10 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty

This blog post is brought to you by the number 10.  It was after 10 pm last night when Georgia put Brandon Rhode to death, less than a week after rushing madly to save his life after his failed suicide attempt.

October 10th, 2010 (10-10-10) will be World Day Against the Death Penalty, and the focus this year is on the USA.  There has never been a more important or better time to get involved in ending capital punishment in the USA, and here are 10 reasons why:

1) The death penalty is absurd and cruel.  The ridiculous spectacle of putting a man to death just days after saving his life, is a perfect illustration of that.

2) The death penalty is degrading.  It turns states into prescription drug abusers, killing prisoners with drugs like sodium thiopental that manufacturers are on record as stating should only be used to healing purposes.

3) High profile cases, often with racial undertones, create political pressures that can lead to police and prosecutor misconduct.  Reggie Clemons was convicted as an accomplice in the murder of two white women in St. Louis.  Four federal judges have agreed that the prosecutor’s conduct was “abusive and boorish,” and Clemons alleges police brutality during his questioning. Witnesses attest to Clemons’ face being swollen after his interrogation.

4) It is not limited to the “worst of the worst”.  A recent example: the execution of Teresa Lewis in Virginia on September 23; she was put to death as the “mastermind” of a crime despite her 72 IQ, and despite the fact that the men who actually carried out the crime did not get the death penalty.

5) The death penalty is not limited to cases where there is no doubt about guilt.  Convicted by flimsy witness testimony, and unable to exonerate himself with those same witnesses, Troy Davis remains on death row despite serious doubts about his guilt.  His birthday is on October 9!

6) The times are changing.  In Ohio, Governor Ted Strickland granted clemency in the case of Kevin Keith, despite his belief that Keith was probably guilty, because some doubt remained.

7) In Texas, a hearing on whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed will take place October 6-7.  Skepticism about the application of the death penalty continues to build in the Lone Star State.

8) Death sentences continue to drop.  Last year barely over 100 were sentenced to death , compared to an average of close to 300 in the 1990s.

9) One-by-one, states are abandoning capital punishment, particularly in odd numbered years. (New Jersey in 2007, New Mexico in 2009).  In the coming year (2011), many more states will have serious debates and possibly votes on abolition

10) There is so much that can be done for World Day Against the Death Penalty, from taking action on specific cases, to joining your local state-based coalition’s efforts to abolish the death penalty.

The death penalty abolition movement is growing, and some progress is being made, but there is a lot of work yet to be done.  This World Day is the perfect time to get started.

AIUSA welcomes a lively and courteous discussion that follow our Community Guidelines. Comments are not pre-screened before they post but AIUSA reserves the right to remove any comments violating our guidelines.

75 thoughts on “10 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty

  1. So many convicts become suicidal in maximum security prisons and in solitary confinement. Saving someone from the death penalty should never mean inflicting on them an even more unbearable pain and reducing them to wish they were dead. It is very important that living conditions should be humane in every correctional institution.

  2. The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. It is an example of double standards where the legal system tells someone that taking a life is wrong but then says that actually they are going to kill that someone because it's a legal punishment. NO-ONE has the right to take another's life. It is incomprehensible that we are still advocating the death penalty in the 21st century.

  3. I think it is a brilliant thing and should be brought in in more countries, sorry but that's my opinion, as long as it is governed well, there are people on this Earth that don't deserve to live!

    • and who say that they don't deserve to live? the reason why god brought that person to earth is because he think that person is good enough to be there. and i think you don't deserve to be on earth to!
      some of the people is not their fault they were born with mental problem, are you still saying that they don't deserve to live?

  4. That's right, Frances. No one has the right to take someone's life… only God does. Saving people's lives only to kill them again in spite of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other mental problems, even if said people like Brandon had committed triple-murders, is just plain DISGUSTING! It's just like playing God, to be certain.

  5. I don't believe it should be abolished. I believe the system and the culture we've created that requires we have such punishments in place needs to be totally changed. This is a symptom of a MUCH bigger problem. And trust me, these guys aren't all of low IQ or at the wrong place at the wrong time. I've met some of these monsters…unfortunately we have to have something in place (other than sucking off of society for the rest of their lives) to deal with the depravity this society has fostered.

