First Woman Executed in the U.S. in Five Years

[Frozengale]

This is my problem with the death penalty. Its actually not cheaper by a long shot. The cost of all the court preceding, supplied lawyers to the defendant, who often can't afford their own, and the huge amount of scrutiny that goes into deciding on a death penalty is enormous. Plus, most death row inmates sit on death years for years if not decades anyway.

Do you have statistics to back that up? I'm not saying your wrong I'm just wondering. Personally I think the death penalty should only be viable if there is no real room for doubt, that might eliminate some of the scrutiny and piles and piles of court proceedings. Then again probably not.

 

[Councilman]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution - Yahoo! Canada News



I'm curious to find out the kind of argument somebody needs to come up with to prove that a person with an IQ slightly higher than the require level for retardation is capable of masterminding murders. Now admittedly, I have never dealt with somebody who is borderline mentally retarded - excuse me, developmentally disabled - but I do have friends with relatives who have mild disabilities and yet require constant care taking. How different was this woman from them?

IQ - Mental retardation



On a last note, I believe the death penalty if it can't be abolished should be reserved for the most HEINOUS of crimes where there is no doubt that the person knew exactly what they were doing. The death penalty as a punishment seems useless. I punish my daughter by taking her toys away for a few hours. Not taking her toys away for good. The death penalty in this case seems like vengeance.

Apparently you have a border line understanding of what premeditated murder is and a border line comprehension of the facts.

The marshmallow milk toast limp wrested brain dead protesters like the disgraceful hypocrite Jessie Jackson are the self same type of idiots that get people like John Albert Gardner, 31, a convicted sex offender, out of jail so they can kill innocent children like 14-year-old Amber Dubois, and the beautiful young lady who now has a new law named in her memory 17 year old Chelsea King.

So lame do gooders need to keep their BORDER LINE CRAZY Liberal thoughts and ideas to your self before they other people killed because they are pantie waists.

Schwarzenegger to sign Chelsea's Law, named for slain teenager | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

 

[ReverendHellh0und]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

I'll reserve my sympathy for the husband Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr. and her stepson, Charles J. Lewis.

 

[Frozengale]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Low IQ != No Understanding of Morals

Just because she's stupid doesn't mean she doesn't understand that killing people and forcing your daughter to have sex is against the law. I haven't looked into this much, but from what I understand she was mentally capable of having a relationship, getting married, having a family and taking care of them, and being able to live a normal life without need of supervision. Even if she lacks any kind of morals she still has the intelligence to know that what she did was illegal. This, I would argue, is enough to say that she is viable for the death penalty.

 

[mike2810]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

(not discussing her mental-status)
I don't support the death penalty for that nature of murder, anyway (meaning 1 person buys the death of another - or plots otherwise - and had accomplices)

The death penalty should be reserved for serial killers on a large scale - plain and simple.

And we shouldn't be convicting those who are not able to discern right from wrong. . . which includes the officially insane as well as the mentally handicapped, etc.

I had a psychology prof tell me one time than even the most insane or disabled person makes decisions. Society sets the rules for what is right or wrong. The insane/disabled person just has a different view or doesn’t understand that rule. The person still made a decision. What also stuck with me is that he did not believe in innocent by reason of insanity or innocent by reason of retardation. He believed a person could be guilty and insane. It is up to society to determine the punishment.

In this case, IMO justice was served.

 

[TurtleDude]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Retarded,borderline or almost retarded has nothing to do with the fact she had her stepson and husband murdered.Its just another excuse or loop hole that scumbag sympathizers use to try to help scumbags weasel out of getting their punishment while ****ting on the victims of these scum.

you can make a utilitarian argument that it is better to execute morons as opposed to really smart people

nonetheless the dead victims probably didn't care if they were murdered by an idiot or a chess grandmaster or the president of Mensa

 

[BCR]

I'm not trying to create excuses, retarded or not I wouldn't support the execution. The lady should have just rotted behind bars. The only deterrent to crime I could see is strict gun control but of course we shall have none of that.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Did anyone ever stop to think why, maybe, she would have done it?
Do you think that she just *up* one day and wanted them dead? Or perhaps there was a large number of other issues to consider - that, perhaps - people aren't willing to consider?

I have a feeling that, if she actually did this, that she acted in reaction - and, sadly, was unable to explain herself fully.

More mentally retarded, ill and disabled people are abused and neglected than innocent people wrongfully murdered - and most of the time the perpetrators do it purely because they feel they can get away with it. Most of the time they do.

So while everyone feels that her death is justice of some nature.
I'm siding with my deep, statistically based belief that her action - if any - was justice and likely they deserved it first.

(is this post clear at all?) I'm suggesting that they were likely abusive, neglectful, and treated her poorly - and she was unable to voice her problems . . .

 

[Goobieman]

Her IQ was so low she almost legally qualified for retardation.

Good thing that state laws and the courts were there to make sure she was fit to stand trial.

 

[Goobieman]

Shouldn't you Christian conservatives be against anyways on the grounds of religion,

Man doesnt judge anyone for their sins, he judges people for their actions against the law.

 

[Goobieman]

The only deterrent to crime I could see is strict gun control but of course we shall have none of that.

