Death Row Stories On CNN

[CarolKing]

Ive always had mixed opinions about the death penalty. I end up going back and forth in my mind about it. As it stands now how I'm feeling today is I'm against if. There are too many stories of folks going to death or spending 20 years in prison for something they didn't do.

The folks that have money to spend on a lawyer are the ones that get off or get a lighter sentence. So the whole process doesn't seem fair to me. Below I copied, this is one of the times when I think the death penalty applies. Especially for the older guy. But like I said I go back and forth about the issues. Probably a lot of you do to.
This story is just pure evil. The men had been seen driving away in the family's car.

The Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders occurred on July 23, 2007. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters were murdered, while her husband, Dr. William Petit, was injured during a home invasion in Cheshire, Connecticut.[1]The Hartford Courant referred to the case as "possibly the most widely publicized crime in the state's history".[2] In 2010 Steven Hayes was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. His accomplice, Joshua Komisarjevsky, was found guilty on October 13, 2011, and sentenced to death on January 27, 2012.[3] In August 2015 the state of Connecticut abolished the death penalty, which means that both Hayes and Komisarjevsky would have their death sentences turned into life sentences.[4]


I've been watching Death Row Stories on CNN and I'm leaning against the death penalty. Another controversial thread I think we can be grown ups. Be on your best behavior and you know who you are.

 

[Joel W.]

I am for it if there is absolutely no doubt the person did it, but that is rarely the case. so ya.

Love your posts, CK

 

[macbill]

I don't believe the death penalty stops others from killing. It is not a deterrent for crazies who kill. It is revenge killing, pure and simple. To condemn "Killing" by killing doesn't benefit society. It costs more to kill them than to house repugnant criminals. Just ask Arizona and the Jodi Arias circus. It costs too much to kill people, and we get it wrong sometimes. For the less cynical, many Lifers find Jesus, and that should jive with lots of folks. Finally, Blacks and Browns get executed far more frequently than whites for similar crimes. You'd think Society as a whole would recognize fewer killings are better than more killings.

 

[z9]

I don't believe the death penalty stops others from killing. It is not a deterrent for crazies who kill. It is revenge killing, pure and simple. To condemn "Killing" by killing doesn't benefit society. It costs more to kill them than to house repugnant criminals. Just ask Arizona and the Jodi Arias circus. It costs too much to kill people, and we get it wrong sometimes. For the less cynical, many Lifers find Jesus, and that should jive with lots of folks. Finally, Blacks and Browns get executed far more frequently than whites for similar crimes. You'd think Society as a whole would recognize fewer killings are better than more killings.

Its terrible to think that the wrongfully accused can be put to death... I have mixed feelings about the death penalty. The cost being the main contributor of my belief in it. I would love to be convinced otherwise.


Can you please list a source on the costs of lifelong imprisonment vs the death penalty? I always thought it was cheaper to put someone to death than hold them in prison for their entire life.

 

[CarolKing]

@macbill i always love how you explain things. I agree it's like a revenge killing. What about the wrongfully accused? That I think is the most important factor in all this. Also if you have money you have more of a chance to get off or get a lighter sentence. It's the poor and minorities that fill our jails.

I'm not sure how I would feel about the death penalty if it was my loved one murdered?

EDIT
Famous people get off on murder charges I've noticed. What about Robert Blake and OJ Simpson? Evidence pointed to both being guilty.

With DNA evidence now it shows there have been a lot of mistakes made along the way.

 

[macbill]

Can you please list a source on the costs of lifelong imprisonment vs the death penalty?

Costs by state: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

Considering The Death Penalty: Your Tax Dollars At Work

I'm not sure how I would feel about the death penalty if it was my loved one murdered?

For sure. I'd want to be the one who gets to kill the one who killed my loved one. Sounds like revenge to me. What else does it satisfy? And your right: "Money talks and bullshit walks" see:

The Cost of Bail

Innocent folk can't make bail: lose jobs, ruins lives. Poor folk are at a distinct disadvantage in our justice system.

 

[Joel W.]

I guess my issue is, if you have to spend that much on trying to prove someone guilty or innocent, then maybe they should not be on death row in the first place.. Save that for the person that wants to die and owns their crimes, has dozens of witnesses or overwhelming video evidence that proves clearly who is guilty.

 

[macbill]

Save that for the person that wants to die and owns their crimes

Heck, we mostly won't even let mortally sick people choose the time of their death.

 

[VapourHaze]

Death penalty should be abolished ... as stated before .. it is just revenge killing, which cannot be justified.

