CA Death Penalty Close to Collapse

New Posts

T

Taximom

Former Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2005
Messages
16,234
Reaction score
133
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/30/national/main4221905.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4221905
June 30, 2008
(AP) California's 30-year-old death penalty, which costs more than $100 million annually to administer, is "close to collapse," according to a new report issued Monday.

The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, appointed by the state Legislature to propose criminal justice reforms, issued a 117-page report detailing a deeply flawed death penalty system that has the biggest backlog of cases in the nation.

The commission stopped short of calling for the abolition of the state's death penalty, but did note that California would save hundreds of millions of dollars throughout the criminal justice system if capital punishment were eliminated. It said most condemned inmates are essentially given life sentences because so few executions are carried out.

The commission blamed inadequate legal representation, a broad death penalty law that makes nearly all first-degree murder cases eligible for the death penalty and a host of other issues that has made California capital punishment system "dysfunctional."

"It is the law in name only, and not in reality," the report stated.

The commission did recommended that California double its annual amount of capital punishment spending to hire more defense lawyers and prosecutors, among other improvements.
(more at link)

:rolleyes:
 
I hope that California (and all the other death penalty states) abolish it. It is a barbaric thing and something that I hope we, as a nation, can rise above soon.
 
Grainne Dhu said:
I hope that California (and all the other death penalty states) abolish it. It is a barbaric thing and something that I hope we, as a nation, can rise above soon.
Click to expand...

Not before they off Scott Peterson........:rolleyes:
 
Grainne Dhu said:
I hope that California (and all the other death penalty states) abolish it. It is a barbaric thing and something that I hope we, as a nation, can rise above soon.
Click to expand...

Well let's just hope all the murderers start "rising above" murdering then, shall we? Yes, let's just hope that none of these murderers who were not barbarically put to death ever get out to innocently carve up another human being. We wouldn't want to ever hurt a poor criminal now would we? Sorry, I'd rather be alive than enlightened. :rolleyes:
 
Grainne Dhu said:
I hope that California (and all the other death penalty states) abolish it. It is a barbaric thing and something that I hope we, as a nation, can rise above soon.
Click to expand...

Welcome, Grainne Dhu. There's a very interesting DP thread in the Parking Lot with lots of good discussion.

I wonder what CA will do to address the issues raised in this report.?
 
sillygoose said:
Well let's just hope all the murderers start "rising above" murdering then, shall we? Yes, let's just hope that none of these murderers who were not barbarically put to death ever get out to innocently carve up another human being. We wouldn't want to ever hurt a poor criminal now would we? Sorry, I'd rather be alive than enlightened. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That's a false choice. No one is suggesting that the alternative to the death penalty is to turn violent criminals loose on the streets.

I strive in my own behaviour to a higher standard than a murderer. I *want* to be different (better) than a murderer.

I believe that the way to progress as a society is to set our standards higher than those of a murderer. This cannot happen while we are still condoning killing other human beings.
 
sillygoose said:
Well let's just hope all the murderers start "rising above" murdering then, shall we? Yes, let's just hope that none of these murderers who were not barbarically put to death ever get out to innocently carve up another human being. We wouldn't want to ever hurt a poor criminal now would we? Sorry, I'd rather be alive than enlightened. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
:clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
snvoigt said:
Not before they off Scott Peterson........:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Scott Peterson nuthin, not before they put the creatures who murdered (and helped to murder) Tori Vienneau and Dean Springstube to death. Death, so the rest of society will be safe from them. :furious: The Judge compared this case to the Manson murders, and the DA said it will go in the history books as the most horrific homicide in San Diego history. The news story that originally had the information has been altered, so I don't have a cite for that. *wry*
 
KatK said:
Scott Peterson nuthin, not before they put the creatures who murdered (and helped to murder) Tori Vienneau and Dean Springstube to death. Death, so the rest of society will be safe from them. :furious: The Judge compared this case to the Manson murders, and the DA said it will go in the history books as the most horrific homicide in San Diego history. The news story that originally had the information has been altered, so I don't have a cite for that. *wry*
Click to expand...
Yeah...add that to the list too PLEASE!!! OMGosh....:(
 
Grainne Dhu said:
That's a false choice. No one is suggesting that the alternative to the death penalty is to turn violent criminals loose on the streets.

I strive in my own behaviour to a higher standard than a murderer. I *want* to be different (better) than a murderer.

I believe that the way to progress as a society is to set our standards higher than those of a murderer. This cannot happen while we are still condoning killing other human beings.
Click to expand...

