The Death Penalty

[Maria]

I think painless death penalty is way too easy for most criminals! I just wish that most of death penalty to include painful as a final lesson. Anyway, I was in favor of death penalty until I learn about Admax "The alcatraz on the rockies" or "The tomb" as refer to most attorneys. I find that Admax seems to do better job in punishing these crooks! What is Admax? It is much like a hole that you have to live in there for rest of your life with NOBODY to interact, nobody to talk with, just 99.99% soliditary confidenment, Whats even worse, you have no friggin idea exact where you are, and that lights remains on 24 hours each day, no break and you got to eat in the hole, sleep on concrete bed and have a camera watching you all the time. Since 1992, almost all inmates who entered there ended up got their mind messed up big time after just 3 months! What I like about Admax is that the crimainals HAVE to sit and wait for their natural death to come up. That really messed up their mind! And they deserve that! Escape? Almost impossible! There is too many barriers there with technologies and silent attack dogs (Dogs were trained not to make any sounds UNTIL in front of a person! like in surprise) And there is only way to gain access there is by only one tunnel. Depending on the nature of crime, those who classified the top rank worst crime is NOT allowed to have any visitors of any kind except only attorney who represent the criminals is allowed.

Sounds very frightened scenario like this. I bet it sure teaches them real good, if it works successfully.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I think painless death penalty is way too easy for most criminals!

Yes I second that.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

It's not "revenge" because the execution is carried out by the state following the laws that protect society.

Definition: Revenge

1. punishment: the punishment of somebody in retaliation for harm done

2. retaliation act: something done to get even with somebody else who has caused harm

3. desire for retaliation: the desire or urge to get even with somebody

revenge definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta

It's NOT the victims' family executing the killer.

Good, what would you say if the victims´family is being label as revenge and murder for killed murder to law eye? Right?

The law itself do not label as revenge and murder for kill murder like what victim´s family did to murder... I know you will say "execution" is a different... No matter! It´s still the same... murder is murder...

To my eyes, it´s a revenge... Its teach people to be bitter and revenge... The law for death penatly doesn´t solve anything.

Murderers kill innocent victims. People who are executed for capital crimes are NOT innocent victims. They are killers, rapists, and pedophiles. BIG difference between the criminals and the victims.

See above

I support the victims and their families.

Me too.

A "life" sentence doesn't always mean they stay in prison for the rest of life. Sometimes it's only a few years. Do you think that is fair?

Yes I agree it´s unfair.

If you think the death penalty is the same thing as putting pets to sleep, then are you against putting pets to sleep?

See DHB´s post "I think painless death penalty is way too easy for most criminals!"

Death penatly is similar to "euthanasia". Do you support to save murder´s suffer? I support euthanasia for the pets and humans who suffer severe. No wonder, why murders are happy to put die than suffer... They rather die than stay in prison...

The reason for a death penalty is NOT to satisfy the family.

Exactly, that´s what I said in my previous post that death penalty doesn´t solve anything to satisfy the people but its teach them to be bitter and revenge.

To me, that people who are furious and want murder to put death and want to see them pain like what they did to innoncent victim is a revenge.

The reason is to show society that murder, rape, pedophilia, and certain other crimes, are so serious that they are punished by death.

Hold on... Question... Rape, pedophilia and other crimes are also punish to death after what they did to survivor victims?

[/COLOR]The decision is not up to you. The courts decide the penalty, and the government executes it. It's not the families' decision.

You support law, okay... but what will you consider if one of victims´ family killed murder?

For law eyes, they are label as revenge and murder for killed murder... but the law itself is not label as murder to punish murders to death.

What´s the difference? I consider them the SAME!

Of course no one "likes" the death penalty, and no one wants it to happen to a family member. But the families don't make that decision, just like the families of the victims don't have a choice when their loved one is murdered. The justice process is not in the hands of the victims. "Feelings" don't influence the decision.

Don´t you know that murder´s or victims´s family have feeling when they don´t agree justice system... ?