Mostly because gun control isnt a deterrent to anythng...

 

[BCR]

Mostly because gun control isnt a deterrent to anythng...

why is America's crime rate so high then? I mean other countries with strict gun control have a much lower crime rate..Sure it doesn't technically deter crime but it would certainly lower the murder and crime rate.

 

[Orion]

why is America's crime rate so high then? I mean other countries with strict gun control have a much lower crime rate..Sure it doesn't technically deter crime but it would certainly lower the murder and crime rate.

Other countries don't have a lower over all crime rate, they just have a lower rate of crimes committed by guns... which should be obvious if one's country doesn't have a big culture of gun ownership. Removing guns does not remove crime.

 

[Goobieman]

why is America's crime rate so high then? I mean other countries with strict gun control have a much lower crime rate..Sure it doesn't technically deter crime but it would certainly lower the murder and crime rate.

Sigh.
The number of guns in the US goes up every year, by millions.
The crime rates in the US have been steady for the last 10 years, after 10 years of significant decline.
If more guns = more crime, with the number of guns going up, crime should as well; that this is not the case dispoves the notion that more guns = more crime.

 

[Orion]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Don't see why it matters if she had an IQ of 50 or 150, or that she was a woman. State executions are old world thinking and they make every taxpayer an accessory, including those who don't support the death penalty. The government should not have the power to snuff out the lives of its people, no matter how beyond reproach they may be. It always seems to be the predominantly Christian states that cannot look beyond the eye for an eye mentality, and totally ignore the love and virtues of Jesus.

Total hypocrisy.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

(not discussing her mental-status)
I don't support the death penalty for that nature of murder, anyway (meaning 1 person buys the death of another - or plots otherwise - and had accomplices)

The death penalty should be reserved for serial killers on a large scale - plain and simple.

And we shouldn't be convicting those who are not able to discern right from wrong. . . which includes the officially insane as well as the mentally handicapped, etc.

Why?
Those people are a danger to all those around them, there is no compelling reason to keep them alive.
It's a total waste of resources.

 

[apdst]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

If this were a 25 y/o service member, who had killed two Afgahnis/Iraqis/whoever the people that are so appaled by this woman's execution would be cheering for the death penalty; probably without even so much as a trial.

 

[apdst]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Don't see why it matters if she had an IQ of 50 or 150, or that she was a woman. State executions are old world thinking and they make every taxpayer an accessory, including those who don't support the death penalty. The government should not have the power to snuff out the lives of its people, no matter how beyond reproach they may be. It always seems to be the predominantly Christian states that cannot look beyond the eye for an eye mentality, and totally ignore the love and virtues of Jesus.

Total hypocrisy.

Always? Really? Do you seriously want to go down this road?

 

[Hatuey]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Always? Really? Do you seriously want to go down this road?

Ah so you're saying we're in the same group as Saudi Arabi, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria? Do go on.

 

[apdst]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Ah so you're saying we're in the same group as Saudi Arabi, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria? Do go on.

No, I'm saying that it's not always Christian countries that have a death penalty in place.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

She controlled the whole situation in regards to the murder.

She bought the gun, she enticed the men to kill her husband and stepson, she offered her 16 year old daughter for sex, she unlocked the door and put away the family dog, to allow the men to commit the murder.
She was the person, other than the father and stepson, who knew about the life insurance policy.

I don't like the death penalty, and think it should be abolished but while it is law, she shouldn't get any special treatment.

Don't see why it matters if she had an IQ of 50 or 150, or that she was a woman. State executions are old world thinking and they make every taxpayer an accessory, including those who don't support the death penalty. The government should not have the power to snuff out the lives of its people, no matter how beyond reproach they may be. It always seems to be the predominantly Christian states that cannot look beyond the eye for an eye mentality, and totally ignore the love and virtues of Jesus.

Total hypocrisy.

This.

I'm against capital punishment for both moral and practical reasons.

Practically speaking, we as a species are physically incapable of doing anything perfectly.

As such, it is morally beyond us to execute anybody while simultaneously outlawing murder.

When you execute someone for a crime they did not commit, that is murder.

You can't get around that simple fact or call it "collateral damage" (as I've seen and heard others do) without condoning murder.

 

[Hatuey]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

No, I'm saying that it's not always Christian countries that have a death penalty in place.

Ah so what you're saying is that you're in the same group as Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba and Somalia.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

If this were a 25 y/o service member, who had killed two Afgahnis/Iraqis/whoever the people that are so appaled by this woman's execution would be cheering for the death penalty; probably without even so much as a trial.

Congratulations, and welcome to being dead wrong.

I have a serious problem with the death penalty in general, and I would not respond to the accusations against the service member in that way.

 

[RightinNYC]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

She's not borderline retarded as they define it, she's above that. The fact that she's just 2 points over the line doesn't mean that she should be spared - there's always going to be someone who's just over the line.

The facts of the case indicate that she had the mental capacity necessary to commit a capital offense. The fact that she's a woman, a 41 year old grandmother, or on the lower side of intelligence doesn't change that.

 

[apdst]

Re: Protesters condemn US grandmother's execution

Ah so what you're saying is that you're in the same group as Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba and Somalia.

No, that's what you're saying.