It's time Oklahoma gave up the death penalty

[carltonplace]

We don't have to abolish it completely. Death by Incarceration is still an option.

[Conan71]

We don't have to abolish it completely. Death by Incarceration is still an option.

Good one!  I could get behind that! 

[patric]

We don't have to abolish it completely. Death by Incarceration is still an option.

And here I thought the Grand Jury was critical of the Moss Jail for just that.

[heironymouspasparagus]

How RWRE of you.  Might even show some Murdochian tendencies.

Don't forget...I am also a Lifetime Member of the NRA!!   And I will never resign my membership, unlike that candy-a$$ flaming liberal George H W Bush did just due to a little uncomfortable politicizing.

How's that for politically incorrect?  Did I touch all the bases??

I guess at least of little of the early childhood Old Testament teaching "took"... eye for eye, etc.

[heironymouspasparagus]

This has always been a rather tough subject for me. I lost my younger sister when I was 10 years of age to a babysitter high on drugs. It took me years to come to grips with losing a sister, but I moved on along with my two brothers and another sister. As the oldest I always felt it was my duty to protect, and the anger I felt towards the woman and of course myself lasted a very long time. I had always thought she should have died in the exact same manner that my sister did. Now this woman is out of prison after 31 years and married with grown step children. I am older now, all grey now and I hope much wiser, but my opinion has not changed. That one moment in time changed my life and the lives of everyone in my family. My father drank himself to death by the age of 45 due to this which meant the remaining 4 of us were left to a mother struggling to provide and deal with the heart ache alone. Having this woman put to death would not have changed these facts, they were a result of her actions, her death would have meant nothing to us.

Revenge, eye for an eye, doesn't change what happened, it just changes who you are down deep. I don't think I would have had any satisfaction looking back.

With that said I still believe in a death penalty. I believe families and society has the right to put to death those that are guilty of crimes that warrant such a punishment. I do not believe it reduces crime and I don't think that's what its intent is anymore. It may could be if the penalty was carried out in a much swifter fashion, but that would never happen with appeals, and of course putting to death innocent people.

Sorry to hear that....


We have a close family friend whose daughter was raped and murdered when she was very young - about 18 if memory is right.  The guy got prison WITH possibility of parole.  That was sick and twisted.  Now, she and all her friends have to go around every few years collecting signatures on a petition to present to the state parole board to prevent his release.   And she has to live through it all over again when testifying to the board.  And of course, there is no remorse.  In fact, he has made threats to the family about when/if he does get out.  Grotesque travesty of justice.

[Jammie]

Anti-death penalty here mainly because a lot of innocent people (especially minorities) have been convicted of crimes and found to be guilty years later. Time spent in prison when innocent is awful enough, but once you have put someone to death, there's no turning back or reimbursing that person. I just personally don't believe that any of us have the right to take someone else's life and when we do, it makes us no better then the criminal who does it. (Yes, a bleeding heart here.)

[heironymouspasparagus]

Here is the biggest problem I have with giving up the death penalty.  Justice should be accurate, precise, and very much faster than it is today, though.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/08/25/a-girl-was-drugged-with-meth-sexually-assaulted-and-killed-one-of-the-suspects-her-mother/

[Conan71]

Here is the biggest problem I have with giving up the death penalty.  Justice should be accurate, precise, and very much faster than it is today, though.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/08/25/a-girl-was-drugged-with-meth-sexually-assaulted-and-killed-one-of-the-suspects-her-mother/

What, so they can get 24 hour per day protection from the general population, unlimited appeals, and cost taxpayers 3-10 times what LWOP would cost?

In this case, it is much more likely to be able to ensure they were not putting the wrong people to sleep, but you have three people involved here.  Why waste millions on them over 20 years to finally allow "justice" to be done.

Putting these three D-bags on death row would not be any deterrent to keeping anyone else from committing murder, it has zero deterrent value.  Other people being put on death row apparently didn't become any sort of deterrent to these three low-lives.

Does anyone even know what justice means anymore?

[RecycleMichael]

I was against the death penalty until Timothy McVeigh.

I changed on the spot. He murdered friends of mine and innocent children in a day care.

[heironymouspasparagus]

What, so they can get 24 hour per day protection from the general population, unlimited appeals, and cost taxpayers 3-10 times what LWOP would cost?

In this case, it is much more likely to be able to ensure they were not putting the wrong people to sleep, but you have three people involved here.  Why waste millions on them over 20 years to finally allow "justice" to be done.

Putting these three D-bags on death row would not be any deterrent to keeping anyone else from committing murder, it has zero deterrent value.  Other people being put on death row apparently didn't become any sort of deterrent to these three low-lives.

Does anyone even know what justice means anymore?

I get that - and the fact that is costs so much to administer is the main reason I am for life/no parole now.   But that is particularly unsatisfying to my desire for revenge on people who do things to kids!!   Adults doing things to adults happens way to often, and sadly it involves people who do have choices on whether to stay or go.   Kids don't have that option - they just have to sit there and take it for the most part.  This was not the first event in that baby's life - you can tell by the maggot who was her DNA donor that this had gone on for a while, 'cause "Mommy Dearest" has been that way for a while.

Pat Benatar was right...Hell is for children.

Makes me wanna puke and invoke Heavenly Wrath upon people who hurt kids!!  And I would volunteer to flip the switch or pull the trigger with no qualms.

[Conan71]

I get that - and the fact that is costs so much to administer is the main reason I am for life/no parole now.   But that is particularly unsatisfying to my desire for revenge on people who do things to kids!!   Adults doing things to adults happens way to often, and sadly it involves people who do have choices on whether to stay or go.   Kids don't have that option - they just have to sit there and take it for the most part.  This was not the first event in that baby's life - you can tell by the maggot who was her DNA donor that this had gone on for a while, 'cause "Mommy Dearest" has been that way for a while.

Pat Benatar was right...Hell is for children.

Makes me wanna puke and invoke Heavenly Wrath upon people who hurt kids!!  And I would volunteer to flip the switch or pull the trigger with no qualms.

You did happen to cite a really horrible recent case.  That is one of those you just wish the neighbors had gotten to the maggots before the cops did, but again, that is not what we call justice.

[davideinstein]

All it takes is one Criminology class to know the death penalty is immoral, inefficient and unjust. I'm surprised it still exist when it's a clear violation of the 8th Amendment.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You did happen to cite a really horrible recent case.  That is one of those you just wish the neighbors had gotten to the maggots before the cops did, but again, that is not what we call justice.

Because we don't truly understand what justice is.   I could detail what justice would be for this case.  And it would be slow, inexorable, and exquisite in it's execution for those people.


These types of crime are where I not only agree with Sharia law - the same as the Old Law which Okies are so all about - but would take it several steps further.  Sometimes Sharia Law is way too liberal and 'soft'.