  6. 1. the fact that most states execute people at night indoors with extremely limited number of witnesses and no live video coverage demonstrates conculsively that WE ARE ASHAMED OF WHAT WE ARE DOING, otherwise, executions would still take place outdoors, in daylight, in public.
    2. most states still use the lethal injection method designed by NAZI Josef Mengele to dispose of children after his experiments with them were finished.
    3. the death penalty has no heuristic value; hiding the event as we do sets no example; yet it is done in our name and makes killers of us all.

  7. So many convicts become suicidal in maximum security prisons and in solitary confinement. Saving someone from the death penalty should never mean inflicting on them an even more unbearable pain and reducing them to wish they were dead. It is very important that living conditions should be humane in every correctional institution.

  8. Other states are abolishing the death penalty. My state is putting in an express lane.

    Bring back the public executions! Bring ol' Sparky back out of retirement!

  9. The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. It is an example of double standards where the legal system tells someone that taking a life is wrong but then says that actually they are going to kill that someone because it’s a legal punishment. NO-ONE has the right to take another’s life. It is incomprehensible that we are still advocating the death penalty in the 21st century.

  10. I think it is a brilliant thing and should be brought in in more countries, sorry but that’s my opinion, as long as it is governed well, there are people on this Earth that don’t deserve to live!

  11. That’s right, Frances. No one has the right to take someone’s life… only God does. Saving people’s lives only to kill them again in spite of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other mental problems, even if said people like Brandon had committed triple-murders, is just plain DISGUSTING! It’s just like playing God, to be certain.

  12. I don’t believe it should be abolished. I believe the system and the culture we’ve created that requires we have such punishments in place needs to be totally changed. This is a symptom of a MUCH bigger problem. And trust me, these guys aren’t all of low IQ or at the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve met some of these monsters…unfortunately we have to have something in place (other than sucking off of society for the rest of their lives) to deal with the depravity this society has fostered.

  13. 1. the fact that most states execute people at night indoors with extremely limited number of witnesses and no live video coverage demonstrates conculsively that WE ARE ASHAMED OF WHAT WE ARE DOING, otherwise, executions would still take place outdoors, in daylight, in public.
    2. most states still use the lethal injection method designed by NAZI Josef Mengele to dispose of children after his experiments with them were finished.
    3. the death penalty has no heuristic value; hiding the event as we do sets no example; yet it is done in our name and makes killers of us all.

  14. Other states are abolishing the death penalty. My state is putting in an express lane.

    Bring back the public executions! Bring ol’ Sparky back out of retirement!

  15. I really wish I could support Amnesty International because of the good causes and good work they do. But as long as they spend the resources they do supporting child-murdering rapists and terrorists… I can't bring myself to donate one dime or any of my free-time.
    Drop the save the mass-murdering rapists and terrorists campaigns and I'm totally with you on REAL HUMAN RIGHTS issues.

  16. @Brian: many people in the death penalty abolition movement feel compelled to do this work for religious reasons, as we can see from comments made here. Although I agree in principle with them, this is not the reason I choose to work to abolish the death penalty. The simple fact of the matter is that the overwhelming number of cases of execution of the innocent, in an era when we live in an actual police state here, in America (www.dontfearyourfreedom.blogspot.com), means that something larger than vast racial bias, the broadening of the prison industrial complex, or law-and-order zealotry are at work here. That, alone, is reason enough to deprive the state of the power to administratively murder anyone. Each and every one of us could be Troy Davis.

    Thank you.

  17. @Brian: many people in the death penalty abolition movement feel compelled to do this work for religious reasons, as we can see from comments made here. Although I agree in principle with them, this is not the reason I choose to work to abolish the death penalty. The simple fact of the matter is that the overwhelming number of cases of execution of the innocent, in an era when we live in an actual police state here, in America (www.dontfearyourfreedom.blogspot.com), means that something larger than vast racial bias, the broadening of the prison industrial complex, or law-and-order zealotry are at work here. That, alone, is reason enough to deprive the state of the power to administratively murder anyone. Each and every one of us could be Troy Davis.

    Thank you.

