Federal Death Penatly Ruled Unconstitutional http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61028-2002Sep24.html Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional The Associated Press Tuesday, September 24, 2002; 3:41 PM MONTPELIER, Vt. –– A federal judge declared the federal death penalty unconstitutional Tuesday in the second such ruling in less than three months. U.S. District Judge William Sessions said the law does not adequately protect defendants' rights. "If the death penalty is to be part of our system of justice, due process of law and the fair trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment require that standards and safeguards governing the kinds of evidence juries may consider must be rigorous, and constitutional rights and liberties scrupulously protected," he said. On July, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York City became the first federal judge to declare the 1994 Death Penalty Act unconstitutional. He cited evidence indicating that innocent people have been put to death. The rulings will not affect individual states' death penalty statutes. Thirty-eight states allow capital punishment, though some have not executed anyone for many years. The governors of Illinois and Maryland have placed moratoriums on executions in their states. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and drug killer Juan Garza have been executed under the federal death penalty law. Tuesday's ruling came in the case of Donald Fell, 22, who is facing the death penalty for allegedly kidnapping and killing a woman in 2000. © 2002 The Associated Press
how do i change the title??? apparently i'm hooked on phonics in my spelling of Penalty as Penatly...isn't Penatly a light chicken gravy?
Apparently Nomar didn't have time to type his entire reply. Turns out the federal courts are p*****s. As are any people who decide to think twice before killing everyone but themselves. Sorry, Nomar. Wasn't sure your rolled eyes would convey all that, and I knew you wanted it conveyed. You're welcome.
Holy sarcasm Batman! Excuse me if I believe murderers deserve to die. Maybe they should get a Congressional Medal of Honor for their efforts?
Oh, no... Now Nomar's rolled his eyes at me... Powerless... I'd forgotten the choice was death or Congressional Medal... Quick, Robin... The Bat-Idiot Deflector... Oh... Oh... Ah... That's better... Nomar. Are you REALLY in college? Do you go to class? You must be in a pass/fail kinda situation. The rest of us are on A through F. Some of us even see three whole possible solutions to a problem. Some of us -- hope you're sitting down -- see four. Some even think these things are worth discussing. I know, I know... That's what's wrong with America... We just don't kill folk fast enough. Please forgive. We're not Hobbits. Hang on to your magic machine gun and you oughta be alright. Luv, Batman
I can see it now. Batman's 3 yr old daughter raped and executed by electric shock, and good old Batman fighting on behalf of the defendent in the courts. Why don't you think that killers deserve to die?
Nomar, it's got very little to do with whether or not I believe killers deserve to die. The federal court, along with several states, cited evidence that INNOCENT people sometimes die under the death penalty. So... I can see it now. Nomar's convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death. How ever does he square his love of blowing off due process in order to kill folks with his much vaunted love of his own life over all moral or ethical concerns??? On another topic, inspired by Timing, and because I am generally against starting new threads when it's not necessary... Let's talk about some of the most tired message board sayings, posted as though they were original, in order to make the poster feel superior. Here are some of my favorites: Nice, dude. [INSERT QUOTE OF ANY INSULT AT ALL, FOLLOWED BY HOW INAPPROPRIATE IT WAS TO HAVE INSULTED THE PERSON. EXAMPLE: "Your mother..." "Nice dude, my mother's dead."] You're better than this. [GENERALLY USED TO DEMEAN A PERSON WHILE PRETENDING TO BE RESPECTFUL.] Are you having a bad day? [CATCH-ALL. USED IN PLACE OF ANY MEANINGFUL COMEBACK.] With all due respect... [THIS ISN'T JUST FOR BBS'S OBVIOUSLY, BUT IT'S ALWAYS CRACKED ME UP. LITERAL TRANSLATION: With no respect at all.] IMO or IMHO. [FIRST OF ALL, INTERNET ABBREVIATIONS ARE THE WORK OF THE DEVIL GEEK. SECOND, AND MORE IMPORTANT, WHO ELSE'S OPINION WOULD IT BE???]
Nice dude, with all due respect you're better than this. Are you having a bad day? Oops, I almost forgot... your initials are BJ? That's pretty appropriate right now.
Hmmmm....I think I've heard that before. Now who said it to me...oh yeah...that's right...BATMAN JONES!!!! Is that at all related to... You know I respect you, but you (followed by a personal attack based on somebody's divergent ideology)
A few years ago in college, I wrote a paper on the topic of the death penalty, where my argument was against capital punishment. First of all, using the argument that 'well, if your kid or family member died, you would want the person to die' is pretty ludicrous and is one of the most stupid arguments that someone pro-capital punishment can use. Just because a person who has had a tragedy happen to them might want the death penalty, that doesn't make it right. Sure, if my mother or father was murdered, I'd be really upset and would want the person to die for it, but a victim's anger doesn't validate using capital punishment. The most compelling argument against the death penalty is that approximately 3-5% of people executed since 1970 are believed or were later proven to be not guilty within a reasonable doubt due to new evidence. Back in the 70's and 80's no one really knew much about DNA, but now it's a huge deal in murder investigations and it's why some death row inmates are now believed to have been killed wrongly. 20 years from now, there will probably be other improved methods that we haven't thought of yet. The point is, if we're killing 1 innocent person for every 20 guilty ones, then we're using a seriously flawed system and we need to deal with it immediately. Probably the *BEST* argument for the death penalty is that most people who don't get capital punishment usually get life without parole, hence the saying: "No parole, no control." Convincted killers with no possible chance of getting out of prison are kind of a pain in the ass. Otherwise, there's really not a great argument for capital punishment that would significantly outweigh its flaws. Killing guilty people is morally questionable in my opinion, but when innocent people start to die, it's a major injustice to our constitutional rights.
