Death Penalty prosecutor apologizes

[Southern_Man 0]

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/opinion/readers/2015/03/20/lead-prosecutor-offers-apology-in-the-case-of-exonerated-death-row-inmate-glenn-ford/25049063/

So eloquent, in a very short article he summarizes so many of the failings that are at the heart of why the death penalty is such poor public policy. He knows because he was so intimately part of this particular case and can speak to motivations, biases, etc. that he experienced. These are not particular to him, and do not mean that he operated with malfeasance. They are simply part of the human condition, which is why they can't be fixed or patched and why the death penalty is not sustainable.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[SkyCoi 0]

Not sustainable, but has been around since at least 18th Century BC (Ancient Laws of China). No doubt longer - beginning of man's time on earth?

I'm sure we'll stop any day now, though, because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life. Because that makes sense.

[Southern_Man 0]

SkyCoi

Not sustainable, but has been around since at least 18th Century BC (Ancient Laws of China). No doubt longer - beginning of man's time on earth?

I'm sure we'll stop any day now, though, because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life. Because that makes sense.

You didn't read the article, did you? Because your remarks make no sense in response to it.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[DanG 1]

Quote

...because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life.

You make life in prison sound great. Who wouldn't want that?

Of course, the point is that innocent people keep getting sentenced to death. You can commute a life sentence, the death penalty is rather final.

- Dan G

[funjumper101 15]

SkyCoi

Not sustainable, but has been around since at least 18th Century BC (Ancient Laws of China). No doubt longer - beginning of man's time on earth?

I'm sure we'll stop any day now, though, because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life. Because that makes sense.

Read the article and then come back and post something that makes sense.

Why is it that Reich Wing Conservatards have 100% faith in our legal system when it comes to the death penalty, while at the same time they block bringing the Guantanamo detainees here to the USA for prosecution? Their own words state that their is no way that the USA could conduct fair trials for the detainees. How can the same exact system be trusted to conduct fair trials for those accused of capital crimes?

This would be yet another example of the utter hypocrisy of the Reich Wingers. They can't tell fact from fiction, truth from lies, and have no understanding of US history and the lessons to be learned from it.

Truly sickening

[SkyDekker 1,135]

Quote

Reich Wing Conservatards

Why don't you:

Quote

come back and post something that makes sense

[turtlespeed 212]

DanG

Quote

...because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life.

You make life in prison sound great. Who wouldn't want that?

Of course, the point is that innocent people keep getting sentenced to death. You can commute a life sentence, the death penalty is rather final.

Y'all keep talking about the "some".
There is at least one admitted murderer in Florida that needs to die.

After he ceases to breathe, I might possibly reconsider my stance on the issue.
Until then, I cannot wait to be looking him in the eye as the lights go out of them.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[DanG 1]

Quote

Y'all keep talking about the "some".
There is at least one admitted murderer in Florida that needs to die.

After he ceases to breathe, I might possibly reconsider my stance on the issue.
Until then, I cannot wait to be looking him in the eye as the lights go out of them.

Revenge may be a perfectly reasonable personal policy. If someone close to me were murdered, I'd want revenge, too.

It doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not the death penalty makes good public policy.

- Dan G

[turtlespeed 212]

DanG

Quote

Y'all keep talking about the "some".
There is at least one admitted murderer in Florida that needs to die.

After he ceases to breathe, I might possibly reconsider my stance on the issue.
Until then, I cannot wait to be looking him in the eye as the lights go out of them.

Revenge may be a perfectly reasonable personal policy. If someone close to me were murdered, I'd want revenge, too.

It doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not the death penalty makes good public policy.