The family of murders kill famliy of victims or family of victims kill family of murders as revenge... Death penalty will NEVER solves anything but bitter and revenge... Its teach people to be bitter and revenge...

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I never really believe in death penatly even after watched this awful video from Iran, my friend send it to me to watch. I got so sick after watch it and I think people who made the decision to put them death are worst monster and killers, they should be punished for stone those people to death.

*nodding agreement*

What they did is not true punishment.

 

[armymech81]

I don't believe in the death penalty for say, but I do blieve in an eye for and eye, a tooth for a tooth. Now with that part said, yes, the death penalty will be supported in that case. I am a father and if my kids where killed by someone out of cold blood, then I will go crazy and want to see them dead. Now, if my kids where the ones that did the killing, then I want to see them get punished and sent to jail till after I die. I know that is a double standard.

Now to clear it up. If someone stole something, jail time, drinking and driving, jail time, killed someone while drinking and driving, then jail for rest of his or her life. Kill someone out of cold blood, stay in jail. Multiable killings, then, yes, the death penalty, only for the fact that why waste money on someone that can't be saved or helped. But if someone is a repeat offender, then stay in jail and become someones bitch.

 

[Reba]

Definition: Revenge

1. punishment: the punishment of somebody in retaliation for harm done

2. retaliation act: something done to get even with somebody else who has caused harm

3. desire for retaliation: the desire or urge to get even with somebody

As you can see by your definition, capital punishment is not revenge. It's not done in retaliation for harm done because the punishment doesn't "get even".

Quote:
It's NOT the victims' family executing the killer.

Good, what would you say if the victims´family is being label as revenge and murder for killed murder to law eye? Right?

No, it's illegal for the victim's family to revenge kill. The U.S. government doesn't execute criminals for "revenge" but for justice.

The law itself do not label as revenge and murder for kill murder like what victim´s family did to murder... I know you will say "execution" is a different... No matter! It´s still the same... murder is murder...

I guess you don't understand the legal definitions or the U.S. justice system. Personal revenge killing is murder. Execution of a criminal after due process is not murder.

To my eyes, it´s a revenge... Its teach people to be bitter and revenge... The law for death penatly doesn´t solve anything.

How does an execution teach people to be bitter? Well, I guess the person being executed might feel bitter. Too bad.

Death penatly is similar to "euthanasia". Do you support to save murder´s suffer? I support euthanasia for the pets and humans who suffer severe. ..

Now I'm totally confused. First, you say you are against the death penalty because it's "murder". Then, you say the death penalty is the same as "euthanasia". If that's true, then euthanasia is murder, right? So you are against the death penalty AND euthanasia, right? But you said you support euthanasia for humans. Does that mean you support murdering sick people, but you don't support executing guilty criminals? That is contradictory.

No wonder, why murders are happy to put die than suffer... They rather die than stay in prison...

Huh? Where did you get that information? Please show me some documentation.

Besides, since when is the decision up to the prisoners?

To me, that people who are furious and want murder to put death and want to see them pain like what they did to innoncent victim is a revenge.

You still don't understand the process. It doesn't matter if people are "furious" or if they are forgiving. The family members don't make the decision, and they don't execute it. It is the state (the government) judicial system of judges and juries that make the decision, following the guidelines of the particular state involved.

Victims' families can make victim impact statements and recommendations but the final decision is for the courts, not the families. The courts are not allowed to use "revenge" as a factor.

Hold on... Question... Rape, pedophilia and other crimes are also punish to death after what they did to survivor victims?

Sometimes.

You support law, okay... but what will you consider if one of victims´ family killed murder?

Unless that happens during the commission of the original crime (such as self defense), then that's against the law, and they will be arrested, charged, and tried.

For law eyes, they are label as revenge and murder for killed murder... but the law itself is not label as murder to punish murders to death.

Because the courts don't commit revenge.

What´s the difference? I consider them the SAME!

