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As an aside, Rick Perry didn't sentence anyone to die. Actually, the only way to get the death penalty in Texas is if jurors assess it. That's different than every other state where it's the judge who does the sentencing.
Regarding eye witness testimony, think about this, if you're the victim of a crime and you're the only witness to it (because people typically don't commit crimes where there are lots of witnessess), do you believe the guy should not be prosecuted because nobody else was around to see it? Something to consider.
So be it. If I'm incompetent enough to not be able to prove my innocence, then I probably deserve exactly what I get.
We may be from the same bit of real estate (New England) but we are most definitely NOT from the same place philosophically. We have lost the idea of JUSTICE and PUNISHMENT in this land, and we're much worse off for it. I don't LIKE seeing innocent people executed, but it's a fact of life on occasion. Just the way the system works. You're going to get some wheat in with the chaff from time to time.
Rick Perry didn't sentence the man, but he signed the death warrant, and the investigation by the forensics board (before Perry shut it down) showed that Perry knowingly sent an innocent man to his death.
I look at those guilty men on death row and even regular as subhuman scum,garbage or human cockroaches. So if anything the life of innocent people should be worth way more than that of scumbags in prison. So we should demand that if we are going to execute someone then we should make sure we take every possible route to make sure that person did what ever it is they did before we execute them so that one innocent person does not pay for the crimes of someone else. This is why I support an appeals system based on the degree of evidence.The stronger the evidence the less appeals you get and if they got you on video then they should be able to just take you out back after a guilty conviction and put a bullet in your head.
I am in favor of sending 100 Innocent men to their deaths in order to ensure that every guilty one ends up there. It isn't my PREFERENCE for how it should work, but in order to ensure that the guilty end up getting their just rewards, that's the way it has to work.
Dear Rick Perry: We have not forgotten what you did. Before his execution, Todd Willingham said, “Please don’t ever stop fighting to vindicate me.” On October 22, 2011 we will remind the nation about Rick Perry’s role in the execution of Todd Willingham and his Richard Nixon-like interference in the investigation of the Willingham case by the Texas Forensic Science Commission at the 12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty at the Texas Capitol in Austin. We invite everyone to attend the march and rally.
How about innocent lives snubbed out by a released convict? There really is no such thing as "life without parole" because, while a judge/jury can impose it, a parole board can always change it.If there was no physical evidence ( which the chances of that happening would be close to nil) I would rather err on the side of caution and do life in prison without the possibility of parole.
One innocent life being snubbed by the state is one too many.
If you are going to execute a man wouldn't you want solid physical evidence that man did what it is he was convicted of?
How about innocent lives snubbed out by a released convict? There really is no such thing as "life without parole" because, while a judge/jury can impose it, a parole board can always change it.
Of course he should. But it's highly unlikely that 50 eyewitnesses to a mass murder have any reason to lie. In the Troy Davis case, that doesn't seem to fit the circumstances of what happened.
We're lucky that in the last couple of decades DNA and forensics have made huge strides. Not to mention that it's more than likely you'll be on camera. It is "mainstream knowledge" now that eyewitness testimony is rarely credible. Usually people trained in law-enforcement and security are better at it than the rest of us. We just don't pay attention and when we're forced too (as in a robbery or rape), terror usually skews what we remember. Just my opinion.
I am in favor of sending 100 Innocent men to their deaths in order to ensure that every guilty one ends up there. It isn't my PREFERENCE for how it should work, but in order to ensure that the guilty end up getting their just rewards, that's the way it has to work.
So I return to my original question. If you, as the victim, are the sole witness to a mugging (say), the guy is caught and you ID him. Should the police just inform you they're releasing the guy and not bringing charges because the only evidence it's him is your ID?
I am in favor of sending 100 Innocent men to their deaths in order to ensure that every guilty one ends up there. It isn't my PREFERENCE for how it should work, but in order to ensure that the guilty end up getting their just rewards, that's the way it has to work.
So I return to my original question. If you, as the victim, are the sole witness to a mugging (say), the guy is caught and you ID him. Should the police just inform you they're releasing the guy and not bringing charges because the only evidence it's him is your ID?
I am for the death penalty but I do not think you should get such a punishment based only on eye witness testimony.
I wonder if you'll feel this way if you are one of the innocent people being sent to death "in order to ensure that every guilty one ends up there."
As a man who is for the death penalty because there are some humans that are unfortunatelty not worth the risk of salvaging....but to make a statement like this is incredibly inhumane and just stupid
I wonder if you'll feel this way if you are one of the innocent people being sent to death "in order to ensure that every guilty one ends up there."
Rick Perry didn't sentence the man, but he signed the death warrant, and the investigation by the forensics board (before Perry shut it down) showed that Perry knowingly sent an innocent man to his death.
This happens much less often than most people like to suggest. Additionally, I rarely see truly innocent people executed. They may not be guilty of what they were charged with, but they're rarely salt-of-the-earth, Mother Theressa types either.
It's a fine line. There's no doubt that eye-witness testimony is notoriously unreliable. But. This boils down to police misconduct, if we can believe the now-recanting eyewitnesses. Why aren't all police interrogations taped and made available to the defense? Especially in a death penalty case. And what of a "court system" that hears the recantations, one after the other, and still refuses to grant a stay or clemency? What can we say about them? Our courts are completely autonomous; they answer to no one. And just as coppers have a blue line, the court system has its 'silence is golden' rule. The last defense against injustice is the appeals process....then clemency. Clemency failed.
Why doesn't it make more sense to err on the side of caution?? Poor guy.
How about innocent lives snubbed out by a released convict? There really is no such thing as "life without parole" because, while a judge/jury can impose it, a parole board can always change it.
or there is something else going on we do not know about.
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