Capital punishment & the American justice system.

OK, I know I've said this all before, but...
Statistically speaking, in death penalty states at least 10% of death-row inmates were most likely wrongly convicted.

Many of the remainder were over-charged. So let's take a quick look at that:
1.) First Degree Murder requires PRE-MEDITATION! Say you were in a fight with someone and got SO MAD you lost it and killed him. You didn't kill him by accident, you killed him in the heat of the moment because you were mad. Since it was NOT PRE-MEDITATED, it's SECOND DEGREE murder.
2.) Say you got in a fight with someone and killed them by accident. You hit them the wrong way, or they fell, or you rolled into the street and they got ran over. That's not even murder, it's MANSLAUGHTER.

It's STANDARD PRACTICE in most states to over-charge people. 2nd degree murder and manslaughter are often charged as 1st degree murder, ESPECIALLY if the crime was spectaculary grusome or the person was from a higher social class.

That's how plea bargans work. You commit 2nd degree murder, they charge you with 1st, you cop a plea to 2nd and get 20 to life or whatever, then the PUBLIC OUTCRY comes that a first degree murderer "got off" on the lower charge.

But if you didn't plea out, chances are the prosecutor will present evidence SO DISTURBING that the jury convicts you of the greater crime out of EMOTION, not rational judgement.

If you did this in Texas during the 90's, you could of course have begged the Governor who we all know now to commute your sentence, death to life. But we all know how that works, this man's idea "KILL EM ALL AND LET GOD SORT EM OUT" meant your pleas fell on deaf ears.

I'd rather see 100 guilty death-penalty advocates slaughtered than one innocent man suffer execution based on a wrongfull conviction.

Other fallacies: The first fallacy was that people who get plea bargains didn't get their fair punishment, when in fact the lesser charge they plea to is usually the charge they were guilty of. Another fallacy is that people who get these long sentences always get out quickly: In my state, if you get a 2-4 sentence for stealing a candy bar (larceny from a building), you'll do AT LEAST 2 years before parol. If you don't get parolled, you'll do AT LEAST 40 months on that 4 year max.

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I totally think anyone who murders another person or rapes a child deserves to die. They forfeit their right to live by doing something so terrible.

But, our justice system is not perfect enough to be able to know for a certain that all the people they execute really deserve it. That is the main reason why I am against the death penalty. Plus, it is more expensive than life imprisonment, which most people don't know.

Release all drug offenders from prison so there is more room for the real criminals.

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"There's more to life than profits."
<font color=red>"Like what?"</font color=red>
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<A HREF="http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/707/slurpees.mov" target="_new">South Park</A>

No disagreement here, but of course you have the usual points:
1) What constitutes 'Murder' as opposed to an accidental death
2) absolute proof of guilt. This is of course the major problem with the death penalty...

I largely agree. Many US states seem to have really stupid zero-tolerance drugs policy. people getting <i>any</i> custodial sentence for simply having a small quantity of a naturally occuring plant is stupid enough, let alone a decade or more. Any guy that thinks someone with some dope is on the same level as a murderer or armed robber is clearly deranged. Obviously there will always be some people who will push hard drugs onto others, and they should be severely punished IMO.

Depends on the person. If they are of no further use to society, then why should society pay for their upkeep for decades? Why should they be kept warm, clothed and fed while a Homeless person freezes to death even though he's never committed a crime? How is <i>that</i> justice?

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The schools should do a better job, too ... [/cheap shot]



<b> ...more people are driven insane through religious hysteria than by drinking alcohol - W.C. Fields </b>

Yes they should, and more money should be spent for teachers salaries, and more should be expected of their dedication to their roles as teachers.
Recognition should be more prominent, and praise when doing right, and more repercusions when teachers are letting down the community not carring their loads should be levied.
Parents should be held more accountable for their children also, they should play a major role in making sure the education system works more than is done now.

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<font color=red> And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign </font color=red>

yea, i gots it, buts i stills agreed wid what e saiz.

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<font color=red> And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign </font color=red>

Yeah the drug policy has to be revamped. As it stands right now it's very racist. How many white guys are serving 5 to 10 for a drug crime? There exists the possability that you could take someone accused of posession and send him away for 5 yrs thus making him more open to the criminal mind when his only crime was wanting to catch a buzz. Very wrong imho

Homer: Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another woman.

How many have you paid?

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<font color=red> And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign </font color=red>