I agree that the death penalty is wrong. I've seen a bumper sticker that goes something like "We kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong". I think it was actually talking about war but I think it applies to this topic as well.

I wonder how your opinion would change if your child was raped and murdered by someone? It might change my perspective. Personally, I don't believe in the death penalty because justice is just way too blind in this country. The possibility of a false conviction and execution is enough reason to ditch this practice.

I've seen too many STUPID juries convict innocent people and set guilty people free. The fact that juries are human and might lean towards conviction based on the fact that the defendant is unattractive or 'scary looking' or black or any other subjective reasoning makes me favor abolishing this practice even more.

Also, it is kind of hard to be pro-life for unborn babies and pro-capital punishment for others.

Mr. T, I have no problem distinguishing between protecting the innocent unborn and executing the guilty murderer. That being said, there are problems sometimes deciding guilt or innocence of a defendent in a murder trial, but the aborted unborn are always innocent.

I have a great idea. Why don't the people who don't believe in the death penalty pay more in taxes to provide for the people who sit in prison for life due to the crimes they commit. That way those of us who do think an eye for an eye is the right decision will have more money to buy protection against the people who begin believing that they can," Get away with murder."

JJ,
Actually, the death penalty has been shown to be more expensive than life in prison due to the costs of appeals and such. Thus, by your logic, all pro-death penalty folks should pay more taxes, correct?

Well I tell you what then. How bout we just find foster families then. I am sure you wouldn't mind having a murderer sleeping in the house with you, or next door, or across the street. I mean if the crime they commit is worthy of considering the death penalty then maybe the appeal process should be shortened. I don't have the answers, but I do have my beliefs. I will gladly pay more taxes to know that my wife can get from one place to the other on her own without me worrying about some lazy, no working loser thinking it is easier to get ahead by killing her and taking her car and money instead of getting a job because there are no repurcutions for doing so other than 3 hots and a cot for the rest of his life. Sure its prison, but he can work out, lay out, have sex, get drugs, watch TV and so forth and so on. Heck maybe I'll quit my job and commit a crime. At least then I won't have to pay taxes.

JJ you are changing the subject here. We've been talking about the death peneltay not the "benefits" in prison. I have to agree with you on that one, by the way. But just because I believe that the current situation in our prisons is wrong, doesn't mean that death is a better option. Personally, I like the sheriff in Arizona who makes all the prisoners wear pink, sleep in tents and work on chain gangs. Here is a link to a story about him:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/miracopjail.htm

I think he has the right idea about how a prison should be. Hard time is better punishment than death.

I agree with "hard-time" I have heard the story and there is another guy in Texas and one in Louisian who do that too. Give it time though. The ACLU will come a calling on his practices and all that will change. They are just too hung up on foreign prisoners at the moment. I hope you don't think I am angry at your sentiment as far as the death penalty goes. I am simply stating that I believe it is correct. Heck I am for going back to the days of public hangings for crimes committed. If some of these kids today saw what their future crimes could really do to them they might not ever become a criminal. Until then someone needs to do some research among inmates and find out what is causing them to commit the crimes to begin with, what their behavior was like at a younger age and try and set forth some standard practices for trying to remedy these situations before they start. If our society would spend more time doing positive research such as this instead of worrying about saying "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance or any number of other trivial things we worry about in everyday life then we might make a dent in how many of our children head the wrong direction in life.

I have a friend who is in prison for life. No chance of parole. Prisons are no paradise, folks. You have absolutely zero freedom. You are always in danger of attack by a fellow inmate. You rarely get to see your family or friends and the visits are forced and unnatural at best.

There are televisions in prison but usually it is one television per block. You don't get any say on what is actually shown on that televison.

My friend is there because he killed someone who attacked him with a beer bottle in a bar parking lot and had him in a corner against the wall.. He took one swing with a knife and cut the man's jugular. He didn't premeditate the killing. He just acted on impulse. Yet, he is in prison for life for defending himself. If the death penalty was offered, I wouldn't be surprised if his stupid jury wouldn't have given him that, too.

While I have little sympathy for cold-blooded killers, the problem is that there are a lot of folks in prison and death row who are innocent or just happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. And most of those people are poor and have no connections. For these people, there is not justice. They don't have the money to hire expensive lawyers who play golf with the judges. They can't even get a decent defense.

There are just too many failures in our justice system to put people to death.

