The Death Penalty

ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
edited December 2013 in A Moving Train
"I've been haunted by the men I was asked to execute in the name of the state of Florida. This is premeditated, carefully thought out ceremonial killing."
- Ron McAndrew, former prison warden in Florida


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/se ... don-denied


Troy Davis execution: Georgia pardons board denies plea for clemency


Georgia man who insists he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989 set to be executed on Wednesday


Guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 September 2011


Georgia's pardons board has rejected clemency for death row inmate Troy Davis, who has attracted high-profile support for his claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.

According to his defence lawyers, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday rejected Davis's request for clemency after hearing hours of testimony from his supporters and prosecutors.

"I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice," Brian Kammer, one of Davis's attorneys, said after the decision was announced.

Davis is set to die on Wednesday for the murder of off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was killed while rushing to help a homeless man who was being attacked. It is the fourth time in four years his execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.

Davis was convicted at a 1991 trial almost exclusively on the basis of nine witnesses who all said they had seen him carry out the shooting. Davis was present at the scene, but has always insisted that another man, Sylvester Coles, attacked the homeless man and shot MacPhail when he intervened.

The murder weapon was never found, and there was no DNA or other forensic evidence.

In the years since the trial, seven of the nine witnesses have come forward and recanted their evidence, saying they were put under pressure to implicate Davis by the investigating police. Other witnesses have come forward to say they had heard Coles confess to killing the officer.

The parole board heard from one of the jurors who originally recommended the death penalty for Davis. Brenda Forrest told the panel she no longer trusted the verdict or sentence: "I feel, emphatically, that Mr Davis cannot be executed under these circumstances," she said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The board also heard from Quiana Glover, who testified she had heard Coles confess in June 2009 to having been the killer, at a party where he had been drinking heavily.

Following the arguments for clemency, members of MacPhail's family and the prosecution side were expected to call for the execution to go ahead.

Brian Evans, a death row specialist at Amnesty International's US branch, said the extraordinary outpouring of support for Davis was partly of a reflection of changing attitudes in America towards executions.

Opinion polls suggest the US has softened its view from its once-hardline, pro-capital punishment position, and is now fairly evenly divided between defenders of the death penalty and those who see life without parole as a satisfactory alternative.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    I am against capital punishment
    but even if I wasn't it is clear this man deserves time and a new trial.
    There is too much in question.

    I can not believe they will take his life tomorrow after 7 of the 9 witnesses
    recanted, some saying they were wrongly quoted to begin with.

    The family of the slain officer needs truth not revenge, it is what this dead officer would want.
    The rightful person to be punished, not an additional miscarriage of justice.

    As the defense lawyers have said...
    if a prosecutor can not bring the death penalty now, 20 years later,
    due to the lack of evidence and witnesses, then how can this man be put to death?

    I pray something happens to stop this.

    President Obama to the rescue? We are talking about a life maybe an innocent one.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    HEAAAARRRR WE GO !...this topic never get's old.

    Godfather.
  • usamamasan1usamamasan1 Posts: 4,695
    edited September 2011
    op.
    we can all read news on the internet. did you just cut and paste an article to start a new thread with no comment of your own? It's getting old. Please read posting guidelines and use the search function to see if there is already a thread on the topic you wish to discuss.

    Try and use your words. I tell that to my two year old all the time when he fusses and cries.

    I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.

    cheers
    Post edited by usamamasan1 on
  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    Against, let em rot in jail and think about what they did every day until they die.
  • I guess it's easy for any of us to say "I support" or "I'm against" this or that, but when it comes down to the reality of the matter, which of us would sign the dotted line, pull the switch, etc that directly leads to a man's life being terminated? I know I couldn't. Like a wise man once said, "there are many reasons to live, a few reasons to die, and no reasons to kill."

    anonymous-2.jpg
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    this is very real to us in Georgia and even those supporting capital punishment
    are rethinking this execution as there is a very good possibility they have the wrong man.

    This is a case for both sides,
    as I'm sure those who are pro do not want an innocent man to lose his life,
    that does nothing for the states right to kill.... I would think they would want to be sure.

    And for those against, it is pretty much our very worse fear...
    that we can not save the innocent from the state.


    That word execution really gets to me. It is surrounded in hate, you can feel it.
    It gives me chills and not good ones. It is a double negative. Kill and kill again.
  • I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.

    cheers

    do you support it when there are issues like this: The Death Penalty Information Center (U.S.) has published a list of 8 inmates "executed but possibly innocent". At least 39 executions are claimed to have been carried out in the U.S. in the face of evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • hostishostis Posts: 441
    we can all read news on the internet. did you just cut and paste an article to start a new thread with no comment of your own? It's getting old....

