It will get very nasty. I bet one side-effect of this will be a lot more California Republicans go to the polls in November.
That's a terrible reason to not consider that a good rebuttal. A lot of death penalty supporters would probably do away with the trial itself if they could. Does that render those proceedings meaningless?
Except that would requiring amending the Constitution so it is actually much harder to do away with the appeals process than the Death Penalty.
Agreed - Republicans have actually been brilliant at using gay marriage initiatives for this purpose. While most polls show a majority of people OK with gay marriage, there's far more passion on the anti side, so having a gay marriage initiative (allowing or banning) on the ballot helps increase GOP turnout.
If this was the 90s I'd agree 100%. But times change. I dont think the death penalty is quite the galvanizing issue that it used to be. Crime was a gigantic issue 20-30 years ago but today its just so much smaller in the grand scheme of things. Even the power of gay marriage referendums is no where close to what it was just a few years ago. You cant feed off of that momentum forever. Now if there was a referendum involving taxation or some major economic issue, I'm sure the tea party folks would turn out in droves. But even with the advertising spam that will result, I'm not convinced this will be the equivalent of the gay marriage referendums that hit us during the last decade.
It's a sore subject. 1 person innocent killed by the state is too many, but at the same time people need to be punished. I support the death penalty but I understand why people are against it.
How do you define strong? Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 capital cases have always required the highest level of proof yet people still get exonerated from death row.
I seriously think we need to look into BANISHMENT "You have been sentenced to Persona Non Grata meaning you have 1 year to find a country to accept you which you will go to and never to return . . . if you return you are to be killed on site. If you are unable to find a country to take you . ..you will be put to death." I believe there is a place for a death penalty but the way we do it . . is just too biased and seemingly half *ssed esp after these folx getting out on messed up DNA evidence . . Rocket River
With 13 executions in 34 yrs would ending the death penalty really be a significant change? RR -- we banish them to prison.
I'm not for ending it. I think we need it as an option, but perhaps in the past we've been less fair and careful with its implementation than we could have been? Why kill the death penalty? Seems a little extreme. Let's spend whatever it takes to keep it around, under lock and key, in the rare event that later it becomes a useful and necessary part of society, or we decide that we were wrong in our intent to end its evil once and for all.
I would think you need 2 items. If a body was found at the perp's residence and there is DNA evidence of sexual assault found on the victim's body. If they find a 5 year's body with semen under some guy's house. I am gonna say he killed her. Unless, somebody tied him down and stole his sperm and planted it on the kid's body. If there are multiple witnesses and there are multiple bodies, say at least a dozen bodies and a dozen witnesses, like the guy in Norway. You may get one lady with bad eyesight identifying the wrong guy, but it would be hard to ignore a dozen eyewitnesses. It would only be applicable for mass murder situations like Virginia Tech, Arizona, or Norway.
I agree the passions are slowly subsiding but two thoughts: 1. At the moment, I believe the death penalty issue is more galvanizing to supporters than detractors. 2. The effect of #1 will be magnified because death penalty advocates are the ones who will "lose" if the measure passes.
No, it's all empty rhetoric. 1 execution every 2.5 yrs? Surely there are more pressing issues but eh, whatever. Glad people can vote and keep the illusion of democracy alive.
They can't even pay for their schools how are they gonna keep these guys alive for years and years. Bullets are much cheaper. DD
