Money for Nothing

February 25, 2009 at 5:45 PM

The death penalty costs money – more money than the alternatives – and, as Wonkette notes “basically every state in the union is broke”.  This is why (or at least one of the reasons why) more states than ever before are having serious death penalty repeal debates.  In Kansas, a Republican Senator has filed an abolition bill, telling FoxNews.com: “This will save significant money — money that could be used toward education programs and toward community corrections programs.”  In Colorado, they don’t have enough money to solve cold cases, and a bill to pass along the savings from death penalty abolition to create a cold case unit has passed its first hurdle.  New Hampshire suspended jury trials for an entire month to save money, and they haven’t executed anyone since 1939 – so why do they still have the death penalty?

Of course, the death penalty is a fundamental human rights violation, so even if it were dirt cheap, it would still be wrong and deserving of total abolition.  But it’s not cheap at all … and we can’t afford it.

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8 thoughts on “Money for Nothing”

  1. There is still no news from you about Edward Nathaniel Bell, so I fear that he is presumed killed by the state of Virginia for murder last week in spite of the evidence of his innocence and mental retardation that was ignored by the courts, along with faulty eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, not to mention the mitigating evidence that was denied at the time of his conviction. Someone should file a lawsuit against the Virginia courts for corruption, arbitrariness and acts of injustice and lynching against Bell. As for me, I shouldn't worry about it, because I believe that the soul of Bell is now in a bettter place where there is no more injustice, but lasting peace. My condolences to Bell's family and to the victim's family as well (though the latter is deluded into getting so-called "justice, closure and peace" on Bell's lynching without knowing the real killer is still around). We will not give up!

  2. Edward Bell was executed in Virginia. Afterwards, James G. Connell III, one of Bell's attorneys, said: "Eddie Bell was executed even though the federal court and the trial prosecutor agreed that his lawyers utterly failed him. If anyone believes that the system will catch and correct errors in capital cases, Bell's death should shake their confidence in the fairness and consistency of the death penalty."

  3. There is still no news from you about Edward Nathaniel Bell, so I fear that he is presumed killed by the state of Virginia for murder last week in spite of the evidence of his innocence and mental retardation that was ignored by the courts, along with faulty eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, not to mention the mitigating evidence that was denied at the time of his conviction. Someone should file a lawsuit against the Virginia courts for corruption, arbitrariness and acts of injustice and lynching against Bell. As for me, I shouldn’t worry about it, because I believe that the soul of Bell is now in a bettter place where there is no more injustice, but lasting peace. My condolences to Bell’s family and to the victim’s family as well (though the latter is deluded into getting so-called “justice, closure and peace” on Bell’s lynching without knowing the real killer is still around). We will not give up!

  4. Edward Bell was executed in Virginia. Afterwards, James G. Connell III, one of Bell’s attorneys, said: “Eddie Bell was executed even though the federal court and the trial prosecutor agreed that his lawyers utterly failed him. If anyone believes that the system will catch and correct errors in capital cases, Bell’s death should shake their confidence in the fairness and consistency of the death penalty.”

  5. Thank you, Brian Evans. May Eddie Bell and the police officer rest in the eternal peace and the justice that was long denied for them on earth, both in the arms of God. 🙁

  6. Thank you, Brian Evans. May Eddie Bell and the police officer rest in the eternal peace and the justice that was long denied for them on earth, both in the arms of God. 🙁

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