Sad

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Back to your "worst".
What you mean to say is, Texas leads, by far, in doing as the voters ask.

I suppose if the voters asked to have all the Jews in the state rounded up and killed you'd be fine with that, too.

[zulu9812]

NeOmega, I think it's great that you are using your democratic voice like this. I wish there were more ppl like you

[SlowwHand]

I'll tell you what. Your comparison is insane, and I'll leave it at that, because I don't want your...opinions to lead me into temptation.

However, when making my initial post, it was in an effort to illuminate for him how much worse he might feel, if the young man in question had been given the dp.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Che: are you talking to Slow?

And I'll admit it, just because someone is convicted might mean they didn't do it. There is always a small possibility of error is every judgement. That still doesn't dissuade me from the death penalty.

With the kind of justice sysytem described as operating in Florida and Texas (I recall one public defender in Texas was asleep during the trial) I would aver there is more than a small possibility of error in judgment and sentencing.

Is it your position that in the absence of even the semblance of a fair trial, the execution of a person for a crime they did not commit is simply the price you pay for having a death penalty which does not seem to dissuade anyone from committing homicide- given the murder rate in the United States?

If it is a crime to take life, then the death penalty should be done away with- there are too many instances of factors other than a desire for a just trial influencing the judgment and sentencing of accused people.

[SlowwHand]

[Spiffor]

Now THAT was an intelligent answer Sloww

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by SlowwHand

Golly.

How almost funny.

Unlike you, I am concerned that a system of justice should work and be transparent- if you don't care about that, fine, why not just agitate to bring back gladiatorial combat, or begin harvesting the bodies of convicted people for organs? Perhaps you could have live executions on the Fox Network, with appropriate advertising. Or how about lynchings, with souvenir photos and pieces of the hanging rope- oh, wait, you already had that in Texas.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
[img]

It doesn't bother you that people recieve unfair trials?

[DanS]

Ain't nobody's business but Floridians.

Not having defense witnesses is a valid defense tactic when you don't think the plaintiff has the goods. However, it probably wasn't a good tactic.

The jury decided he was guilty. In the absence of glaring evidence the other way, it is not for us to gainsay them. That's the job of the appellate courts.

[Alexander's Horse]

They are all gung ho about the death penalty until the day they get convicted of a crime they didn't commit.

I think race plays a big part in support, keeps the minorities down.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
The jury decided he was guilty. In the absence of glaring evidence the other way, it is not for us to gainsay them.

It's certainly within our right to say whether or not the boy had a fair trial.

[DanS]

He has his appeals. If he had a sufficiently unfair trial, then the appellate courts will handle it. If they are unable to deal with it effectively, then Florida citizens (you) can petition your governor to make it right.

I can't be arsed.

[NeOmega]

Originally posted by DanS
Ain't nobody's business but Floridians.

The jury decided he was guilty. In the absence of glaring evidence the other way, it is not for us to gainsay them. That's the job of the appellate courts.

My business now, because I am making it my business. I have sent enveloped letters to 4 state representatives and 3 federal, as welll as my governor... handwritten.
People confessed to being lots of things before being sent to the Gulag Archipelago... doesn't necessarily mean the confessions were true.

I understand that of course probably no torture methods were used on John Silva to extract a confession.... if he were an adult and had a good understanding of the American Justice system, the concept of prison, and exposure to the fallacies of interrogation, such as suggestions that maybe a "bad" part of you did it... blah, blah, blah.

The jury system has become incredibly flawed, since now lawyers realistically try to weed out anybody with intelligence, and try to get the most emotionally weak in the jury box.

None of my "peers" are so easily manipulated by showboating and grandstanding. In fact to get on a jury you have to mask any semblence of free thought.

[NeOmega]

Originally posted by DanS
He has his appeals. If he had a sufficiently unfair trial, then the appellate courts will handle it. If they are unable to deal with it effectively, then Florida citizens (you) can petition your governor to make it right.

I can't be arsed.

funny how over 100 people have been acquitted because of DNA evidence.... w/o it, and relying on the old jury system, they would still be rotting today.

BTW, I couldn't help your avatar has Benjamin Franklin....


"Better 500 guilty men go free tahn one innocent man be imprisoned."

Guess who I am quoting.... hint he's on a dollar bill, was never a president, and you use him for your avatar....

[DanS]

Franklin said a lot of dumb things. But he said a lot of things, so his batting average is good.

Look, to convict you have to have a unanimous decision among a jury of several (12? 15?). That's a very high bar. If I were in the jurors' position, the unanimity suggests that I would also have voted to convict.

If he's actually not guilty, then this will be gone through on appeal. Or by the governor (I guess). That's the way the system works. My heart doesn't bleed over this.