Once again this goes to show the mentality of our kids these days. Mr. T I am sorry your friend is in prison for defending himself. Does anyone remember the days when all a fight involved was two guys and four fists. Not anymore - its all about who has the better weapons.

On this subjects though - Oh no they don't have a remote control, oh no you don't get to see anybody from the outside that sounds like a prison. Oh wait it is.

Did your friend provoke this guy? Does he often hang out places that he needs to carry a knife or was it just a pocket knife. You know the legal kind where the blade and handle are shorter than 6 inches. I mean I wan the whole story before I feel sorry for your friend.

Actually, the knife was a pocket knife given to my friend by his father who died several years ago. My friend went to the bar with his girlfriend to celebrate his birthday. He was in no way looking for a fight. The person he killed went to the bar looking for a fight. I was there that night and could tell by his demeanor that he was looking for trouble. Weeks earlier, the person who he killed went into a bar and for no reason decided to cut another man's face off.

On this particular night, the man who died was doing cocaine and other drugs with the bar owner. At one point he decided he would try to pick a fight with my friend. My friend had no reason to fight and told the guy he wasn't interested in fighting and to leave him alone. The guy and his buddy then started following my friend around the bar and called hiim a lot of very derogatory names. My friend decided to leave the bar and so decided to get his group together. They headed to the parking lot. A friend of the man who died tried to get him to leave and actually was driving him down the road away from the bar. The man who died jumped out of the car. He ran back to the bar. He attacked an older man with a beer bottle, then attacked my friend. He hit him over the head knocking off his glasses. My friend was legally blind without his 'coke bottle' glasses. The guy beat my friend up pretty good. He had him knocked up against a wall. There was nowhere to run. Someone pulled the guy off for a second. My friend reached in his pocket and got his knife. The guy who died rushed back at my friend and attempted to hit him again with a broken beer bottle. While he was in the act of punching, my friend swung the knife. In the swing, he hit the arm of the attacker which caused the knife to penetrate the attacker's neck. The blow was fatal. The attacker died in a matter of seconds.

Now, given these facts, would you convict my friend of first degree murder? Remember that first degree murder requires malice, intent, and premeditation. In order for it to stick, it must be proven that my friend started the fight. Even the D.A. in the case admitted that the other boy started the fight and threw several punches.

My friend went before the Supreme Court last week. They used an technical error by his 'state-paid' defendant to deny him a new trial.

Basically, I feel that the Supreme Court didn't want to waste their time on my friend because he has neither money nor status. And they don't really like to admit that their judge buddies made a mistake.

That is why I'm against the death penalty if for no other reason.

I'm pro death penalty in most cases and anti-abortion in all cases except rape, incest, etc.; however, no judicial system is perfect and we can't do away with the death penalty because it's "not humane" enough. It's not suppose to be! With the DNA evdidence we have now it should be a lot easier and more 'politically correct' to correctly convict a person and sentence them to the death. If someone admits they committed a murder I think they should be put on the express lane to the electric chair and they should only be allowed to appeal four times. They can appeal to the local courts, the district, state supreme court, and the federal Supreme Court if they so choose. If they are denied all of those.....FLIP THE SWITCH! They have already ADMITTED it so what's the point of them having the luxury of life when they wouldn't afford the same luxury to their victims.

Based on the story you told Mr. T, I'd say your friend was innocent. With that said, I also have to keep in mind that you are tell HIS/ YOUR side of the story and I haven't heard what the all the prosecutors had to say. May change my mind all together.....

I think you would have found the same way, Tater, even after hearing what the prosecutor said. I say that because you sound intelligent, and able to use your reasoning abilities. It wouldn't have taken much more. If you would have seen the people on this jury, it would come as no surprise that they came back with a strange verdict. Even the D.A. was visibly surprised that they came back with a first-degree murder conviction. He had already worked out a sentencing time-table for voluntary manslaughter or 2nd degree murder.

Basically, this jury looked like a bunch of losers who had nothing better to do with their time than sit around a court all day and make $12. I'm not saying all juries are like that, but this one was. And I wouldn't want to put anybody's life in their hands.

If you showed me somebody who killed some innocent person in cold blood and you proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I wouldn't argue one second about flipping the switch. I wouldn't want to be the one to flip the switch, but I wouldn't tell you not to.