Now if i was king of the land and ruler of the universe i probably would tolchock all the peados and rapists but unfortunately these decisions and choices shouldnt be made by other people.

 

[CarolKing]

It talked about how the executioners, the person that gives the lethal injection have difficulty dealing with the aftermath of feelings of guilt and shame. Many have ended up committing suicide. The ones that survive deal with post traumatic distress. Should we be asking anybody to do this gruesome job?

@macbill Good point about how terminally ill people can't even choose their time of death. I liked Dr. Korvorkian may he rest in peace.

 

[bella]

I am resolutely opposed to the death penalty but i understand why people might think it's a viable response to hideous crimes. Some crimes are just so awful and cruel that our first response is 'how can such a person be allowed to live?'


Some years ago there was a massacre in my country where the gunman killed many people and also chased down two young girls (i think they were about 5 years old - sisters). The gunman killed their mother then chased these little girls and murdered them too. It was the most hideous thing that my country had ever experienced and resulted in our well-known ban on guns (an argument for another time). This crime really made me examine my views on the death penalty. It was difficult not to want this person executed.

There is no death penalty here and the gunman was imprisoned for life. He is a non-person who no longer exists. He is never referred to by name and is rotting away in prison where he belongs. He is not notorious or famous and i bet most young people have no idea about him. We talk about the victims and the brave heroes from that day but never the gunman. He has nothing and is nobody. I believe that if we had sentenced him to death he would be (in)famous and his name would be known and people would have lobbied for mercy for him and turned him into the victim

Locking this bastard away forever meant that we could forget about him and concentrate on supporting the families of the victims. I believe that the death penalty turns the focus on to the criminal at the expense of the victims and i would prefer the criminals to be locked away forever and completely forgotten.


(If you want to know the whole story, google 'port arthur massacre tasmania')

 

[CarolKing]

Back in 1981 there was a bank in an area that was somewhat remote even though it was right off the freeway. In fact it was in like a mobile building. I think eventually they wanted to build a more permanent bank. I had thought to myself what a weird place for a bank? I think because it was a growing area. Eventually a man robbed the bank and killed the two young tellers that were working there by themselves. Both young mothers.

Eventually this man was caught, they had him on camera the evidence was there. He recieved the death penalty. At the time in the state that I lived in had hanging of all things as the means of execution. This man stayed in prison a long time and ate until he was huge. Now his appeal to death was he was too heavy (425 lbs) to be hanged because he would be decapited. I know it's a hideous thought. Eventually this person died in prison probably 10 or so years ago, probably because of obesity. He was in his 20s when he murdered these too young mothers.

They changed execution to lethal injection eventually. Now our current governor has a hold on all execution while he's in office.

So if you murder someone in Texas you have more of a chance of execution than say the state that I live in. The laws are all over the place from state to state. It's that way with everything. I think laws need to be more streamlined, especially something as important as this.

 

[VapourHaze]

I am resolutely opposed to the death penalty but i understand why people might think it's a viable response to hideous crimes. Some crimes are just so awful and cruel that our first response is 'how can such a person be allowed to live?'


Some years ago there was a massacre in my country where the gunman killed many people and also chased down two young girls (i think they were about 5 years old - sisters). The gunman killed their mother then chased these little girls and murdered them too. It was the most hideous thing that my country had ever experienced and resulted in our well-known ban on guns (an argument for another time). This crime really made me examine my views on the death penalty. It was difficult not to want this person executed.

There is no death penalty here and the gunman was imprisoned for life. He is a non-person who no longer exists. He is never referred to by name and is rotting away in prison where he belongs. He is not notorious or famous and i bet most young people have no idea about him. We talk about the victims and the brave heroes from that day but never the gunman. He has nothing and is nobody. I believe that if we had sentenced him to death he would be (in)famous and his name would be known and people would have lobbied for mercy for him and turned him into the victim

Locking this bastard away forever meant that we could forget about him and concentrate on supporting the families of the victims. I believe that the death penalty turns the focus on to the criminal at the expense of the victims and i would prefer the criminals to be locked away forever and completely forgotten.


(If you want to know the whole story, google 'port arthur massacre tasmania')

Yes ive read articles on how the media portray these people in exactly the wrong way ... These kinds of events in the usa will recieve prime time media vilifying (actually glorifying) the murderer .. this actually promotes and incentivises other people with similar ideas so carry out these acts and to become infamous killers.