  18. @Brian: many people in the death penalty abolition movement feel compelled to do this work for religious reasons, as we can see from comments made here. Although I agree in principle with them, this is not the reason I choose to work to abolish the death penalty. The simple fact of the matter is that the overwhelming number of cases of execution of the innocent, in an era when we live in an actual police state here, in America (www.dontfearyourfreedom.blogspot.com), means that something larger than vast racial bias, the broadening of the prison industrial complex, or law-and-order zealotry are at work here. That, alone, is reason enough to deprive the state of the power to administratively murder anyone. Each and every one of us could be Troy Davis.

    Thank you.

  19. I really wish I could support Amnesty International because of the good causes and good work they do. But as long as they spend the resources they do supporting child-murdering rapists and terrorists… I can’t bring myself to donate one dime or any of my free-time.
    Drop the save the mass-murdering rapists and terrorists campaigns and I’m totally with you on REAL HUMAN RIGHTS issues.

  20. @Brian: many people in the death penalty abolition movement feel compelled to do this work for religious reasons, as we can see from comments made here. Although I agree in principle with them, this is not the reason I choose to work to abolish the death penalty. The simple fact of the matter is that the overwhelming number of cases of execution of the innocent, in an era when we live in an actual police state here, in America (www.dontfearyourfreedom.blogspot.com), means that something larger than vast racial bias, the broadening of the prison industrial complex, or law-and-order zealotry are at work here. That, alone, is reason enough to deprive the state of the power to administratively murder anyone. Each and every one of us could be Troy Davis.

    Thank you.

  21. i say line em' up. lets get this chair outta retirement. texas should be the standard for all states. i am all for an eye for an eye. these monsters don't deserve to see another day after they do what they do. yep, i said it, i as a judge would have no problem with sentencing a man who tortured, raped, sodomized, and burned a little boy alive- to DEATH. and no waiting- sentencing- then action carried out in 1 week. no exceptions. i'm sick of paying for this trash with my money.

  22. The death sentence has NOTHING to do with "Crime".

    It's PRIMARILY about Politics.

    "Criminals" — real or imaginary — are the public sacrifices conducted by big politicians & the state on society's altars.

    The blood of "criminals" — small people who at most kill a few other fellow small people — covers & hides the blood of MILLIONS which encrust the hands of these politicians, the corporate heads, & their slaves, the police & the feds ….

    The REAL & MONSTROUS practitioners of organized STATE violence.

    They play you like organs with their fingers & foot pedals & pull your strings any which way they like to hoist their own careers, you who scream "An eye for an eye".

    The hangman's lariat flies highest when thrown by hands unweighed by thought or sense or logic beyond the instant.

    Beware the day your own rope will snag & hoist you, noose thrower !

    There may be no one to help you down that day.

  23. i say line em’ up. lets get this chair outta retirement. texas should be the standard for all states. i am all for an eye for an eye. these monsters don’t deserve to see another day after they do what they do. yep, i said it, i as a judge would have no problem with sentencing a man who tortured, raped, sodomized, and burned a little boy alive- to DEATH. and no waiting- sentencing- then action carried out in 1 week. no exceptions. i’m sick of paying for this trash with my money.

  24. The death sentence has NOTHING to do with “Crime”.

    It’s PRIMARILY about Politics.

    “Criminals” — real or imaginary — are the public sacrifices conducted by big politicians & the state on society’s altars.

    The blood of “criminals” — small people who at most kill a few other fellow small people — covers & hides the blood of MILLIONS which encrust the hands of these politicians, the corporate heads, & their slaves, the police & the feds ….

    The REAL & MONSTROUS practitioners of organized STATE violence.

    They play you like organs with their fingers & foot pedals & pull your strings any which way they like to hoist their own careers, you who scream “An eye for an eye”.

    The hangman’s lariat flies highest when thrown by hands unweighed by thought or sense or logic beyond the instant.

    Beware the day your own rope will snag & hoist you, noose thrower !

    There may be no one to help you down that day.

  25. My cousin was killed by Eric Nenno when she was seven years old it devastated my family when he was executed it finally did bring us peace so all you antis needed to think about that before you start running to the defense of the pieces of trash.

  26. My cousin was killed by Eric Nenno when she was seven years old it devastated my family when he was executed it finally did bring us peace so all you antis needed to think about that before you start running to the defense of the pieces of trash.

  27. Dear Lee,

    That's precisely it.

    "Trash" didn't take your cousin's life.

    Countles more lives will be lost if we continue to see just "trash" as the problem.

    We must go to the deep, social ROOTS of the tree which bears the poison fruit.

