Posted on 02/17/2015 1:02:47 PM PST by jazusamo
Attorney General Eric Holder called Tuesday for a national moratorium on the death penalty until the Supreme Court weighs in on the issue later this year.
Our system of justice is the best in the world. It is comprised of men and women who do the best they can, get it right more often than not, substantially more right than wrong. But there's always the possibility that mistakes will be made, he said.
It is one thing to put somebody in jail for an extended period of time, have some new test that you can do and determine that person was, in fact, innocent. There is no ability to correct a mistake where somebody has, in fact, been executed. And that is from my perspective the ultimate nightmare.
Holder went on to say he disagrees with Justice Antonin Scalia, who has said the U.S. has never executed an innocent person.
Its inevitable, he said during a luncheon at the National Press Club.
Late last month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal the from death row inmates in Oklahoma who are challenging the states procedures for lethal injections.
"I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court makes that decision would be appropriate," Holder said.
They case follows the execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett, 38, who died of a heart attack after receiving the first part of the three-drug cocktail.
According to media reports, he writhed in pain and clenched his teeth before ultimately succumbing to cardiac failure. Lockett was convicted of shooting a 19-year-old woman in 1999 and watching as accomplices buried her alive.
President Obama called the botched execution deeply troubling and ordered a federal review of the countrys use of the death penalty, including state protocols for administering capital punishment.
Holder said the review is still underway.
I dont think it will be completed during my time as attorney general, he said.
The Justice Department previously said Holder hoped to complete the review before he left office.
Democrat Ticket for 2016
Weiner/Holder
So according to Holder, we should screw the victims of violent crime by letting the perps enjoy three hots and a cot for life courtesy of the American taxpayer...?
WOULD that moratorium on executions conveniently include those to be convicted of treason, subversion, and acting as enemy agents?
just curious
Botched? the scumbag is dead - sounds pretty successful to me.
They usually don’t.
This must be the latest commie cause. In PA the Democrat governor just declared a moratorium on state executions. Thing is, PA has executed maybe 3 people in 30 years. The death penalty in PA is a joke. Death row inmates live out their lives in relative comfort at taxpayer expense.
Doesn’t work on the Christian end either. If Christ is against the death penalty, why did He pay it for us? He could have saved Himself a lot of grief by saying the death penalty is not legitimate instead....
Agree with you both.
Someone explain why it’s so difficult to anesthetically put someone to death without them writhing in pain.
People are put to sleep and their hearts cut open, their brains cut open, etc.
People kill themselves painlessly I think with carbon monoxide from an engine exhaust.
Yep, libs have been chipping away at the death penalty for years. I hand it to Texas and Florida, they carry executions out.
There is a scripture where God says something about ‘I knew you before you were in the womb’. If a so-called Christian wants to claim a fetus is not a baby, how do they explain that?
Holder sure does love monsters, criminals and lowlifes...
He’s hoping he can get it done before he and Obama are sentenced for treason.
They can’t. I was just saying the Christian argument doesn’t work for abortion or against the death penalty. Wrong on both counts!
Holder is grandstanding solely because he is black. it is a racist thing
What he thinks is irrelevant
Executions are the provence of the states
Exactly, however he and 0bambam don’t believe in states rights.
His candid statements are actually frightening, since they show the open, brazen, and growing contempt that the political class has for the "unwashed" masses.
Just wait until the pardons start
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