I agree that it will need to be evaluated afterward.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[ryoder 1,393]

NPR interview with him yesterday: http://www.npr.org/2015/03/23/394906514/prosecutor-apologizes-for-putting-innocent-man-on-death-row

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[SkyCoi 0]

No, admittedly I did not. My reply was completely in response to the OPs editorial comments, not the article. Knee jerk on my part, for sure, but it is how I felt in response. I'm sorry that innocent people have been subject to the death penalty, I wish our justice system were perfect but it isn't. I personally have been transiently involved with two successful death penalty appeals, and was grateful that process existed. This does not change my fundamental belief that the penalty for intentionally taking a life should be death. How would I feel if it were me in that position? Exactly the same. The penalties available to the court should not be predicated on the assumption that the system is imperfect, otherwise let’s just open the gates of hell and let them all out. I would fight the evidence, the circumstances which brought me to that penalty, not the penalty.

I have now read the article. A former prosecutor feels guilty for convicting the wrong person and in turn vomits a mea culpa to the press suggesting that his 33 year old self was unqualified to make that decision. Great, the self-proclaimed narcissist tells us that because he wasn't competent nobody else possibly could be - now, then, or ever. Oversimplified, but that's how it reads.

I do believe in the validity of the death penalty. I'm an ardent supporter, and I won't hide from that fact. I certainly do wish that our justice system didn't contain bias, that law enforcement and officers of the court were all dedicated and focused on simply identifying the truth before passing such a judgment. But at the end of the day I'll sleep ok with the belief that they do it right far more often than wrong, that the appeals process does what it's designed to do, and that groups such as the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana fill a necessary void.

[kallend 1,635]

SkyCoi

I do believe in the validity of the death penalty.

Ummm - the death penalty has been proven to be flawed. That ipso facto negates any validity it may have. Your beliefs don't change the facts.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[SkyCoi 0]

Please point out where I said it wasn't flawed?

[jakee 1,257]

Quote

I have now read the article. A former prosecutor feels guilty for convicting the wrong person and in turn vomits a mea culpa to the press suggesting that his 33 year old self was unqualified to make that decision. Great, the self-proclaimed narcissist tells us that because he wasn't competent nobody else possibly could be - now, then, or ever. Oversimplified, but that's how it reads.

I'm sure that's how it reads through the tint of your glasses, but that's not how it's written.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[billvon 2,419]

>Not sustainable, but has been around since at least 18th Century BC (Ancient
>Laws of China). No doubt longer - beginning of man's time on earth?

So has slavery. We managed to get rid of that. Most people think that's a good thing.

>I'm sure we'll stop any day now, though, because the penalty for taking a life
>should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless
>life. Because that makes sense.

It does to me. It's cheaper. But if you are willing to pay the extra money for the execution, knock yourself out. There's an option to send in more money than you owe on your tax form.

[AndyBoyd 0]

You concede that innocent people have been executed, yet you still wholeheartedly support the death penalty? Is that really what you are saying? I personally find the thought of an innocent person being executed by the State absolutely horrifying. Yet you just shrug your shoulders and say, well, too bad, dead innocent guy and his family and friends, our system of justice is imperfect, so sorry. I find that attitude incomprehensible and incredibly cold-hearted. The only way to avoid executing innocent people is to stop executing people.

[kallend 1,635]

SkyCoi

Please point out where I said it wasn't flawed?

You said you believed in its validity.

So you're telling us that a flawed system that kills people is valid.

You need to think this through more carefully.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[grue 1]

AndyBoyd

You concede that innocent people have been executed, yet you still wholeheartedly support the death penalty? Is that really what you are saying? I personally find the thought of an innocent person being executed by the State absolutely horrifying. Yet you just shrug your shoulders and say, well, too bad, dead innocent guy and his family and friends, our system of justice is imperfect, so sorry. I find that attitude incomprehensible and incredibly cold-hearted. The only way to avoid executing innocent people is to stop executing people.

It's beyond cold hearted. I'm extremely cold hearted, in a lot of respects, and even I'm not down with sacrificing innocents for a broken system to continue

cavete terrae.

