "obviously, there is a difference between the two on the issue," said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The issue seems almost absent from this year's campaign. It was not mentioned once during the three closely watched presidential debates these last weeks.
Neither Kerry nor Bush stands to gain politically from advertising his views on the topic, according to Rust-Tierney.
Recent polls have shown that one-half to two-thirds of Americans approve of the death penalty. But with the advent of DNA testing and the overturn of death row sentences in recent years, capital punishment "is not the easy political issue that it once was," Rust-Tierney said.
"One of the reasons this issue has not come up with president Bush is because his record on this issue is so excessive," she added.
"Ordinarily, it would have come up from the Bush campaign because they thought they could win on it but what they, I think rightly, concluded is that whatever advantage they would get by saying John Kerry is anti-death penalty, they would lose and may even harm themselves, because it would require a more close look at this president's record on this issue."
Americans are growing more sensitive to the fallibility of their judicial system, she said. Last week, a man was exonerated after spending 17 years on death row in Texas, the state Bush governed from January 1995 to January 2001. He authorized a record 152 executions during that time.
"People are very concerned about the process and when you look at the process, at the time governor Bush presided over, it's one of the worst in the country in terms of fairness and accuracy," she said.
Steve Hall, director of the Stand Down Texas project, which advocates a moratorium on executions in the southwestern state, is not surprised that neither candidate has mentioned capital punishment on the campaign trail.
Only one question was posed on the topic during presidential debates four years ago, he recalled.
"The issue does not hold a lot of interest for most voters. Most people don't reflect much about it, they think it won't ever affect them and are happy with the status quo that it is available," he said.
His group is not endorsing either candidate, but "clearly Kerry's view mirrors our view."
"He has been a prosecutor, knows how tough these cases are and appreciates the irreversibility of the death penalty."
Kerry is now making an exception in the case of terrorists, a move that is "mostly political pandering," according to Hall.
Death penalty opponents are concerned that the next occupant of the White House will change the composition of the US Supreme Court. Justices are nominated by presidents with the consent of the Senate, and several of the current judges are likely to retire soon.
"Bush has a record of appointing, in district court but especially on appellate courts, extreme individuals, clearly far removed from the mainstream. The Supreme Court deals with significant death penalty issues, virtually every term," Hall said.
Last week, the US Supreme Court heard arguments on the legality of the death penalty for criminals aged under 18 in a case that has received international attention.
The nine-member court was divided and the result likely to be decided by the two moderate justices.
"The concern we share with everybody is that whoever is the president appoints people who are not ideologues but people who pay attention to basic civil liberties and due process," Rust-Tierney said.
"My hope is for a president who's going to appoint thoughtful, fair justices who, looking at the current system, would strike down many of the practices going on with regard to the death penalty."
Since capital punishment was re-instated in the United States in 1976, 935 prisoners have been executed. About 3,500 more are currently on death row in the United States.
http://www.the-tidings.com/2004/0917/deathpen.htm
(I DON'T THINK I AM ALLOWED TO POST THE LINK TO THIS LEFTIST SITE
Should Sen. John F. Kerry be elected in November, the United States would have as president its strongest opponent of the death penalty in at least the last half-century, capital punishment opponents believe.
Kerry would be "the most anti-death penalty president elected in the modern era," according to David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Kerry, Bush at near-opposite extremes on death penalty
And US Infanticide Foes Want Bush Presidency.
Several dozen executions per year of people proven guilty ina court of law.
Over one million totally innocent babies deliberately killed in the womb each year.
Which one is more gruesome and in need of our attention?
I'm so sorry to hear of your tragic loss, and I fail to comprehend how the loonies on the left can't understand that some crimes are so heinous that they can only be punished by death. It sickens me.
There are problems with our court system and it tears at my heart to think that innocent people have been put to death for crimes they did not commit. But that is a call for us to strengthen our justice system - not to let the worst crimes go unpunished.
I grew up in Norway, and when I was 7 or 8, a friend of mine came to me and said he was hoping that Dukakis would beat that "evil man" George Bush because Bush supported the death penalty. I had no idea about politics in the US, other than I knew who Reagan was and cherished the sound of his voice and his hopeful vision for America and the world.
This episode from my childhood should convey to you the vehemence and depth of the political indoctrination in European societies. The political forces there have always been very leftist and are increasingly **openly** anti-American. This spat of recent "deterioration" of relations is not a change. It is a revelation of what the Europeans who wield the political power have long felt - it has been simmering for decades, kept at bay because we were the only thing that protected them from the USSR, no matter how much the complained about it (!!!!).
We should not turn against Europeans - there are great people there and we can learn many things from them. We just need to realize that they do not live in truly free societies, and we must use the power of our media and arts, try to free them from the chokehold which their socialist governments have on public dialogue and world outlook. They are spoonfed leftist propaganda from birth and that's something that will be very hard to overcome, but we MUST succeed in communicating alternative, conservative views to them.
This is a serious problem - because in many ways we would be much better off to have good allies in Europe, and if we just ignore them, they might go from being annoying and obstructionist, to becoming full on foes. And that would be a tragedy.
It has never ceased to amaze me that these crackpots can show so much tenderness and concern for the "sanctity of human life". I can possibly understand such a concern for someone whose guilt/innocence MAY be in doubt. But, for someone who is a confessed, heinous murderer...? If they want to hold a candlelight vigil to prevent the taking of a precious life, let them do it outside their nearest abortion clinic.
I propose we let the people who oppose the death penalty the right to raise enough money to support the criminal for the rest of his life in jail, under guard. That's about $50,000 dollars a year. If they can't pay the bill, the execution order is carried out.
He also laid out very clearly in the OT a punishment of death for those who kill other people.
sKerry will be a disaster for the USA. We thought we lost ground under slick willie...with sKerry appointing 2,3 maybe 4 Supreme Court Justices.....HORRORS. They have declared war on the Unborn and Christians.
Gosh, Kerry's opposed to the death penalty? I watched four debates, and not once did the President or the VP mention this. Guess they counted on Fox and Rush Limbaugh getting the word out. Bet there are (or were) a lot of undecided voters and blue collar Democrats who might be taken aback by this, IF THEY KNEW ABOUT IT!
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