    Try and use your words. cheers

    :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

    perosnally, I am against the death penalty for many many reaosn, the main one being, if the decision wrong, there is no backing out....
  • mikepegg44mikepegg44 Posts: 3,353
    hostis wrote:
    we can all read news on the internet. did you just cut and paste an article to start a new thread with no comment of your own? It's getting old....

    Try and use your words. cheers

    :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

    perosnally, I am against the death penalty for many many reaosn, the main one being, if the decision wrong, there is no backing out....


    I like the idea of it as a punishment, but hate the idea of anyone wrongly convicted being put to death. Guilt must be 100%, if you cannot prove it 100% than there should be no execution...I would rather have some gulty men living in prison than one man dying who shouldn't have...
    that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
    It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
    - Joe Rogan
  • that scum in Texas that was supposed to be put down after he ate his last meal (fried chicken, yum) wasn't and his guilt is not in question.
  • that scum in Texas that was supposed to be put down after he ate his last meal (fried chicken, yum) wasn't and his guilt is not in question.

    I suppose it IS much easier to ignore all of the flaws in the DP.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • usamammasan, what would you say about a man who was killed but later found innocent?
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.

    cheers

    You forgot the WOOT! :lol:
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    that scum in Texas that was supposed to be put down after he ate his last meal (fried chicken, yum) wasn't and his guilt is not in question.

    I suppose it IS much easier to ignore all of the flaws in the DP.
    did those flaws prove he was not guilty ? or did someone try to use them as a loop hole to free a guilty man ?
    good attorneys got John Gotti off several times and it happens all the time in our court systems in other cases
    killers go free on technocalitys more than we know I'd be willing to bet.

    Godfather.
  • Godfather. wrote:
    that scum in Texas that was supposed to be put down after he ate his last meal (fried chicken, yum) wasn't and his guilt is not in question.

    I suppose it IS much easier to ignore all of the flaws in the DP.
    did those flaws prove he was not guilty ? or did someone try to use them as a loop hole to free a guilty man ?
    good attorneys got John Gotti off several times and it happens all the time in our court systems in other cases
    killers go free on technocalitys more than we know I'd be willing to bet.

    Godfather.
    This is true, however, I'd rather have someone go free (as terrible as that is) than an innocent man killed.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • Godfather. wrote:
    that scum in Texas that was supposed to be put down after he ate his last meal (fried chicken, yum) wasn't and his guilt is not in question.

    I suppose it IS much easier to ignore all of the flaws in the DP.
    did those flaws prove he was not guilty ? or did someone try to use them as a loop hole to free a guilty man ?
    good attorneys got John Gotti off several times and it happens all the time in our court systems in other cases
    killers go free on technocalitys more than we know I'd be willing to bet.

    Godfather.

    I was being a smart ass about the fact tat usamamasan ignored my earlier question to him. I was not inferring that the many flaws of the DP had anything to do with the case of the OP.

    You're right to a degree.. Some do go free. Usually the ones with a lot of money to buy good lawyers. hat is also why many many people on death row are very poor.

    I agree with Keeponrockin though, if ONE innocent man is killed by state sanctioned murder, its flawed, and not worth it.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    it is a ugly deal for sure,one of asked who amung us could throw the switch on a death row inmate ?.....
    unless that person killed one of my family I don't know that could other wise.
    this topic always draws a crowd and the end result is always the same,it's almost not worth talking about anymore and maybe best not to because we have run out of arguments for and aginst.


    Godfather.
  • While I oppose the death penalty, the bigger issue to me is that even in light of new evidence, some states still continue to pull the trigger. If you're going to take somebody's life, you better be damned sure that you know that they're guilty. I've always been bothered by the fact that some states have no difficulty executing a convicted party without an extensive body of physical evidence. Whether or not Troy Davis is guilty, the evidence doesn't seem to be anywhere close to being conclusive.
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    op.
    we can all read news on the internet. did you just cut and paste an article to start a new thread with no comment of your own? It's getting old. Please read posting guidelines and use the search function to see if there is already a thread on the topic you wish to discuss.

    Thanks, but from someone who does nothing but post vacuous slogans and silly pictures, I think I'll ignore your smug advice.
    Though for your information, I did search for a thread topic with this heading, and there was one that had been locked. So I started a new one.
    I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.

    And we're supposed to be impressed?
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    While I oppose the death penalty, the bigger issue to me is that even in light of new evidence, some states still continue to pull the trigger. If you're going to take somebody's life, you better be damned sure that you know that they're guilty. I've always been bothered by the fact that some states have no difficulty executing a convicted party without an extensive body of physical evidence. Whether or not Troy Davis is guilty, the evidence doesn't seem to be anywhere close to being conclusive.
    I am for less big government but feel if our country is going to kill one of its citizens
    it should be a federal decision ... not a state.