Well, you can "consider" it the same if you want but that's not the law. You can have an "opinion" but that's not a fact.

Don´t you know that murder´s or victims´s family have feeling when they don´t agree justice system... ?

Sure they have feelings. But "feelings" can't be allowed to govern. That would be chaos.

 

[Reba]

jus‧tice
1.the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause.

2.rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice.

3.the moral principle determining just conduct.

4.conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.

5.the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

6.the maintenance or administration of what is just by law, as by judicial or other proceedings: a court of justice.

7.judgment of persons or causes by judicial process: to administer justice in a community.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)

 

[deafmedicalpoet]

Why is the death penalty so important anyway unless there really is a crime. I am serious until they do things that deserve that goal I wouldn't talk about it. I really am that way but that is my feelings on it.

 

[The*Empress]

may kill somebody who may be innocent.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

As you can see by your definition, capital punishment is not revenge. It's not done in retaliation for harm done because the punishment doesn't "get even".

I only see is Revenge.

No, it's illegal for the victim's family to revenge kill. The U.S. government doesn't execute criminals for "revenge" but for justice.

Ha, that's what I thought so.

I guess you don't understand the legal definitions or the U.S. justice system. Personal revenge killing is murder. Execution of a criminal after due process is not murder.

Oh yes, I understood about US justice system prefect. Of course it's legal to them to kill crimes, not victim's family. No matter what... murder is murder, period.

How does an execution teach people to be bitter? Well, I guess the person being executed might feel bitter. Too bad.

No, I said in my previous post that it teach people bitter and revenge. It teach people to kill other people out of bitter and revenge. Example: victim's family kill murder or murder's family kill victim's family.......

Now I'm totally confused. First, you say you are against the death penalty because it's "murder". Then, you say the death penalty is the same as "euthanasia". If that's true, then euthanasia is murder, right? So you are against the death penalty AND euthanasia, right? But you said you support euthanasia for humans. Does that mean you support murdering sick people, but you don't support executing guilty criminals? That is contradictory.

No, you twist my word and tell me that I am against put pets to sleep... I was like Please re-read what I said in my first post... "Death penatly is like put them sleep like we did with pets to save their suffer" which mean is they put crimes to death penatly to save their suffer like what we did with pets to save their suffer. Got it?

I know death penalty and euthanasia is not the same thing because US justice system use death penalty as capital punishment but we didn't use euthanasia to punish the pets and humans but save their suffer. This is a difference... Example: A person who suffer severe incurable illness and want to end her/his life and ask their relatives for their support and get doctor to put her/him sleep to save suffer... (switch life machine off etc.) They prepare Living Will to end their life for good reasons is not murder... The pets who suffer severe like human.. I know the pets can't talk but we know from their feeling that they want to end their life but death penalty? What we did to human and pet is an authanasia, not murder. I said in my previous post that I disagree with death penatly because it was like "put crimes to sleep" to save suffer like what we did with humans and pets... I beleive you know what I'm talking about.

Huh? Where did you get that information? Please show me some documentation.

Besides, since when is the decision up to the prisoners?

Huh? I thought you know many prisioner end their life in prison, don't they? It look like that they can't bear to suffer in prison...

Can you explain me why crimes continue to kill or hurt innoncent victims when they KNOW death penatly law in their states, don't they? Why? It look like that they want to end their life or what? Example Ted Bundy... He escaped from prison to Florida to continue as killer because he KNEW death penalty law there. I saw movies about him... (I still have VHS video about him...) He & Reporter are good friends... He visited Ted in prison... Ted asked him which states have death penalty... It puzzled Reporter but he answered Ted's question... Maybe Florida or Georgia... Ted's word.. "mmmhhh Florida"... Few months later after that he escaped from prison to Florida to be monster... 2 years later he arrest there for killed victims then death penatly... That's what he want it.

You still don't understand the process. It doesn't matter if people are "furious" or if they are forgiving. The family members don't make the decision, and they don't execute it. It is the state (the government) judicial system of judges and juries that make the decision, following the guidelines of the particular state involved.

