What's your opinon on this Supreme Court case?
 

In this upcoming session, the US Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of executing killers who committed their crimes when they were juveniles.

There are presently 70 adults on death row who committed the crime of murder when they were under the age of 18.

The question is should the government be able to execute adults who killed when they where teens and children?


I'm not a big supporter of the death penalty to begin with so I have mixed feelings on this one.

Your thoughts?

I think you have to draw a line

under 18 = no death penalty
over 18 = death penalty

I think we have to draw the line. The justice system is too stupid to allow the taking of a human life.

You're allowing the same people that awarded millions to some lady who burned her lap with coffee to determine whether someone must die.

We should all know better.

Yeh the way they sentence people is bizarre these days. A CEO of a long distance phone company down here in Florida just got 19 years for switching customers (i.e. slamming) to his service without their authorization.

19 years for that? Go figure.

I think it has to be done on a case by case basis.

"under 18" could be someone 17 years and 364 days old with multiple previous criminal convictions.

Then again I AM a big supporter of the death penalty and wish it was used more. I'd go another step further though and let the victims/victim's families dole out the punishment. :thumbsup

You are also allowing politicians to make a decison on life and death, wrong and right. When he's only concerned about votes or no votes.

Look at Bush's record.

Also what about the mentally ill on death row?

I say kill all of those fuckers. What right did they have to take another life? AN eye for an eye.

If I want to kill someone and I get caught I know I am going to go to jail and get the death penalty if my state has it. But if I find a 10 year old in the hood and offer him $100.00 to kill somone he will be out of jail by the time he is 18 years old. That is fucked up.

KILL THEM ALL!!

I'm not a fan of the death penalty.

Do you have any idea how many people on death row have been exonerated with DNA tests proving they were innocent all that time???

Would you be OK with testing everyone on death row and if DNA evidence showed they weren't guilty, they were set free (barring unusual circumstances i.e. they have other convictions against them) but if DNA showed they were guilty, they were immediately put to death?

They have found too many innocent people on death row. If we were civilized we would not have the death penalty except in the most extreme circumstances.

A DNA test will not prove someone is guilty, but it can prove someone is not guilty.

I am opposed to the death penalty in all cases.

The risk of killing an innocent person is too great.

In Canada we have had David Milgarde found innocent after doing 22 years, Donald French and Paul Moran proven innocent after doing more than 5.

Currently we have Robert Baltovich waiting for the results of his appeal. He is a convicted murderer who is free on bail. ***Free on bail**** that is how bad the case against him is, yet he was convicted.

My grandmother's brother, Wilbur Coffin was hanged in 1955. He was convicted on circumstancial evidence of killing two American hunters in New Brunswick. He, or rather his family, was guilty of hiring a bad lawyer. His case has been the subject of books and television documenteries.

I don't have US cases to cite, other than Hurricane Carter.

How do you correct the wrong of executing an innocent person?

I'm thinking that the best solution is to give them a hearing when they are 18 to see if they have changed. If not on to death row with them...

So the best actors get off of death row?:eek7

I do not believe a humane Death is the worst punishment you can receive.

I think life in prison without the possibility of parole and make the entire sentence in solitary confinement in a little dark room is FAR worse.

If I was convicted of murder, I would BEG for the death penalty so I would not have to spend the rest of my life locked up. Death is the easy way out, they are murders MAKE THEM SUFFER!

As far as what to do with child murders. I have no idea, and honestly I think it is an important enough subject to NOT have an opinion on it if you are not very well studied in all of the issues that affect the matter.

you for real ? ? :1orglaugh

i say fucking kill the motherfuckers

I really don't understand how we can teach people that killing is wrong... by killing.

True but why should the taxpayers pay tens of thousands of dollars a year PER PRISONER to keep them in prison for life?

Did you know prisoners are the only class of people in the US who are guaranteed free healthcare? Who do you think is paying for that?

If we could keep them in prison for life and have them do hard labor to pay for their care, I'd be all for it. But paying for a rapist or murderer to get 3 square meals and free healthcare really gripes my fat butt. :mad:

It's "punishment" not "education" :thumbsup

You can't even drink beer before 21, so why should anybody be executed earlier.

No smoking under 18 no beer under 21 just shows that they think you aren't able to handle things under those age barriers.

The american system is just fucked up³. :2 cents:

Money

Hypothetical conversation with my son:

C: Daddy, why are they killing that man?

