Hooray For the Death Penalty!!
Posted: November 29th, 2004, 3:15 pm
After watching a documentary profile of 1980s serial killer Aileen Wournos, who sepnt 12 years on death row for the murders of 7 f her Florida "johns", I got terribly interested in America's re-institution of the death Penalty in the 70's. I searched around, and found this posted on AMnesty Interantional from 2000, just beofre the Presidential elections:
At the time of the Florida legislature’s vote to expedite executions and introduce lethal injection, Governor Jeb Bush’s policy advisor expressed the hope that Florida would become more like Texas, adding "bring in the witnesses, put them [the inmates] on a gurney, and let’s rock and roll."
"A desire to imitate the Texan approach to the death penalty displays either ignorance or contempt for global norms of justice," Amnesty International continued, pointing out that Texas maintains appallingly low standards of legal representation for capital defendants and has carried out three of the world’s eight executions of child offenders in the past 30 months -- a blatant violation of international law.
Last night, Texas executed Cornelius Goss, who became the 120th prisoner put to death under the five-year governorship of George W. Bush, campaigning for US President under a banner of "compassionate conservative" and "reformer with results".
"Such campaign slogans have been emptied of meaning in the face of an execution rate that exceeds most countries," Amnesty International said. "With pretensions to be a leader on the world stage, Governor George W Bush may wish to consider what his record on the death penalty is doing to his reputation internationally."
I also found this posted on the American Civil Liberties Union site:
Deterrence is a function not only of a punishment's severity, but also of its certainty and frequency. The argument most often cited in support of capital punishment is that the threat of execution influences criminal behavior more effectively than imprisonment does. As plausible as this claim may sound, in actuality the death penalty fails as a deterrent for several reasons.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT A DETERRENT TO MURDER
Ratio of Executions to the National Murder Rate: 1976-1995
YEAR # OF EXECUTIONS NATIONAL MURDER RATE
1976 0 8.8
1977 1 8.8
1978 0 9
1979 2 9.7
1980 0 10.2
1981 1 9.8
1982 2 9.1
1983 5 8.3
1984 21 7.9
1985 18 7.9
1986 18 8.6
1987 25 8.3
1988 11 8.3
1989 16 8.7
1990 23 9.4
1991 14 9.8
1992 31 9.3
1993 38 9.5
1994 31 9
1995 56 8
Source: Death Penalty Information Center, Washington, D.C.
Recent studies have shown that in 2003, the states with the highest rate of death penalty cases were in fact maintaining higher levels of crime. Tie that with a bow and put your stockings on it! I personally think that a person suffers more when in prison. Aileen Wournos and much-talked about Timothy Mcveigh both said that they couldn't wait to die simply because life in prison was so terrible for them. Let them endure the mental sufferings they imposed on others.
What doya sya? Yay or Nay for Capital Punishment?
At the time of the Florida legislature’s vote to expedite executions and introduce lethal injection, Governor Jeb Bush’s policy advisor expressed the hope that Florida would become more like Texas, adding "bring in the witnesses, put them [the inmates] on a gurney, and let’s rock and roll."
"A desire to imitate the Texan approach to the death penalty displays either ignorance or contempt for global norms of justice," Amnesty International continued, pointing out that Texas maintains appallingly low standards of legal representation for capital defendants and has carried out three of the world’s eight executions of child offenders in the past 30 months -- a blatant violation of international law.
Last night, Texas executed Cornelius Goss, who became the 120th prisoner put to death under the five-year governorship of George W. Bush, campaigning for US President under a banner of "compassionate conservative" and "reformer with results".
"Such campaign slogans have been emptied of meaning in the face of an execution rate that exceeds most countries," Amnesty International said. "With pretensions to be a leader on the world stage, Governor George W Bush may wish to consider what his record on the death penalty is doing to his reputation internationally."
I also found this posted on the American Civil Liberties Union site:
Deterrence is a function not only of a punishment's severity, but also of its certainty and frequency. The argument most often cited in support of capital punishment is that the threat of execution influences criminal behavior more effectively than imprisonment does. As plausible as this claim may sound, in actuality the death penalty fails as a deterrent for several reasons.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT A DETERRENT TO MURDER
Ratio of Executions to the National Murder Rate: 1976-1995
YEAR # OF EXECUTIONS NATIONAL MURDER RATE
1976 0 8.8
1977 1 8.8
1978 0 9
1979 2 9.7
1980 0 10.2
1981 1 9.8
1982 2 9.1
1983 5 8.3
1984 21 7.9
1985 18 7.9
1986 18 8.6
1987 25 8.3
1988 11 8.3
1989 16 8.7
1990 23 9.4
1991 14 9.8
1992 31 9.3
1993 38 9.5
1994 31 9
1995 56 8
Source: Death Penalty Information Center, Washington, D.C.
Recent studies have shown that in 2003, the states with the highest rate of death penalty cases were in fact maintaining higher levels of crime. Tie that with a bow and put your stockings on it! I personally think that a person suffers more when in prison. Aileen Wournos and much-talked about Timothy Mcveigh both said that they couldn't wait to die simply because life in prison was so terrible for them. Let them endure the mental sufferings they imposed on others.
What doya sya? Yay or Nay for Capital Punishment?