Victims' families can make victim impact statements and recommendations but the final decision is for the courts, not the families. The courts are not allowed to use "revenge" as a factor.

Oh yes I undertood it prefect. I know it's legal for US justice system to kill crimes. For courts, is not revenge because they follow legal system... but murder is the same thing what they did to crimes or what victim's family did to murder. It makes no difference to me.

Sometimes.

It would make crime's family bitter and revenge and then hurt victim's family or survivors...

Unless that happens during the commission of the original crime (such as self defense), then that's against the law, and they will be arrested, charged, and tried.

Because the courts don't commit revenge.

You see different but I see same.

Well, you can "consider" it the same if you want but that's not the law. You can have an "opinion" but that's not a fact.

To me, it's fact because they kill humans. You keep saying that it's law... No matter because they KILL humans.

Sure they have feelings. But "feelings" can't be allowed to govern. That would be chaos.

I know! It's victims', murders' or crimes' family, I'm talking about. They have feeling.

 

[jillio]

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is being taken out of context. The rest of the sentence is, "but not a drop of blood shall ye shed."

 

[MaxUFC]

Death penatly = save taxpayers's money.

No death peantly = taxpayers paid more expand prison or new sites.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Death penatly = save taxpayers's money.

No death peantly = taxpayers paid more expand prison or new sites.

See this links...

Costs of the Death Penalty
Financial Facts About the Death Penalty

Death Penalty has Cost New Jersey Taxpayers $253 Billion
A New Jersey Policy Perspectives report concluded that the state's death penalty has cost taxpayers $253 million since 1983, a figure that is over and above the costs that would have been incurred had the state utilized a sentence of life without parole instead of death. The study examined the costs of death penalty cases to prosecutor offices, public defender offices, courts, and correctional facilities. The report's authors said that the cost estimate is "very conservative" because other significant costs uniquely associated with the death penalty were not available. "From a strictly financial perspective, it is hard to reach a conclusion other than this: New Jersey taxpayers over the last 23 years have paid more than a quarter billion dollars on a capital punishment system that has executed no one," the report concluded. Since 1982, there have been 197 capital trials in New Jersey and 60 death sentences, of which 50 were reversed. There have been no executions, and 10 men are housed on the state's death row. Michael Murphy, former Morris County prosecutor, remarked: "If you were to ask me how $11 million a year could best protect the people of New Jersey, I would tell you by giving the law enforcement community more resources. I'm not interested in hypotheticals or abstractions, I want the tools for law enforcement to do their job, and $11 million can buy a lot of tools." (See Newsday, Nov. 21, 2005; also Press Release, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Nov. 21, 2005). Read the Executive Summary. Read the full report. Read the NJADP Press Release.

Study Finds Death penalty Costly, Ineffective

A new report released by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury recommended changes to the stateÕs costly death penalty and called into question its effectiveness in preventing crime. The Office of Research noted that it lacked sufficient data to accurately account for the total cost of capital trials, stating that because cost and time records were not maintained, the Office of Research was unable to determine the total, comprehensive cost of the death penalty in Tennessee." Although noting that, "no reliable data exists concerning the cost of prosecution or defense of first-degree murder cases in Tennessee," the report concluded that capital murder trials are longer and more expensive at every step compared to other murder trials. In fact, the available data indicated that in capital trials, taxpayers pay half again as much as murder cases in which prosecutors seek prison terms rather than the death penalty. Findings in the report include the following:

Death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.

Tennessee District Attorneys General are not consistent in their pursuit of the death penalty.

Surveys and interviews of district attorneys indicate that some prosecutors "use the death penalty as a 'bargaining chip' to secure plea bargains for lesser sentences."

Previous research provides no clear indication whether the death penalty acts as a method of crime prevention.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed 29 percent of capital cases on direct appeal.