    I am here in Georgia against capital punishment and they tell me our
    governor can not even step in and stop this execution.

    That is a more than a travesty. For me capital punishment makes no sense.
    The fact that a higher power can not stop this from happening makes even less.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ution.html

    the latest Troy wants a polygraph test
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    thought you guys might want to read this.

    Godfather.


    Death penalty statistics:

    – More than 3,200 inmates in 36 states are awaiting execution. The U.S. government and U.S. military also have approximately 67 people awaiting execution.

    – As of September 18, 2011 – 1,267 people have been executed in the U.S. since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated.

    – Capital punishment is legal in 34 states.

    – The legal methods of capital punishment are lethal injection and the electric chair.

    – 35 states use lethal injection. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009; however, two prisoners remain on death row and will be executed by lethal injection.

    – The state of Nebraska used the electric chair as its sole method until February 2008, when the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional.

    – Japan is the only industrial democracy besides the United States that has the death penalty.

    – 268 clemencies have been granted in the United States since 1976; 187 were in Illinois.

    – Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are
    white.

    – A 2010 national poll of registered voters conducted by Lake Research Partners showed growing support for alternatives to the death penalty compared with previous polls. A clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder, including life with no possibility of parole and with restitution to the victim’s family (39%), life with no possibility of parole (13%), or life with the possibility of parole (9%).

    – Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.

    – Texas leads the way in executions with 474 total executions. In 2011 they executed 10 people, in 2010 they executed 17 people and in 2009 they executed 24 people. Virginia comes in with the second highest number of total executions at 109. In 2011 they executed one person, in 2010 and 2009 they executed 3 people each year.

    Clemency statistics:

    – In sixteen states the governor has the sole authority to grant clemency: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

    In California the governor may not grant a pardon or commutation to a person twice convicted of a felony except on recommendation of the state Supreme Court, with at least four judges concurring. New York and New Jersey no longer have the death penalty. New Mexico no longer has the death penalty for cases after 2009, though two inmates still remain on death row.

    – In seven states the governor must have a recommendation of clemency from an advisory group or board: Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas.

    In Florida the governor must have recommendation of Board, on which he or she sits.

    – In ten states the governor can get a non-binding recommendation for clemency from an advisory group or board: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio and Tennessee.

    Illinois no longer has the death penalty.

    – In five states an advisory group or a board determines clemency: Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, Nevada and Utah.

    Georgia death penalty statistics:

    – Georgia has executed 51 people since 1976.

    – In 1972 the case Furman v. Georgia went to the Supreme Court along with two other cases the looked at the constitutionality of the death sentence for rape and murder convictions. The Supreme Court ruled to invalidate all then-existing death penalty laws because it was deemed "cruel and unusual" effectively suspending capital punishment. States then began rewriting their statutes to comply with the Court's ruling.

    The death penalty was re-enacted in Georgia in 1973. In 1976 the new law was taken to the Supreme Court where they ruled that Georgia's new capital punishment procedure were sufficient in reducing arbitrary imposition of the death penalty.

    – Prior to 1976, Georgia executed 950 people.

    – Currently there are 103 people on death row in Georgia. One of them is a woman.

    – Georgia's most recent execution was of Andrew Grant DeYoung. He was the third person executed in 2011 by Georgia. His case gained national attention because the execution was videotaped.

    – In Georgia, a defendant can get death for a felony where they are not responsible for the murder.

    – Five innocent people have been freed from death row in Georgia.

    – Seven clemencies have been granted. In Georgia, the State Board of Pardons has exclusive authority to grant clemency. Georgia is one of five states that operates this way.
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    Godfather. wrote:
    thought you guys might want to read this.

    Godfather.


    Death penalty statistics:

    – More than 3,200 inmates in 36 states are awaiting execution. The U.S. government and U.S. military also have approximately 67 people awaiting execution.

    – As of September 18, 2011 – 1,267 people have been executed in the U.S. since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated.

    – Capital punishment is legal in 34 states.

    – The legal methods of capital punishment are lethal injection and the electric chair.

    – 35 states use lethal injection. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009; however, two prisoners remain on death row and will be executed by lethal injection.

    – The state of Nebraska used the electric chair as its sole method until February 2008, when the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional.

    – Japan is the only industrial democracy besides the United States that has the death penalty.

    – 268 clemencies have been granted in the United States since 1976; 187 were in Illinois.

    – Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are
    white.