Even without the Death Penalty, War happens, those countries who follow the UN's lead, and don't have a Death Penalty still go to War either to aid Allies who are at war, or to defend themselves...
 
becklynn said:
I read that in order for him to actually be executed at the rate California does executions it will take 300 yrs.
Click to expand...
I say bring him to Texas. We will take care of him for California! :D
 
KatK said:
Even without the Death Penalty, War happens, those countries who follow the UN's lead, and don't have a Death Penalty still go to War either to aid Allies who are at war, or to defend themselves...
Click to expand...

I think war is more akin to self defence than it is to the death penalty.

Progress is never universal and instantaneous. For instance, it is only in the last 300 years that slavery has become unacceptable and there are still a few places where slavery (or the equivalent) is acceptable. But slowly, country by country, slavery is being erradicated.
 
Well, if California does this, I hope all the lovely and wonderful murderers and pedophiles flock there by the thousands.
They can make California there own little piece of paradise.
 
Grainne Dhu said:
That's a false choice. No one is suggesting that the alternative to the death penalty is to turn violent criminals loose on the streets.

I strive in my own behaviour to a higher standard than a murderer. I *want* to be different (better) than a murderer.

I believe that the way to progress as a society is to set our standards higher than those of a murderer. This cannot happen while we are still condoning killing other human beings.
Click to expand...

We are not condoning killing "human beings" We are condoning killing sicko's that are far less then human and need to be eliminated.
The article is BS like it would be cheaper to house them all for life?

How about STOP housing them and kill them? There, financial problem solved!
 
Amraann said:
We are not condoning killing "human beings" We are condoning killing sicko's that are far less then human and need to be eliminated.
The article is BS like it would be cheaper to house them all for life?

How about STOP housing them and kill them? There, financial problem solved!
Click to expand...

The additional cost is for all the appeals and the special way they house the condemned as opposed to the life without parole people. Life without a parole is still a death sentence since you die in jail, you just do it without assistance. It's actually fact that it's cheaper for LWOP than the death penalty. A fact that sticks in my craw that Florida has the DP but hasn't given state workers a raise in many, many years even though the cost of living has gone up.
 
If the system is deeply flawed, then it needs to be worked out, not abolished. I'm thinking that if they can't work a system that works with the death penalty, then they won't be able to work a system without one either. Too many people today want to just abandon something because it's flawed rather than fix it. I know of a town in my state that won't repair buildings. They just abandon that part of town and rebuild it somewhere else. Eventually they're either going to run out of space, or all the people will be gone since there's no residential area anymore. I see the same mentality with marriages. If your marriage is deeply flawed, why bother trying to fix it? Just throw it out and get another one. If the majority of the people in California don't want the death penalty, then they shouldn't have it. That's fine. I just don't think that's the case. I think it's just this mentality of "don't try to fix it, just throw it out".

If this were about the morality of the death penalty that would be one thing. It's not. To my knowledge the people of California have not voted to abolish the DP. It's about the fact that it doesn't work and the govt. doesn't want to fix it. That's the way that the politicians get their way without listening to the people. They make it so complicated that they claim it can't be done. It can be done. They just don't want to. :twocents:
 
sillygoose said:
If the system is deeply flawed, then it needs to be worked out, not abolished. I'm thinking that if they can't work a system that works with the death penalty, then they won't be able to work a system without one either. Too many people today want to just abandon something because it's flawed rather than fix it. I know of a town in my state that won't repair buildings. They just abandon that part of town and rebuild it somewhere else. Eventually they're either going to run out of space, or all the people will be gone since there's no residential area anymore. I see the same mentality with marriages. If your marriage is deeply flawed, why bother trying to fix it? Just throw it out and get another one. If the majority of the people in California don't want the death penalty, then they shouldn't have it. That's fine. I just don't think that's the case. I think it's just this mentality of "don't try to fix it, just throw it out".

If this were about the morality of the death penalty that would be one thing. It's not. To my knowledge the people of California have not voted to abolish the DP. It's about the fact that it doesn't work and the govt. doesn't want to fix it. That's the way that the politicians get their way without listening to the people. They make it so complicated that they claim it can't be done. It can be done. They just don't want to. :twocents:
Click to expand...

I have a book on the history of punishment that I started reading (got bored about 1/2 way through) but it talks about everything from the start and how everyone tinkers with it to "fix" it. The problem with fixing it, is that no two people view it the same way, so the idea of what is fixed is never going to come to pass. To one person, a bullet between the eyes fixes everything. To another, the idea that there is no such thing as beyond a reasonable doubt and to a third, all life is precious regardless of crime. As many people as there are, there are views.

(Kind of reminds me of telling my kid to clean her room. Her idea of "Done" and mine are VASTLY different animals!) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 215 more.
Total: 4,205 (members: 216, guests: 3,989)

Online statistics

Members online
216
Guests online
3,989
Total visitors
4,205
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,538
Messages
17,954,271
Members
228,528
Latest member
soababiotiling
Back
Top