Although any traumatic trial may cause stress and pain for jurors, the victims' family, and the defendant's family, the pressure may be at its peak during death penalty trials.

(July 2004)
Read the The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research's Report, "Tennessee's Death Penalty: Costs and Consequences."

Study Concludes Death Penalty is Costly Policy
In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases. The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The costs of appeals were 29% of the total expense, and the incarceration and execution costs accounted for the remaining 22%. In comparison to non-death penalty cases, the following findings were revealed:

The investigation costs for death-sentence cases were about 3 times greater than for non-death cases.

The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case).

The appeal costs for death cases were 21 times greater.

The costs of carrying out (i.e. incarceration and/or execution) a death sentence were about half the costs of carrying out a non-death sentence in a comparable case.

Trials involving a death sentence averaged 34 days, including jury selection; non-death trials averaged about 9 days.

(Performance Audit Report: Costs Incurred for Death Penalty Cases: A K-GOAL Audit of the Department of Corrections) Read DPIC's Summary of the Kansas Cost Report.

Death penalty trials very costly relative to county budgets
Capital cases burden county budgets with large unexpected costs, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions," by Katherine Baicker. Counties manage these high costs by decreasing funding for highways and police and by increasing taxes. The report estimates that between 1982-1997 the extra cost of capital trials was $1.6 billion. (NBER Working Paper No. w8382, Issued in July 2001) Read the abstract.

Total cost of Indiana's death penalty is 38% greater than the total cost of life without parole sentences

A study by Indiana's Criminal Law Study Commission found this to be true, assuming that 20% of death sentences are overturned and resentenced to life. (Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission, January 10, 2002)

North Carolina spends more per execution than on a non-death penalty murder case.

The most comprehensive death penalty study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than the a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment (Duke University, May 1993). On a national basis, these figures translate to an extra cost of over $1 billion spent since 1976 on the death penalty. The study,"The Costs of Processing Murder Cases in North Carolina" is available on line at www-pps.aas.duke.edu/people/faculty/cook/comnc.pdf.

Florida spends millions extra per year on death penalty

Florida would save $51 million each year by punishing all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole, according to estimates by the Palm Beach Post. Based on the 44 executions Florida has carried out since 1976, that amounts to an approximate cost of $24 million for each execution. This finding takes into account the relatively few inmates who are actually executed, as well as the time and effort expended on capital defendants who are tried but convicted of a lesser murder charge, and those whose deathe sentences are overturned on appeal. (Palm Beach Post, January 4, 2000)

California spends millions more on capital cases
California spends $90 Million dollars annually above and beyond the ordinary costs of the justice system on capital cases. $78 million of that total is incurred at the trial level (Sacramento Bee, March 18, 1988). In January 2003, despite a budge deficit, California Governor Gray Davis proposed building a new $220 million state of the art death row. (New York Times, January 14, 2003)

Florida spent average of $3.2 million per execution from 1973 to 1988
During that time period, Florida spent an estimated $57 million on the death penalty to achieve 18 executions. (Miami Herald, July 10, 1988)

Texas death penalty cases cost more than non-capital cases
That is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. (Dallas Morning News, March 8, 1992)

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Information about death penalty.

Death Penalty Information Center

FAQs about
New York State's death penalty

Did you know?

There are compelling concerns about unfairness and wastefulness in New York's death penalty. In June, 2004, the Court ruled that New York’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional, giving New Yorkers an unprecedented opportunity to look at our state's 10-year death penalty experiment and decide whether we really want the death penalty back.

Consider the facts:

Q - Is there really a risk of executing an innocent person?

A - Yes, the risk is real.



Since 1973, at least 122 innocent people have been sent to death row across the country and later exonerated.

In New York State, many innocent people have been sentenced to life for murders they did not commit. Bobby McLaughlin, an innocent man convicted of murder in New York and sentenced to life in prison, put it most powerfully when he said: "If there was a death penalty in New York [when I was convicted], I would now be ashes in an urn in my parents' living room."
In New York City, the five young men convicted in the Central Park Jogger rape case were found innocent eleven years later, in 2002, even though they had confessed to the crime. At the time of the crime Donald Trump took out a full-page ad to say that he wished New York had the death penalty for these men.