D: Because he killed someone.

C: They're killing him because he killed someone?

D: Yes.

C: Does that mean that all people that kill someone should be killed?

D: In this country, if you pre-meditate a murder you'll usually be killed.

C: So did someone plan on killing this man?

D: Yes. For years.

C: Shouldn't they be killed then?

so true

This might be a good time for you to discuss with your chilld what punishment is all about. :)

I don't keep someone locked up in my basement against their will because if I did it, it would be illegal. Under your logic, that means no one should be locked up against their will even if they break the law since if you or I do it, it's against the law......:eek7

Locking up prisoners to keep them from committing crimes, and killing them, are two different things. Can you honestly tell me that you do not see a difference?

Peaches, I respect your view, it is very well thought out and your heart is in the right place.

But have you ever looked at the cost of executing someone vs. just keeping them in prison? The cost of executing a person would shock the hell out of you, seems EVERYONE can make a profit.

To be honest I have not seen figures related to the matter in a few years, but when I last checked it cost more to execute someone within a 1 of their sentence (the longer it draws out the more it costs) than it does to keep them in jail for 30 years.

I think at some point I may try searching for some more updated info and see what I come up with. I just don't have time right now because football is on. :thumbsup


Either way I like your idea of life with hard labor. Force them to pay their own way is a damn good idea no matter what the difference in cost is. :thumbsup

It means there are other ways than killing if you didn't get it yet :thumbsup

Especially minors who often didn't even know what they were doing.In the US you either stay in prison forever or get killed, none of the two would be the better choice.

If you kill somebody in europe you get into prison for years and then you'll get another chance to get everything straight again.

Interesting! What are the costs involved? The "death row" needing more security? Lawyers?

There's some prison that I hope someone will remember where it is that Bill Mahr broadcast from where it was hot as hell and the prisoners lived in tents and had to do hard labor. One of the groups (ACLU?) was, of course, going after them for inhumane treatment so I don't know if it's still there or not.

But I have to believe the rate of recidivism HAS to be lower when faced with going back where you live in a tent with no AC or TV and actually have to work. :thumbsup

Hey actually, I found this pretty quickly... http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/cost.html

Good info in that article. :thumbsup

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/arti...did=108&scid=7
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/arti...scid=7&did=918

wow , that's amazing , it costs millions to put someone to death and only $600k for life in prison

Maybe we could build a "Tent Jail" in Alaska for inmates sentenced to life without parole.

Give them a cot, a blanket, and a handwarmer! :1orglaugh

Then let them go to work during the day in a Nike factory we could move from China. :)

Aren't American and Iran the only two countries left that still kill youth criminals? That should answer the question right there.

List of which countries allow executions and which do not.

(short sample)
Countries that have banned executions:

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bermuda
Bulgaria
Canada
Costa Rica
Denmark
Ecuador
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom



Countries that still execute people:

Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Botswana
China
Cuba
Egypt
Ethiopia
Guatemala
India
Indonesia
Iran
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Nigeria
North Korea
Pakistan
Palestinian Authority
Philippines
Qatar
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Thailand
Vietnam
Yemen
United States

Old enough to take a life, old enough to pay with your life.


Period. End of story.

I think it would depend on certain factors. Like I would wanna know at what age are they considered to be mature enough to grasp the consequences of their decision,

So if somebody kills your mom and you kill that guy after that, do you think it's fair to get executed for doing it or face a life in jail?

The philosophy is:

Better to set ten guilty men free than to impose sentence on one innocent man....(including women and children here...)

I agree that innocents are imprisoned, along with the guilty. The reasons are many, not the least of which is economics...whomsoever can afford the best attorney has the largest opportunity to 'get' off....

BUT....

Fix the legal system.

If the death penalty is going to be repealed, since studies have shown it hasn't shown itself to be much of a deterrent to others......then, fix the damned system.

1. Clean up the legal system and provide what is needed for a healthy and vigorous defense and prosecution. In this way, everyone gets a fair shot, thereby reducing the after trial costs.

2. Create a program where prisoners are useful to society in a way that benefits society.
Turn the prisons into work houses...let them make license plates....let them work landfills or garbage....allow them to volunteer to be human guinea pigs for medical research..I always liked that one....

3. If the death penalty is to remain in place, then do it already. Convict. Take them out back and mercifully put a bullet through the brain and be done with it.

This country waffles too much.