    – A 2010 national poll of registered voters conducted by Lake Research Partners showed growing support for alternatives to the death penalty compared with previous polls. A clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder, including life with no possibility of parole and with restitution to the victim’s family (39%), life with no possibility of parole (13%), or life with the possibility of parole (9%).

    – Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.

    – Texas leads the way in executions with 474 total executions. In 2011 they executed 10 people, in 2010 they executed 17 people and in 2009 they executed 24 people. Virginia comes in with the second highest number of total executions at 109. In 2011 they executed one person, in 2010 and 2009 they executed 3 people each year.

    Clemency statistics:

    – In sixteen states the governor has the sole authority to grant clemency: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

    In California the governor may not grant a pardon or commutation to a person twice convicted of a felony except on recommendation of the state Supreme Court, with at least four judges concurring. New York and New Jersey no longer have the death penalty. New Mexico no longer has the death penalty for cases after 2009, though two inmates still remain on death row.

    – In seven states the governor must have a recommendation of clemency from an advisory group or board: Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas.

    In Florida the governor must have recommendation of Board, on which he or she sits.

    – In ten states the governor can get a non-binding recommendation for clemency from an advisory group or board: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio and Tennessee.

    Illinois no longer has the death penalty.

    – In five states an advisory group or a board determines clemency: Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, Nevada and Utah.

    Georgia death penalty statistics:

    – Georgia has executed 51 people since 1976.

    – In 1972 the case Furman v. Georgia went to the Supreme Court along with two other cases the looked at the constitutionality of the death sentence for rape and murder convictions. The Supreme Court ruled to invalidate all then-existing death penalty laws because it was deemed "cruel and unusual" effectively suspending capital punishment. States then began rewriting their statutes to comply with the Court's ruling.

    The death penalty was re-enacted in Georgia in 1973. In 1976 the new law was taken to the Supreme Court where they ruled that Georgia's new capital punishment procedure were sufficient in reducing arbitrary imposition of the death penalty.

    – Prior to 1976, Georgia executed 950 people.

    – Currently there are 103 people on death row in Georgia. One of them is a woman.

    – Georgia's most recent execution was of Andrew Grant DeYoung. He was the third person executed in 2011 by Georgia. His case gained national attention because the execution was videotaped.

    – In Georgia, a defendant can get death for a felony where they are not responsible for the murder.

    – Five innocent people have been freed from death row in Georgia.

    – Seven clemencies have been granted. In Georgia, the State Board of Pardons has exclusive authority to grant clemency. Georgia is one of five states that operates this way.
    thanks Godfather

    I wish here in Georgia the Governor could step in ... popular opinion effects a politician.

    Five people on a board, I believe, decided this mans fate yesterday,
    when hundreds of thousands believe there is not enough
    current evidence to kill him for his crime. That he indeed deserves a new trial.

    I am praying for this today, praying for Mr. Davis and his loved ones.

    Truth is ...Justice... is truth.
  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    If they kill this guy, will the world be a better place tomorrow? Just leave 'em in jail, why do we have to Kill? It's not like the death penalty is deterring anybody.
  • he's dead, and America continues to go to hell.
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  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    why do we have to Kill? It's not like the death penalty is deterring anybody.

    Because some people get a kick out of it:

    I love the death penalty.
    I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.
  • I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.cheers
    I am embarrassed for you.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    MookiesLaw wrote:
    I support the death penalty, Rick Perry and Israel.cheers
    I am embarrassed for you.

    you must be a lonely person,hay ! there's a guy on the train that like to bake fruit cakes.....never mind he has a boyfriend... :lol:

    Godfather.
  • Actually, lethal injection and the electric chair are not the only legal forms of capital punishment in the US. Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in Utah on June 18, 2010. Oklahoma also has firing squad as a secondary method of execution.

    New Hampshire & Washington have hanging as an option as well. In Washington, the inmate gets to choose between lethal injection and hanging.

    Personally, I'd choose firing squad if I were sentenced to die...go out with a bang, baby!
  • pjhawkspjhawks Posts: 12,436
    If they kill this guy, will the world be a better place tomorrow? Just leave 'em in jail, why do we have to Kill? It's not like the death penalty is deterring anybody.

    yes
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    bennett13 wrote:
    Actually, lethal injection and the electric chair are not the only legal forms of capital punishment in the US. Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in Utah on June 18, 2010. Oklahoma also has firing squad as a secondary method of execution.

    New Hampshire & Washington have hanging as an option as well. In Washington, the inmate gets to choose between lethal injection and hanging.

    Personally, I'd choose firing squad if I were sentenced to die...go out with a bang, baby!
    didn't Ronnie choose the firing squad ? I think I remember that.


    Godfather.
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