Commissions in both Illinois and Massachusetts studied the death penalty and made dozens of recommendations to reduce the risk of executing the innocent. The Illinois Commission added that even if all 85 of its recommendations were put in place, the risk would not be eliminated completely. Yet New York has not incorporated most of these recommended reforms into its criminal justice system and death penalty proponents in the New York State Legislature have shown no interest in addressing them.

Q - Do racial, economic, and geographic factors and human bias affect who gets a death sentence?

A - Statistics suggest they are often decisive.

In New York State, those accused of murdering white victims are about twice as likely to face the death penalty as those who murder black victims, according to a recent study by the Center for Law and Justice in Albany.
Although only 30% of first degree murder cases in New York from 1995 through 2004 involved a white victim, 48% of the cases in which a prosecutor sought the death penalty involved a white victim. In contrast, while 42% of cases involved a black victim, 30% of cases in which prosecutors sought the death penalty involved a black victim. In 20% of first degree murder cases, the victim was Hispanic, while 14% of cases where the death penalty was sought involved a Hispanic victim. (NYS Capital Defenders Office) Race does matter in the New York State capital punishment system.
Almost all people accused of death-eligible crimes are impoverished and cannot afford to hire their own attorneys.

Six counties account for the majority of the cases in New York State where the death penalty has been sought. Three of the seven defendants (43%) sentenced to death were from Suffolk County.

Although upstate counties experience approximately 20% of all homicides, they nonetheless account for 65% of all capital prosecutions. (NYS Capital Defenders Office).

In the 10 years when New York had a functioning death penalty statute, only one of its 62 district attorneys was African American, and he was the only district attorney removed from a case by Governor Pataki for declining to seek the death penalty.

Nicholson McCoy, a black, man, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury for the murder of a white woman. “The prosecutor summarily rejected virtually all of the available black, Hispanic, and Asian jurors in a racially-charged capital murder case involving a black defendant and a white victim.” (Brennan Center for Justice).

Nationally, gay defendants have their sexuality used to portray them as "inhuman" and "predatory." Dick Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, explains, "There's no legal formula for who gets the death penalty. And anyone who seems outside the bounds of what's acceptable is more likely to end up being executed." New York State is not immune to such bias.

Q - How do New York’s death penalty statues deal with mental illness?

A - They don’t.

Mental illness can lead to false confessions, an inability to assist in one’s own defense and a failure to truly comprehend the criminal justice system.
Defendants with mental illness often refuse to let their attorneys bring it up during the sentencing phase of capital cases. Although the Court of Appeals based its June, 2004 decision in the Lavalle case on the sentencing protocol, the mental health issue also came up. The defendant, John Lavalle, had instructed his lawyers not to reveal that he had been abused as a child, nor to present evidence of his mental illness. He did not want his painful family history aired in public. In response to a question from Chief Judge Judith Kaye, Assistant Attorney General Luke Martland argued that Mr. LaValle's constitutional right of self-representation "trumped" the state's interest in making sure that its death sentences are appropriate and fair.
No special provisions in New York's death penalty law protect the mentally ill. In other death penalty states, people with severe mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder) are regularly put to death under laws very similar to the New York statute. Courtroom demeanor of people with mental illness can make it easier for a prosecutor to describe them as “monsters.”

No death penalty statute in the U.S. forbids the execution of the severely mentally ill. The execution of those with mental illness or "the insane" is clearly prohibited by international law. Virtually every country in the world except the U.S. prohibits the execution of people with mental illness.
The National Mental Health Association opposes the death penalty due to a system wide failure to adequately address issues of mental health in all phases of a criminal prosecution. It is estimated that up to 10% of the people on death row in the United States are suffering from severe mental illness.

Q - Don’t most New Yorkers support the death penalty?

