(January 21, 2016 at 11:30 am)God of Mr. Hanky Wrote:(January 21, 2016 at 10:22 am)LadyForCamus Wrote: Hey, that's why I said it was my personal, emotional feeling on the subject, not my well reasoned argument for it with consideration for all the available evidence. [emoji849] Innocent people being executed is obviously a problem. I'm saying I am not morally opposed to serial killers being put to death, and in fact I believe they deserve it.
The article you linked to was from 1985. Have we made any progress toward decreasing the number of innocent people sentenced since then?
1985 was before Texas and a few other states became infamous for rushing the death penalty, therefore I believe the antiquity of the article and the relative short span from the 1973 SCOTUS decision which allowed this says plenty without any follow-up.
Well...then, that is pretty fucked up. I didn't realize the stats were that high. I don't know if I'm ready to say 'ditch the whole thing,' though. There are serial killers in prison who CERTAINLY committed (and even confessed in detail to) the crimes they were convicted of: BTK, Charlie Manson, R. Ramirez (died, I know) for example. I don't see why capital punishment can't be reserved for only the most heinous crimes where the guilt of the accused is unquestionable and involves a legitimate, verifiable confession.
Nay_Sayer: “Nothing is impossible if you dream big enough, or in this case, nothing is impossible if you use a barrel of KY Jelly and a miniature horse.”
Wiser words were never spoken.
Wiser words were never spoken.