 

[CarolKing]

I wish the media wouldn't glorify serial killers. CNN is doing another special on Charles Manson . Another major network is doing TV program with Charles Manson who was involved with the murder of Sharon Tate among others are included as the backdrop to the series. I haven't watched it, only the previews.
I think Europe has it right. Talk about the victims not the killers.

Ted Bundy was executed after many years and there was over whelming evidence that he murdered all those women and one child. He even broke out of jail and went on the run again and killed more women. That's when he also killed a little girl. He admitted finally to the murders towards the end, after all appeals were over.

When crazy people started shooting up schools in the U.S that's all we heard about for weeks on the news. The Columbine High School in Colorado started it off. That just brought on more copycat killings. Before we knew it, this became something that seemed to happen a couple of times a year. The media has to share some of the the blame too IMO.

Now there is theater shootings that we have to worry about. Uh oh I'm morphing into the gun thread. Back on subject.

edit
@macbill maybe that is why society seems to be so ficsated on murderers. Why would someone do something so horrendous and evil. We can't understand why? Someone wants to die so they decide to take out as many folks as possible on their way out. In the situation death by cop.

 

[macbill]

I believe the sensationalism contributes to crazies looking to make a splash in Society. But contribution doesn't explain the crazy. How can hurting inside translate into hurting strangers? Where do we teach life is so meaningless? Why does the crazy believe killing others is payback for an unhappy life? It's just so fucking crazy.

 

[CarolKing]

Richard Glossip, 2014
(Janelle Stecklein)

Glossip has always maintained his innocence, ever since he was arrested in the winter of 1997 for a grisly killing that authorities prosecuted as a murder-for-hire. It is true that he himself did not kill anyone — a 19-year-old man named Justin Sneed confessed to police that he beat the victim to death with a baseball bat — but Glossip was identified as the “mastermind” behind the crime. Sneed, who worked for Glossip, claimed his boss pressured him to carry out the murder, offering him employment opportunities and several thousand dollars in return. There was very little additional evidence to back up his claims, but Sneed nevertheless was able to secure the state’s conviction of Glossip, saving himself from death row. Today, Sneed is serving life without parole at a medium security prison in Lexington, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Glossip faces execution, while continuing to insist he had nothing to do with the murder. Last January, he came within a day of being executed and was in the process of saying goodbye to family when the Supreme Court granted certiorari to his lethal injection challenge.

“I’m trying to stop them from killing me by any method, because of the fact that I’m innocent.”
Glossip has some outspoken supporters, including family members, the longtime anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, as well as his former defense attorney, Wayne Fournerat, who was adamant in a conversation with The Intercept that his former client is innocent.

Susan Surranden was on Dr. Phil talking about this man. She strongly believes he's innocent. She's desperately trying to get a stay of execution from the Governor. He's scheduled to die around the middle of September. Sister Helen Prejean is also fighting to get a stay of execution, she is the character, that Susan Surranden portrays in the movie Dead Man Walking. She's an advocate for the men on death row.

Sisterhelen.org

Call the governor of Oklahoma

 

[CarolKing]

I thought I would dust off this controversial thread that I started a long time ago. A subject that I am interested in.

The jury is out still with determining whether Dylan Roof will be executed or given the death penalty. He is the young man who murdered I think 9 people in a church. The members were all black. To me this young man seems to be mentally ill. Evidently experts determined he wasn't insane.

I'm no expert but I've been around plenty of young people with severe learning disabilities. He doesn't seem all there IMO. Of course I've never met the guy, just my non expert opinion.

Our Gov just signed a bill to stop all executions in our state of WA. A different state than where this young man is.

We can't execute someone if they are mentally ill.

 

[HellsWindStaff]

I am against the Death Penalty for purely fiscal reasons- it costs exponentially more to put someone on death row than life in prison.

Morally I feel eye for an eye tooth for a tooth is fair. Innocent people on death row speaks more to the failure of our judicial/legal system IMO and while that should be fixed, removing death row won't fix that. They'd just be an innocent person languishing their life in prison.

 

[Farid]

I am against the death penalty for moral/religious reasons.

That said, I also believe that putting a person in solitary confinement is torture, and that it is worse than execution in some cases. I think doing away with solitary confinement is just as important as doing away with execution.

I also think that to avoid wrongful convictions prosecutors need to be held responsible for wrongful execution or even wrongful conviction. If a person is put to death and evidence comes out that proves he is innocent, another trial should be held for the prosecution, in which they can potentially face jail time. That way execution is only used in cases where the prosecution feels absolutely rock solid, so much so that they would put their own lives on the line.