A - In fact, New Yorkers prefer life without the possibility of parole.

In March 2005, a Siena College survey found that only 29 percent of New Yorkers support death for first-degree murderers. Fifty-six percent said life in prison without parole is a more fitting punishment. Asked straight up if the death penalty has a place in New York law, 42 percent said yes, 46 said no.
• Support for the death penalty has dropped a full 15% since the early 1990’s. Even when no alternatives are offered, death penalty support in New York is among the lowest in the nation.

The New York State Assembly recently concluded five full days of hearings on the death penalty. More than 90% of the more than 170 witnesses testified against bringing the death penalty back. The hearings highlighted problems of racial bias, geographic disparities, wrongful conviction, juror confusion, and other flaws that can never be fully eliminated.

Hundreds of organizations across New York have called for a moratorium on executions while the system's many flaws are examined. The "quick fix" passed by the Senate does nothing to address these flaws.

Most major religious groups support abolition of the death penalty. Supporters include: American Baptist Churches in the USA, Disciples of Christ, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mennonite Church, Orthodox Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, The United Methodist Church, the US Catholic Conference, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union for Reform Judaism.

Q - Don’t murder victims’ family members have a right to see justice done?

A - Many murder victims family members oppose the death penalty.

Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, and The Journey of Hope and Murder Victims Families for Human Rights are victims' advocacy groups that are opposed to the death penalty. Family members of murder victims founded these organizations. They provide support to family members of murder victims. Many of their members tour the country, explaining their opposition to the death penalty. They have explained that “we believe that our own grief will not be lessened by causing pain to others. Executions create more grieving families”. (Murders Victims Families for Reconciliation) and “the death penalty just continues the cycle of violence that only creates more victim family members.” (Bill Pelke, Journey of Hope)

The speakers' stories contrast starkly with the myths often used to support the death penalty, such as its supposed cathartic power for victims. After an execution, many victims are left with the same gnawing pain and anger they hoped the execution would ease.

Q - Doesn’t a life-in-prison sentence waste time and money that could be better spent elsewhere?

A - On the contrary, it is the death penalty that is expensive and inefficient.

Since New York reinstated the death penalty in 1995, New York taxpayers have spent at least $200 million pursuing capital cases without a single execution taking place.

Most state studies have found that a system of life without parole is significantly cheaper than the death penalty system, even when including the costs of long-term imprisonment. The death penalty's cost diverts resources from other areas, including crime prevention and help for victims.

• When New York’s death penalty statute was enacted, our state did not have life without parole on the books. Now that such an option is available, the death penalty is not needed to keep convicted murderers off the streets.
The cost of state executions is not just economic. Corrections offices, juries, judges and prosecutors have spoken about the huge emotional toll of the process.

The death penalty is not a deterrent. In Rochester, for example, where prosecutors sought the death penalty a number of times in the 1990’s, the crime rate went up, while, in the same period, the crime rate in Manhattan, where the death penalty has not been sought since the 1960’s, it dramatically declined. Nationally, murder rates in non-death penalty states have remained consistently lower than rates in states with the death penalty. (Death Penalty Information Center)

Q - Where do things stand now?

A - The death penalty could be reinstated at any time.

On April 12, 2005, 10 months after the State Appeals Court ruled that New York State's death penalty was unconstitutional, the New York State Assembly's Codes Committee defeated a bill to reinstate it. The committee's vote reflected testimony presented at five separate hearings held by Assembly committees and a flood of letters and calls from death penalty opponents. At present, those convicted of the worst offenses face life in prison without parole, not death row.

However, a number of our supporters in the Assembly will be retiring and the death penalty is likely to be brought up again by the State Senate in 2006. We need to get out the facts to all our State Legislators (Assembly and Senate) and to friends, families and colleagues.

If you do not know where you stand on this issue, we suggest that you look at the Fact Sheet and Action Alerts listed in the left column of our home page.

