Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter to get death penalty ...

[DeusxMac]

mattkime wrote:
What is gained by the death penalty?

The murder is no longer a burden on civilized society in any way whatsoever. He is owed NOTHING!

[Ca Bob]

When a friend of mine was murdered by gunfire only a few feet from where I was sitting, I had a chance to think about where I am on the death penalty. I decided that in this particular case, I would choose life without parole for the shooter, and that is, indeed, what he got. The guy who hired the shooter got the same.

I also decided that I am willing to be agnostic on the question, in the sense that I respect both sides, although I reject some of the arguments from both sides. For example, I think the death penalty is a subject of simple morality, and I reject and ignore the argument that it is expensive, just as I reject an argument that the death penalty is a cheaper alternative to imprisonment -- there seem to be differing views on which costs more, and to me it is just an irrelevance.

I also see limits in arguments about "taking a life," because it seems pretty obvious that some lives are different and more valuable than others.

I did decide one thing in response to that long ago murder. I believe that when he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the right eye of his victim, that the murderer at that moment gave up rights he had over his own life. It is due to the mercy of the society he lived in that he is allowed to live, and subject to the limit on cruel or unusual punishment, the society decides how he will live out the rest of his life. Curiously enough, I do feel a little sorry for the killer (if not for the guy who hired him), and it occurs to me that what he did is marginally less than what the Manson Family killers did.

[gadje]

Ca Bob wrote:
When a friend of mine was murdered by gunfire only a few feet from where I was sitting, I had a chance to think about where I am on the death penalty. I decided that in this particular case, I would choose life without parole for the shooter, and that is, indeed, what he got. The guy who hired the shooter got the same.

I also decided that I am willing to be agnostic on the question, in the sense that I respect both sides, although I reject some of the arguments from both sides. For example, I think the death penalty is a subject of simple morality, and I reject and ignore the argument that it is expensive, just as I reject an argument that the death penalty is a cheaper alternative to imprisonment -- there seem to be differing views on which costs more, and to me it is just an irrelevance.

I also see limits in arguments about "taking a life," because it seems pretty obvious that some lives are different and more valuable than others.

I did decide one thing in response to that long ago murder. I believe that when he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the right eye of his victim, that the murderer at that moment gave up rights he had over his own life. It is due to the mercy of the society he lived in that he is allowed to live, and subject to the limit on cruel or unusual punishment, the society decides how he will live out the rest of his life. Curiously enough, I do feel a little sorry for the killer (if not for the guy who hired him), and it occurs to me that what he did is marginally less than what the Manson Family killers did.

Wow, what an horrible experience. How long ago was this?

[Racer X]

Very well said Bob. I feel the same way about murder. You just proved that you don't respect human life, so why would we ever believe you won't do it again? Why would we give you the chance to do it again?

[Mr645]

gadje wrote:
[quote=Mr645]
Pay Per View please

That is disgusting. Why not make him a shooting target for your guns and your NRA fellow, huh?
Silent auction?

Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and South Carolina permit firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection. The last person to be executed by a firing squad was convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner, according to the group, who was shot to death by a firing squad in a Utah prison in 2010.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

AG Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions in July 2021. Appeals for death row inmates usually at least double the cost of incarceration.

He (and any other federal death row prisoners) will only die if a Republican "Right to Life" candidate gets elected and eliminates the moratorium.

Please note that at least 182 people were sentenced to death, and have been proved innocent later.

[Lemon Drop]

[quote=Filliam H. Muffman]
AG Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions in July 2021. Appeals for death row inmates usually at least double the cost of incarceration.

He (and any other federal death row prisoners) will only die if a Republican "Right to Life" candidate gets elected and eliminates the moratorium.

Please note that at least 182 people were sentenced to death, and have been proved innocent later.

In addition to that major problem, the death penalty is handed out in a very biased, racist manner. If you are a poor or Black defendant , you have a much higher chance of getting the death penalty. Particularly a Black person accused of killing a white person.
And you only need to look at recent problems with Alabama's lethal injection executions, or botched executions, to see why we need to end this practice and join the civilized world.

[DeusxMac]

Lemon Drop wrote:
...you only need to look at recent problems with Alabama's lethal injection executions, or botched executions, to see why we need to end this practice and join the civilized world.

Much (most?) of those issues are self-fulfilling.

"...it cost the Texas Department of Criminal Justice $83.55 for the drugs used to carry out an execution -- sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Then last March [2011] the state was forced to replace sodium thiopental with pentobarbital after the U.S. supplier of the former drug halted distribution amid international protests.

Switching to pentobarbital, also known as Nembutal, raised the cost of drugs for each execution to $1,286.86."

"Some of the reasons for the high cost of the death penalty are the longer trials and appeals required when a person’s life is on the line, the need for more lawyers and experts on both sides of the case"

[Fritz]

" that the murderer at that moment gave up rights he had over his own life. "

" The murder is no longer a burden on civilized society in any way whatsoever. He is owed NOTHING! "

yup and yup.

[Lemon Drop]

DeusxMac wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
...you only need to look at recent problems with Alabama's lethal injection executions, or botched executions, to see why we need to end this practice and join the civilized world.

Much (most?) of those issues are self-fulfilling.

"...it cost the Texas Department of Criminal Justice $83.55 for the drugs used to carry out an execution -- sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Then last March [2011] the state was forced to replace sodium thiopental with pentobarbital after the U.S. supplier of the former drug halted distribution amid international protests.

Switching to pentobarbital, also known as Nembutal, raised the cost of drugs for each execution to $1,286.86."

"Some of the reasons for the high cost of the death penalty are the longer trials and appeals required when a person’s life is on the line, the need for more lawyers and experts on both sides of the case"

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.
Acquiring the drugs for lethal injection is not the recent problem in Alabama.