    Getting rid of the fruit is not going to bring closure to anyone.

    Get to the root.

  28. Dear Lee,

    That’s precisely it.

    “Trash” didn’t take your cousin’s life.

    Countles more lives will be lost if we continue to see just “trash” as the problem.

    We must go to the deep, social ROOTS of the tree which bears the poison fruit.

    Getting rid of the fruit is not going to bring closure to anyone.

    Get to the root.

  29. Two problems:

    1) The death penalty puts someone else in the position of having to kill in a premeditated manner. I once talked to a guard in a maximum security prison who changed his position on the death penalty (from pro to con) for just this reason.

    2) The very people who claim to be right to lifers and fight so hard to bring the unborn into this world – many of them into horrific circumstances are the same ones who fight against providing them with the means to live in a social structure by which they could reasonably grow into law abiding citizens and then when they become the type of citizens that their social circumstances mold them to become, BINGO! the self-same folks who fought to save the fetus, don't want to save the sinner.

  30. Some of the intellectuals and some of you are aghast at the site of abolishing the death penalty. Moreover your points are that the death penalty solve the economics of serial crimes committed by perpetrators who viewed human beings as either objects or pests within the community. Sure I do agree with you to a certain extent that if we removed these serial criminals (through the death penalty) then we have put a stop to their beillegerent actions. But let me once ask you, whether the state killing the serial perpetrator is akin to the actions of the killer as well? Killing these perpetrators only serve to dirty our hands, our psyche and satify our spiritual angst but the victims are still dead and we need to give them peace. As such serial perpetrators only deserve life imprisonment and the hope is that they can also redeem their acts on this earth and pay for all their crimes. Vengeful killing only satisfy our angst and we actually let the assisted the perpetrator into state-assisted-suicide and therefore he or she does not have to answer to those responsibilities…we let them go!

  31. Two problems:

    1) The death penalty puts someone else in the position of having to kill in a premeditated manner. I once talked to a guard in a maximum security prison who changed his position on the death penalty (from pro to con) for just this reason.

    2) The very people who claim to be right to lifers and fight so hard to bring the unborn into this world – many of them into horrific circumstances are the same ones who fight against providing them with the means to live in a social structure by which they could reasonably grow into law abiding citizens and then when they become the type of citizens that their social circumstances mold them to become, BINGO! the self-same folks who fought to save the fetus, don’t want to save the sinner.

  32. Life in prison is the only way to go out of humane sake. A murder of passion where a man catches his best friend in bed with his wife and kills them for example. A15 year old is tried as an adult for killing the kids who constantly hazed him, for example. not all murders are the same. Some people are found Innocent after being sentenced to death. The death penalty should be abolished for a lot of reasons.

  33. Some of the intellectuals and some of you are aghast at the site of abolishing the death penalty. Moreover your points are that the death penalty solve the economics of serial crimes committed by perpetrators who viewed human beings as either objects or pests within the community. Sure I do agree with you to a certain extent that if we removed these serial criminals (through the death penalty) then we have put a stop to their beillegerent actions. But let me once ask you, whether the state killing the serial perpetrator is akin to the actions of the killer as well? Killing these perpetrators only serve to dirty our hands, our psyche and satify our spiritual angst but the victims are still dead and we need to give them peace. As such serial perpetrators only deserve life imprisonment and the hope is that they can also redeem their acts on this earth and pay for all their crimes. Vengeful killing only satisfy our angst and we actually let the assisted the perpetrator into state-assisted-suicide and therefore he or she does not have to answer to those responsibilities…we let them go!

  34. Life in prison is the only way to go out of humane sake. A murder of passion where a man catches his best friend in bed with his wife and kills them for example. A15 year old is tried as an adult for killing the kids who constantly hazed him, for example. not all murders are the same. Some people are found Innocent after being sentenced to death. The death penalty should be abolished for a lot of reasons.

  35. Empirical studies (Christie, 2007) show that death penalty does not deter the population (we do not learn from mistakes of the others 🙂 Therefore there is no reason for death penalty not to be abolish. However, the alternative to penal law is a treatment, which has got a high potential.