[Southern_Man 0]

SkyCoi

I have now read the article. A former prosecutor feels guilty for convicting the wrong person and in turn vomits a mea culpa to the press suggesting that his 33 year old self was unqualified to make that decision. Great, the self-proclaimed narcissist tells us that because he wasn't competent nobody else possibly could be - now, then, or ever. Oversimplified, but that's how it reads.

I do believe in the validity of the death penalty. I'm an ardent supporter, and I won't hide from that fact. I certainly do wish that our justice system didn't contain bias, that law enforcement and officers of the court were all dedicated and focused on simply identifying the truth before passing such a judgment. But at the end of the day I'll sleep ok with the belief that they do it right far more often than wrong, that the appeals process does what it's designed to do, and that groups such as the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana fill a necessary void.

It's shocking that you could read that article and get that message from it.

It is also hard to believe a person could read about the systemic failures of the system and then say that we really need to rely on that system as an arbiter of life and death.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[turtlespeed 212]

Southern_Man

***

I have now read the article. A former prosecutor feels guilty for convicting the wrong person and in turn vomits a mea culpa to the press suggesting that his 33 year old self was unqualified to make that decision. Great, the self-proclaimed narcissist tells us that because he wasn't competent nobody else possibly could be - now, then, or ever. Oversimplified, but that's how it reads.

I do believe in the validity of the death penalty. I'm an ardent supporter, and I won't hide from that fact. I certainly do wish that our justice system didn't contain bias, that law enforcement and officers of the court were all dedicated and focused on simply identifying the truth before passing such a judgment. But at the end of the day I'll sleep ok with the belief that they do it right far more often than wrong, that the appeals process does what it's designed to do, and that groups such as the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana fill a necessary void.

It's shocking that you could read that article and get that message from it.

It is also hard to believe a person could read about the systemic failures of the system and then say that we really need to rely on that system as an arbiter of life and death.

And this is the same government they want in charge of our healthcare and retirement money.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[Amazon 7]

turtlespeed

******

I have now read the article. A former prosecutor feels guilty for convicting the wrong person and in turn vomits a mea culpa to the press suggesting that his 33 year old self was unqualified to make that decision. Great, the self-proclaimed narcissist tells us that because he wasn't competent nobody else possibly could be - now, then, or ever. Oversimplified, but that's how it reads.

I do believe in the validity of the death penalty. I'm an ardent supporter, and I won't hide from that fact. I certainly do wish that our justice system didn't contain bias, that law enforcement and officers of the court were all dedicated and focused on simply identifying the truth before passing such a judgment. But at the end of the day I'll sleep ok with the belief that they do it right far more often than wrong, that the appeals process does what it's designed to do, and that groups such as the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana fill a necessary void.

It's shocking that you could read that article and get that message from it.

It is also hard to believe a person could read about the systemic failures of the system and then say that we really need to rely on that system as an arbiter of life and death.

And this is the same government they want in charge of our healthcare and retirement money.

And yet you trust them for all the Protecting and serving you... as well as giving them the right to kill your fellow citizens in the name of vengeance.. oh that is right you call it justice.
I am not god with giving the "government" the right to execute American citizens whether in a court of law or the far more oft used summary street justice we can't even get a real number on from them.

[turtlespeed 212]

Quote

I am not god

One the few posts we can agree on.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[jclalor 12]

turtlespeed

***

Quote

...because the penalty for taking a life should be to have the state take care of you for the rest of your own worthless life.

You make life in prison sound great. Who wouldn't want that?

Of course, the point is that innocent people keep getting sentenced to death. You can commute a life sentence, the death penalty is rather final.

Y'all keep talking about the "some".
There is at least one admitted murderer in Florida that needs to die.

After he ceases to breathe, I might possibly reconsider my stance on the issue.
Until then, I cannot wait to be looking him in the eye as the lights go out of them.

And we all know that "admitted" murderers in Florida are guilty.


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_on_a_Sunday_Morning