[cripplecreek]

I’m not a fan of the death penalty but its not a do or die issue for me in the voting booth. I’m sure as hell not going to protest it if it were an option in my own state, let alone other states.

Guess I’m more of a (((Shrug))) on the whole issue.

[Baynative]

In the new world order there will be sophisticated ways of determining truth. Serums, drugs and electronic tech will determine guilt.

How that is dealt with will be determined by the new world law and Sharia.

[Brilliant]

The death penalty proponents (such as myself) need to focus though on setting the standards so that no one who’s innocent gets executed. The standards are already skewed in that direction, but it would take only one such case to bring a swift end to the death penalty, I think. They need to get these “petitions” out of the process, and similar kibitzing by the other side. It doesn’t matter how many “supporters” there are. What matters is whether there is evidence that might exonerate the defendant. Let the libs argue about whether the degree of the crime justifies the death penalty. That’s not going to be a convincing anti-death penalty argument. But if an innocent person gets executed... that would be a disaster.

[Johnny B.]

I oppose the death penalty, not because I think those guilty of horrible crimes deserve to live, but because I don't trust the government to always get the guilty person.

A quick search on Wikipedia.org shows 139 death-row inmates exonerated in this country.

Maybe that list isn't perfectly accurate, but even one misplaced execution is too many.

[kosciusko51]

I still don’t understand why the left is against the death penalty for people tried and convicted by a jury, but is not opposed to the death penalty for innocent children.

[trisham]

Good article.

[palmer]

Instead, we heard a great deal about Davis. Many people insist Davis was innocent or that there was "too much doubt" about his guilt to proceed with the execution.

What was not heard was the Davis was one of three men who executed the off-duty cop (shot once in the head, twice on the ground). That he was one of three is not in dispute. Also not in dispute is that the shooter was wearing the same t-shirt seen on Davis earlier that evening. Everything I heard last week was noise and obfuscation.

[freekitty]

Look into the souls of those who lead the non death penalty and euthanasia; not the followers. This is about neither. It is about power of the sick minds who want to solely decide who lives or dies.

The people must retain the right to choose; not a few.

[SunTzuWu]

Opposition to the death penalty is all about the race of the perpetrator. Nothing else.

[BilLies]

Christopher Newsom, 23, and Channon Christian, 21, murders.

[Proud2BeRight]

The death penalty is a perfect deterrent. Nobody who has received the death penalty has ever become a repeat offender.

[central_va]

I think the condemned and lifers should be allowed to participate in gladiatorial sports. Hell PPV profits could go to the victims.

[RoadTest]

Genesis 9:6: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”

Numbers 35:30: “ Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.”

You could argue that’s that’s the Old Testament law and not for today, but I think it’s applicable today. The Manufacturer wrote this Owner’s Manual and man does not change.

[Sherman Logan]

John William King, presently on death row for this awful murder, claims he was repeatedly gang-raped by black inmates while in prison.

This is, of course, no excuse for the crime, and I have zero problem with executing these guys.

Here’s my question. Past abuse of blacks by whites is often used to mitigate black-on-white crimes, often when the abuse wasn’t even against the criminal personally, but only against ancestors or relatives or just members of his “group.” His rage against whites is portrayed as partially or fully justified, and by implication a crime in revenge against a random member of the victimizing group is therefore also partially or fully justified.

So why isn’t a person who was personally and repeatedly victimized in the most egregious way by members of a particular group not justified in feeling similar rage and taking similar action to revenge himself on a random member of the group that victimized him?

I don’t myself agree with either position, of course, but I don’t see how one can logically hold position A while utterly rejecting position B.

[beef]

I support the death penalty in part because it keeps all the death penalty lawyers tied up keeping their clients alive, which BTW is why executing someone is so expensive. If capital punishment were to be abolished today, these lawyers would not be going into real estate and wills. They will just move down to the next layer and start fighting life imprisonment. Having capital punishment makes life in prison a serious and certain sentence.

[Tex-Con-Man]

What rarely gets addressed in these discussions is the difference between “innocent” and “not guilty”.

The anti-death penalty activists can create doubt about the “guilt” of a death row inmate in the commission of the crime he has been convicted of, however, that does not make him “innocent” of committing the crime, nor does it absolve him of his criminal past. Try to find someone on death row who doesn't have an extensive criminal history. I've done it before, and it's difficult. And their record only reflects the times they were caught. As a general rule, you don't find first time offenders and petty thieves on death row.

There is a big difference between executing a person “not guilty” of the crime they were accused of, and executing an “innocent” man.

[Cracker Jack]

Kenneth McDuff should be mentioned in these discussions. In 1966, he murdered three people in Texas. He was convicted of all three and sentenced to three death sentences. However, McDuff's death sentences were commuted to a life sentence, which required a minimum of 10 years before parole. He was paroled in 1988 as a result of a court decision involving overcrowding.

After release, he continued murdering women almost immediately. At least seven murders were attributed to him, but he is a suspect in at least 10 more unsolved murders. He was finally arrested and convicted of one of the new murders in 1993. After all reviews and appeals were completed, he was finally executed in 1998.

It is an awful tragedy if an innocent is mistakenly executed. It an arguably a worse tragedy when a convicted murderer is released to murder one more innocent. McDuff murdered somewhere between 7 and 20 innocents after he had been sentenced to death in 1966.

Death penalty opponents should consider this situation before they worry about the morality of executing those found guilty after long review processes.

[Dilbert San Diego]

It did NOT escape my notice that the left did NOT say anything about the execution on the same day of the guy who dragged James Byrd behind a truck.

To be consistent, the left should protest ALL executions, not just those who they want to make the latest cause celebre.

But then, is the left ever consistent about their beliefs and issues they force on us?????

If the issue really is the death penalty, then why nothing to say about the execution of the killer of James Byrd? Or is it because that guy was a white supremacist, while Troy Davis was black?

Then again, Davis was convicted by a jury of 7 blacks and 5 whites, so how was it a racist conviction????

And how is it racist when we see both black and white convicts being executed?

Or do we just have to live with the fact that the left is inconsistent in how they apply a standard to a case at hand????

[JPG]

Many death penalty proponents could probably live with an iron clad life sentence with absolutely no possibility of parole. The problem is that bleeding hearts somewhere down the line would release them. Unless that is dealt with, keep the needles sharp and the chemicals flowing.

[Vaduz]

Opponents of the death penalty believe that no one deserves to be executed.
So child killers can live a long life in jail?.It’s a sick mind that supports that type of thinking.