  36. My son was murdered in Texas in 1995. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His killer is in prison for life. If they had given him the death penalty, I would have fought it. It is inhumane and barbaric! NO ONE has the right to take another human life, period! Hate breeds hate and love breeds love. I forgave my son's killer and am able to sleep at night without a heart full of hate. Someone told me I didnt love my son or I would want his killer dead. What a hateful thing to say! I loved my son more than life itself! ITS TIME TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF HATE!

  37. Empirical studies (Christie, 2007) show that death penalty does not deter the population (we do not learn from mistakes of the others 🙂 Therefore there is no reason for death penalty not to be abolish. However, the alternative to penal law is a treatment, which has got a high potential.

  38. My son was murdered in Texas in 1995. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His killer is in prison for life. If they had given him the death penalty, I would have fought it. It is inhumane and barbaric! NO ONE has the right to take another human life, period! Hate breeds hate and love breeds love. I forgave my son’s killer and am able to sleep at night without a heart full of hate. Someone told me I didnt love my son or I would want his killer dead. What a hateful thing to say! I loved my son more than life itself! ITS TIME TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF HATE!

  39. I admire Karyn Kennedy for her ability to forgive her son's killer. I can see her way of thinking.
    It is time for the death penalty to end ……..it doesn't accomplish anything positive.

  40. I admire Karyn Kennedy for her ability to forgive her son’s killer. I can see her way of thinking.
    It is time for the death penalty to end ……..it doesn’t accomplish anything positive.

  41. Lee,

    I lost my good friend & his mother (who was like a mother to me) to violent crime. I am glad that the killer did not receive the death penalty. Murdering another human being at the expense of my grief will not bring back my two loved ones.

    No, I cannot forgive him, but I know, his death will not lessen mine nor bring back the lives we lost.

    Beyond that, many mistakes are made in our legal system. Could I live with myself if perhaps the police had captured the wrong person & they had been wrongly convicted and executed? Would I be just as bad as the murderers then? For taking an innocent life for my own grief? No, I don't think so.

  42. Forgive me but the ending of my comment sounds awkward.

    I meant to say, I would be just as bad as the "murders" for taking an innocent life for my own grief & emotions. Opps.

  43. Lee,

    I lost my good friend & his mother (who was like a mother to me) to violent crime. I am glad that the killer did not receive the death penalty. Murdering another human being at the expense of my grief will not bring back my two loved ones.

    No, I cannot forgive him, but I know, his death will not lessen mine nor bring back the lives we lost.

    Beyond that, many mistakes are made in our legal system. Could I live with myself if perhaps the police had captured the wrong person & they had been wrongly convicted and executed? Would I be just as bad as the murderers then? For taking an innocent life for my own grief? No, I don’t think so.

  44. Forgive me but the ending of my comment sounds awkward.

    I meant to say, I would be just as bad as the “murders” for taking an innocent life for my own grief & emotions. Opps.

  45. I am neutral on this subject, and hoping to be convinced to be against the death penalty. This list, however, is out of context and only weakens the argument in my mind.
    Here is why: by listing it as a ridiculous spectacle, there needs to be more explanation to this opinion: saving ones life (I don't understand this…was the person in danger of death before being put on death row?) and then being killed "a few days later." People usually wait for years before being killed, and this time in between is usually so a trial and other legalities can occur. Not to make it ironic!
    #2: "It turns states into prescription drug abusers, killing prisoners with drugs like sodium thiopental that manufacturers are on record as stating should only be used to healing purposes." Of course a manufacturer isn't going to say to use it to hurt people! Just like a box of marbles shouldn't say "swallow because there is a choking hazard" or bags of potato chips saying, "eat this all the time because it will fill your blood vessels with plaque." That is an irrelevant argument here. Some people might think that it's degrading that states don't do enough to punish criminals that rape children and murder people.
    #3 – #7: If you want to use individual cases for half of your list that's fine. It's hard to be convinced when there is a possibility that these short case summaries can easily be out of context. In #3, it is very hard to assume something happened because of some kind of racial undertones. I would be upset with someone who murdered two white women, no matter what color he/she was and I agree with not beating them in the face during an interrogation. And I think that lawyers should be able to be accused of acting boorishly, and after a number of cases in doing so, being disbarred. #4: Just because you have an IQ of 72 (a subjective test score), does not mean that you are too stupid to manipulate other people into doing what you want them to. It also does not excuse you from your actions.