Mr T,

From your story I must say that I am ashamed of our sourts for their verdict, but whats new. They get it worng sometimes. I would however suggest that if your friend can prove that hte bar owner was doing drugs with the "supposed" victim ( I put that in quotes because I know of the type of person you are describing) then by all means sue him. I know that as a society we are doing to much sueing, but hey - somebody should pay for this injustice. The only thing that matters in this case is simply that it was self defense and should not be first degree murder. I am sorry that your friend is in this position and I will say a prayer for him. I am not heartless. I simply want justice served where it should be and in his case it is not being served correctly.

Bill, I've got somebody you need to talk to about "humanely" killing another human being.

My cousin.

He, in 1994, lost his 4 yr old daughter. She was raped, strangled, run over by a pick-up truck, stuffed in a plastic garbage bag and hidden in a closet under carpet scraps and old clothes until she was found. All this done to her by her mother's live-in boyfriend.

He got the death penalty and is in Central Prison in Raleigh awaiting execution. Yep, he's still alive 10 years after the fact.

Say what you want about the death penalty but the people who commit these type of acts have no right to be here and will NEVER contribute anything meaningfull to our society. They need to be disposed of. Maybe he can live with you if you feel different. I just hope you don't have any young daughters.

I helped carry her 4 ft. casket to the grave for burial. I would give my right arm to be able to shave his head, attach the electrodes, strap him in a chair, and pull the switch.

North Carolina doesn't do that though.

They use lethal injection and it's a hellava lot more "humane" than what she got.

Inkslinger

I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter, your story sent chills down my spine. My kids have a mom and dad who love them dearly, so there would never be a live in boyfriend situation, but I often worry about all the kooks on the street who prey on children. We don't leave them alone for a second in public. Unfortunately, this creep who murdered the little girl will probably spend another 20 years on death row. Most of these anti-death penalty advocates never have and never will experience what your family did, so they sit around thinking it is right to protect these animals. My condolences to you and your family.

Sometimes even fellow inmates of child rapists/murderers are repulsed by animals like that and take justice into their own hands.

So does anyone think this murderer running around in Atlanta deserves the death penalty? Hopefully they can kill him during a capture and save the taxpayers alot of money.

Dan, I'm with you 100% on this one. Any scum that would do such a thing to a child deserves to die a horrible death. Too bad the father of this child can't administer the punishment.

Mr. t, My heart hurts for the injustice your friend has suffered. From your posts (although I can't agree with all of them) I know you to be a servant of God. Since you believe in the innocence of your friend, I give creadence to your opinion. Has anyone thought about trying to raise money to help him hire a good investigator and lawyer? While I'm far from being wealthy (in the usual definition of the word) I certainly would be glad to pledge a contribution.

Thanks Dan.

As you mentioned the "inmates" don't even like people like this.He did have the crap beat out of him a couple of times when he was first incarcerated, and they had to segregate him from the general population for a while. All that has died down now.

I still keep up with him on the Dept. of Corrections website hoping the day will come when I can stand outside the prison gates and know that JUSTICE was done. I just hope it happens before I die.

As far as the guy in Atlanta, it's being reported on TV that he was in a business suit and no handcuffs while being escorted to the trial so it wouldn't make him look guilty to the jury. If they continue to do this, SOMEBODY needs to look at allowing firearms in the court room so we don't read about more of these in the newspaper.

Guilty or not, they evidentaly had enough evidence to bring him to trial for a FELONY. He should have been in an orange jumpsuit and HANDCUFFED. Let the jury decide if he's guilty or not.

First trial called a mistrial with jury deadlocked 8 to 4 for conviction, and now this.

Wonder if he'll be in handcuffs next time he goes to trial, and wonder if they'll convict him this time. If they do he should be taken right then and hanged in public.

They have him confirmed as the killer with all the witnesses in the court room.

Guess the bleeding hearts will have to use the insanity plea to get him off.

He just wasn't in his right mind......

You are probably right Inkslinger. Insanity will be the plea. I wonder why waste time on a trial. Have a judge pronouce him guilty and hang him on the courthouse lawn. After all he committed his crime in a courtroom full of witnesses who certainly would be qualified to make up a jury and could vote on his guilt without reservation.
Unfortunately this will probably drag on for months and he will wind up sitting in prison at taxpayers expense and live to a ripe old age that he certainly denied his victims the right to do.

As you mentioned the "inmates" don't even like people like this.He did have the crap beat out of him a couple of times when he was first incarcerated, and they had to segregate him from the general population for a while. All that has died down now.