New York can live without the death penalty. Let it die.

http://www.nyadp.org/main/nyfaq.html

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I quoted this sentence from my previous post.

In New York State, many innocent people have been sentenced to life for murders they did not commit. Bobby McLaughlin, an innocent man convicted of murder in New York and sentenced to life in prison, put it most powerfully when he said: "If there was a death penalty in New York [when I was convicted], I would now be ashes in an urn in my parents' living room." In New York City, the five young men convicted in the Central Park Jogger rape case were found innocent eleven years later, in 2002, even though they had confessed to the crime. At the time of the crime Donald Trump took out a full-page ad to say that he wished New York had the death penalty for these men.

This link fresh my memory about Bobby McLaughlin. Oh yes, I still have video with subtitles of his true movies like what I have Ted Bundy's movies, and more true crimes movies as well... I like to collect and keep VHS or DVD of true crimes movies.

Anyway, Bobby Mclaughlin's word hit my head real hard... *nodding agreement, Bobby*... Yes he would of dead because Justice System beleives false withness. He's lucky that there' no death penatly law in his area. Oh yes, he is f**king lucky. He claimed over million $ from justice system... He is married and have 2 children.

This is an exact movie what I recorded the video and keep...

Google-Ergebnis für http://bffc.org/essayphotos/guilty1.jpg

Guilty Until Proven Innocent - Trailer - Showtimes - Cast - Movies - New York Times

Network For Justice : Information/Resources


If you are interesting to watch then buy DVD or VHS...

Guilty Until Proven Innocent (1991) (TV)

 

[Angel]

Sometimes it would be best to ask yourself this question, " Do I want to kill others to prove killing is wrong? "....I also noticed that some believes that death penality punishment serves justice but what is justice? Is it best served by taking the life of another human being?....

I've read so many web sites about death penality and yet I can't seem to get myself to support death penality punishment even some web sites has proved that death penality doesn't execute criminals for revenge but for justice only, yet I see it wrong to take the life of another human being just cause someone decide to kill but it doesn't make it right to kill as a punishment...I've seen and read stories about victims families want revenage and satisfaction to make sure this murderer is put to death...Perhap everyone sees this differently as some support and allow capital punishment while others don't...And the hardest part is watching innocent people being put on death row, now that's scary, I wouldn't want to be in that situation myself and I can't image what it's like to be in their shoes but the thought of it, just freaks me out...:Ohno:

 

[jillio]

Death penatly = save taxpayers's money.

No death peantly = taxpayers paid more expand prison or new sites.

Actually, it costs the state more to execute a prisoner than it does to keep them in prison for life.

 

[MaxUFC]

Very interesting about cost of death penatly. It cost same as build new prison?.

$250-300 million dollars : deseretnews.com | Huntsman wants state prison moved

Critics say new state prison defies logic / They point to huge state deficit, dwindling number of inmates

Some states wanted to build new prsion cost between $5M and $250M as they would bring more inmates :
CNN.com - Jail, prison populations rise 2.6 percent - May 21, 2006

Overall - new prsions cost more than death penatly cuz of many states would want to build new prison sites while not every states want death penatly in their hands.

 

[jillio]

Very interesting about cost of death penatly. It cost same as build new prison?.

$250-300 million dollars : deseretnews.com | Huntsman wants state prison moved

Critics say new state prison defies logic / They point to huge state deficit, dwindling number of inmates

Some states wanted to build new prsion cost between $5M and $250M as they would bring more inmates :
CNN.com - Jail, prison populations rise 2.6 percent - May 21, 2006

Overall - new prsions cost more than death penatly cuz of many states would want to build new prison sites while not every states want death penatly in their hands.

I was referring to the idividual costs of keeping a prisoner for life or executing him/her. Most new prisons are not built to house lifers, but because the population of prisoners doing time for which they will eventually be paroled has skyrocketed.

 

[SJCSue]

I am against the death penalty for moral and ethic reasons. I suggest you read the book "Dead Man Walking" (which inspired the movie).