  46. continued…
    #5 and #6 and #7: I completely agree that if there is any doubt, the death penalty should not occur. Zero exceptions. This is reasonable doubt of course. [Claiming that someone had a heart attack before the bullet hit them is NOT reasonable.]
    #8-10: These don't seem to be reasons. They are statistics of how it's been going. This does nothing to convince me to be against the death penalty because they are more like "follow the crowd" statistics.
    In conclusion, it looks like in the next 100 years, maybe even less, it is likely that the death penalty might not exist anymore. I agree that there is a higher state of being that excludes this form of punishment. I, however, still cannot sympathize with anyone who murders or rapes people. Enough that I would turn a cold shoulder to them if they were on death row, not really caring, I would not lose sleep. People like that do not deserve to exist anymore.

  47. I am neutral on this subject, and hoping to be convinced to be against the death penalty. This list, however, is out of context and only weakens the argument in my mind.
    Here is why: by listing it as a ridiculous spectacle, there needs to be more explanation to this opinion: saving ones life (I don’t understand this…was the person in danger of death before being put on death row?) and then being killed “a few days later.” People usually wait for years before being killed, and this time in between is usually so a trial and other legalities can occur. Not to make it ironic!
    #2: “It turns states into prescription drug abusers, killing prisoners with drugs like sodium thiopental that manufacturers are on record as stating should only be used to healing purposes.” Of course a manufacturer isn’t going to say to use it to hurt people! Just like a box of marbles shouldn’t say “swallow because there is a choking hazard” or bags of potato chips saying, “eat this all the time because it will fill your blood vessels with plaque.” That is an irrelevant argument here. Some people might think that it’s degrading that states don’t do enough to punish criminals that rape children and murder people.
    #3 – #7: If you want to use individual cases for half of your list that’s fine. It’s hard to be convinced when there is a possibility that these short case summaries can easily be out of context. In #3, it is very hard to assume something happened because of some kind of racial undertones. I would be upset with someone who murdered two white women, no matter what color he/she was and I agree with not beating them in the face during an interrogation. And I think that lawyers should be able to be accused of acting boorishly, and after a number of cases in doing so, being disbarred. #4: Just because you have an IQ of 72 (a subjective test score), does not mean that you are too stupid to manipulate other people into doing what you want them to. It also does not excuse you from your actions.

  48. continued…
    #5 and #6 and #7: I completely agree that if there is any doubt, the death penalty should not occur. Zero exceptions. This is reasonable doubt of course. [Claiming that someone had a heart attack before the bullet hit them is NOT reasonable.]
    #8-10: These don’t seem to be reasons. They are statistics of how it’s been going. This does nothing to convince me to be against the death penalty because they are more like “follow the crowd” statistics.
    In conclusion, it looks like in the next 100 years, maybe even less, it is likely that the death penalty might not exist anymore. I agree that there is a higher state of being that excludes this form of punishment. I, however, still cannot sympathize with anyone who murders or rapes people. Enough that I would turn a cold shoulder to them if they were on death row, not really caring, I would not lose sleep. People like that do not deserve to exist anymore.

  49. @Jess — Simple economics might convince you that the death penalty should be abolished. It costs the State much more to have a prisoner on death row for 10-12 years (the average length of the appeals process) due to the solitary cell, extra guards, etc., PLUS the lengthy legal process costs the State hundreds of thousands in fighting the appeals. And remember that the State is paying both sides — both defense and prosecutor, because usually those on death row are indigent and the State has to provide a lawyer and the expenses that go with them.

    It is FAR LESS COSTLY to sentence a criminal to Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP). The appeals are much shorter, because the convicted is not fighting for his very life. Confinement in GenPop is much less expensive than keeping someone on death row. It is just plain cheaper for the State.

    The death penalty has no deterrent effect on crime. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to carry out, due to the appeals process and the extra expense of keeping someone segregated on death row. So why do it? Why not simply sentence them to LWOP and be done with it?

  50. @Jess — Simple economics might convince you that the death penalty should be abolished. It costs the State much more to have a prisoner on death row for 10-12 years (the average length of the appeals process) due to the solitary cell, extra guards, etc., PLUS the lengthy legal process costs the State hundreds of thousands in fighting the appeals. And remember that the State is paying both sides — both defense and prosecutor, because usually those on death row are indigent and the State has to provide a lawyer and the expenses that go with them.

