JURIST Guest Columnist Ben Jones,
Executive Director for the Connecticut
Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, says that Connecticut's repeal of the
death penalty is one of the first of a trend of states moving away from capital
punishment ...
“After careful study of the death penalty and its effects, a bipartisan
majority of legislators concluded that the only way to fix the death penalty is
by ending it.”
Rebuttal: They did
not listen to public opinion. Fix the death penalty by ending it? Without the
death penalty, more innocents will be at risks. Without the death penalty, Life
Without the possibility of parole might be the next target for abolitionists.
“In taking this step,
the Connecticut General Assembly responded to concerns raised by those
constituencies most directly impacted by the death penalty. In particular, the
personal stories of murder victims' families resonated with legislators. In
February 2012, 179 Connecticut murder victims' family members joined a letter
calling on lawmakers to end the death penalty. "The reality of the death
penalty," they explained in their letter, "is that it drags out the
legal process for decades. In Connecticut, the death penalty is a false promise
that goes unfulfilled, leaving victims' families frustrated and angry after
years of fighting the legal system." These pleas by victims' families
changed lawmakers' minds and played a key role in the passage of a repeal bill.”
Rebuttal: I know
there are murder victims’ families who are against the death penalty, I accept
their opinions but rather than abolish it, fix the system. Just for argument
sake, there could be also another 179 murdered victims’ families who want to
keep capital punishment. Senator John Kissel and some Politicians are trying to
speed up the appeal system. Are you not going to forget William Petit and his
family members?
“In addition to this systemic bias, Georgia's execution last September
of Troy Davis — an African-American whose guilt was in doubt — served as a
potent symbol of the role race continues play in America's death penalty.
Following Davis' execution, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous made repeal of the
death penalty a priority and focused on Connecticut in 2012. Jealous joined
Connecticut NAACP leaders in a series of rallies, marches, and press
conferences calling for repeal of the state's death penalty. Their message was
clear: the only way to eliminate bias in capital punishment is to repeal it.
Enough is enough.”
Rebuttal: “A potent symbol of the role race continues play in America's death
penalty.” I did not see them mentioning about Lawrence Brewer, a racist white
supremacy who was executed for murdering an African-American, James Byrd. Those
activists did not wear a T-shirt saying, “I AM LAWRENCE BREWER.”
Will they put a
slogan saying, “I AM ANTHONY SOWELL.” – the African American serial killer who
murdered 11 African American women in Ohio?
There are many cases
of White-Americans being executed for murdering African Americans. I can name
two here:
The only way to
eliminate bias is to destroy racial discrimination in the system, if the system
is racist and people go to jail. I did not hear them say abolish prisons too.
“Finally, members of Connecticut's law enforcement community grew
increasingly frustrated with the state's death penalty. Nationally, a majority
of police chiefs recognize that there is no evidence that the death penalty
deters crime — a point backed up by a recent study conducted by the National Academies.”
Rebuttal: The reason why the death penalty in Connecticut hardly deters
crime is because it is hardly used, nasty liberals keep fighting their death
sentences. But never be surprise if there are people being killed by hired hit
men in those non-death penalty states. Since the restoration
of the death penalty in 1976, further evidence confirms the deterrent effect of
the death penalty. Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a strong opponent of
the death penalty, has conceded as much. “Of course, the death penalty
deters some crimes, that’s why you have to pay more for a hit man in a death
penalty state than a non-death penalty state.” [Debate among Paul
Cassell, Alan Dershowitz, and Wendy Kamenar on the death penalty (Harvard
Law School, Mar. 22, 1995)]
“In Connecticut, the General Assembly's non-partisan Office of Fiscal
Analysis estimated that the state eventually would save
$5 million a year by ending the death penalty.”
Rebuttal: U.S. states that repeal death penalty laws do not see a
significant savings in trial costs. In states where the death penalty is the
maximum punishment, a larger number of defendants are willing to plead guilty
and receive a life sentence. The greater cost of trials where the prosecution
does seek the death penalty is offset, at least in part, by the savings from
avoiding trial altogether in cases where the defendant pleads guilty.
“Connecticut's experiment with capital punishment has come to an end.
Expect more states to follow suit. With each passing year, promises that we can
design a fair, effective, and foolproof death penalty grow more and more
tenuous. In response, a powerful coalition of murder victims' families, civil
rights leaders, and law enforcement officials — joined by pro-life Catholics,
mainline Protestants, and Jewish leaders — has come together to call for repeal
of the death penalty in Connecticut and other states. Clearly, lawmakers are
listening.”
Rebuttal: Lawmakers are only listening to Abolitionists and not public
opinion.
I wonder how Ben Jones
can take it if one of his family members were murdered. On Sunday 29 April
2012, 40-year-old
Danny E. Gonzalez was found shot dead in Waterbury. I suspect those killers
have waited for the repeal to be in force before they murdered someone.
THE DEATH PENALTY: SAVING MORE INNOCENT LIVES
ReplyDeletehttp://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-innocent-frauds-standard-anti-death.html
The police chiefs never stated that the death penalty deters none.
ReplyDeleteThey can't.
All sanctions deter some.
OF COURSE THE DEATH PENALTY DETERS: A review of the debate
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/03/of-course-death-penalty-deters.html
MURDERERS MUCH PREFER LIFE OVER EXECUTION
99.7% of murderers tell us "Give me life, not execution"
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/11/life-much-preferred-over-execution.html
Saving Money
ReplyDeleteThere is little doubt that a properly managed death penalty protocol would save money.
Saving Costs with The Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/02/death-penalty-cost-saving-money.html