    It is FAR LESS COSTLY to sentence a criminal to Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP). The appeals are much shorter, because the convicted is not fighting for his very life. Confinement in GenPop is much less expensive than keeping someone on death row. It is just plain cheaper for the State.

    The death penalty has no deterrent effect on crime. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to carry out, due to the appeals process and the extra expense of keeping someone segregated on death row. So why do it? Why not simply sentence them to LWOP and be done with it?

  51. Could someone from Amnesty explain how they can be ANTI death penalty under all circumstances and PRO abortion under certain limited circumstances (e.g. rape and incest etc)?

    In each case, the state has taken a life, right?

  52. Could someone from Amnesty explain how they can be ANTI death penalty under all circumstances and PRO abortion under certain limited circumstances (e.g. rape and incest etc)?

    In each case, the state has taken a life, right?

  53. Mango-

    KILL the tiny, silent, innocent and most defenseless among us (unborn babies), SAVE the terrorists, the mass murders, and child raping-murderers.

    Not a peep EVER (except occasionally defending "PRO-CHOICE")… but each time the state puts one of these pure-evil "humans" to death all an uproar.

    Complete SILENCE from a "Human Rights" organization as to the Human Rights for the silent and most defenseless among us.

    Pretty mixed up priorities huh?

  54. Mango-

    KILL the tiny, silent, innocent and most defenseless among us (unborn babies), SAVE the terrorists, the mass murders, and child raping-murderers.

    Not a peep EVER (except occasionally defending “PRO-CHOICE”)… but each time the state puts one of these pure-evil “humans” to death all an uproar.

    Complete SILENCE from a “Human Rights” organization as to the Human Rights for the silent and most defenseless among us.

    Pretty mixed up priorities huh?

  55. @Brian: I reiterate my comment above, and I'd also like to point out the fact that a comsistent two-thirds of the world's population (including, apparently, Jesus) have testified to their experience of past lives. I am one such person. I have never not known I am a reincarnated spirit, because I ensouled at my birth. Research (by Harvard psychiatrist Brian Weiss, in particular) has taught us that souls incarnate at different times in their evolution – some, who don't decide to stay here permanently until they are well into childhood (these are people who testify to their astral, or out-of-body experiences as infants and toddlers). Not even St. Augustine – who spent a considerable amount of his time trying to decide a definitive time when we ensouled – could tell us an absolute time when we ensoul. Ergo, it seems to be (1) a process, and (2) as different for each human being as the time we get our baby teeth, or first gray hair. Perhaps you should spend your time contemplating how best to become the unique being YOU are and stop looking for ways to unChristianly demonize and torment other people. Be self-directed, instead of a brainwashed hater. It may feel uncomfortable at first to give up your persistent antiChristic hater activities and community, but just remember that doing so is one step closer to being able to create the kingdom of G_d Jesus assured us we could with our own hands. Thank you.

  56. @Brian: I reiterate my comment above, and I’d also like to point out the fact that a comsistent two-thirds of the world’s population (including, apparently, Jesus) have testified to their experience of past lives. I am one such person. I have never not known I am a reincarnated spirit, because I ensouled at my birth. Research (by Harvard psychiatrist Brian Weiss, in particular) has taught us that souls incarnate at different times in their evolution – some, who don’t decide to stay here permanently until they are well into childhood (these are people who testify to their astral, or out-of-body experiences as infants and toddlers). Not even St. Augustine – who spent a considerable amount of his time trying to decide a definitive time when we ensouled – could tell us an absolute time when we ensoul. Ergo, it seems to be (1) a process, and (2) as different for each human being as the time we get our baby teeth, or first gray hair. Perhaps you should spend your time contemplating how best to become the unique being YOU are and stop looking for ways to unChristianly demonize and torment other people. Be self-directed, instead of a brainwashed hater. It may feel uncomfortable at first to give up your persistent antiChristic hater activities and community, but just remember that doing so is one step closer to being able to create the kingdom of G_d Jesus assured us we could with our own hands. Thank you.

  57. Hi Saoirse……………..I like your reply……………
    I am a christian but with an open mind.

  58. Hi Saoirse……………..I like your reply……………
    I am a christian but with an open mind.

  59. We human don't have the right to take someone life,only God has this right.It is an extension of violence by the society.There is always a hope for rehabilitation.

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