The death penalty is barbaric.
Enough.
Agreed. He should rot in jail.
Agreed. It’s not a deterrent, it’s not more efficient than prison, it doesn’t protect society better than incarceration, and there’s no “do over” if the justice system makes a mistake. There’s simply no justification for it. Ever.
There’s simply no justification for it. Ever.
I completely disagree. It believe was entirely justified in the case of Timothy McVeigh, and I believe it’s justified here as well. It’s appropriate to place a moratorium to review all pending capital cases to make sure that the accused have received competent representation and to ensure exculpatory evidence wasn’t surpressed or ignored, but there’s no question that Roof murdered those people.
Agreed. I think it’s used entirely too often and it’s disproportionately used against the poor and minorities, but this guy was going to get the chair one way or another. Either by the Feds or the State. And if ever there were a time to kill…
Our Founders believed in the death penalty, that’s good enough for me.
Also, with the leniency of today’s courts and various parole policies, it’s a great deterrent for the one executed.
So, you´re into slavery, women as chattel, beating children, ethnic cleansing and wooden teeth as well?
Please tell me your post was snark?
That’s what the prosecutors and juries think whenever they sentence someone to death. They’re absolutely, 100% sure. The catch is that sometimes they’re wrong.
Why is execution ever more justifiable than life in prison? What does it accomplish, other than satisfying someone else’s need for vengeance?
The truly depressing part of it is that in 1764 Marchese Cesare Beccaria wrote a wonderful book; “Dei delitti e delle pene” (On Crimes and Punishment). That book was the impulse for penal code reforms in just about every country of Europe; from Portugal to Russia.
And in this book, in 1764, Beccaria convincingly argues (a) that torture is always morally wrong and ineffective, and (b) that the death penalty is always morally wrong and ineffective. Since that day no new argument has been proposed, nor was it necessary to propose one, since Beccaria had nailed it once and for all. That small book tells you literally everything you need to know about torture and the death penalty. It has been translated in every significant language, and it is still easily available today. Used paperbacks start at $ 0.01 at Amazon. Read it. It is well worth the effort.
Of course, I am preaching to the choir. Those people who desperately need to read it definitely won’t bother. Just as they have not bothered since 1764, or for 252 years (or 249 years, if you count from the first English edition, which John Adams and Thomas Jefferson read).
Please tell us how you intend to correct this problem. If you can’t fix it, I think you’re on pretty shaky ground.
They also believed Roof’s victims were only 3/5 of a person.
Not sure they’re the best fallback in this case.
Just sayin’…
Experts said Roof, who’d allegedly planned the attack for six months, appeared to have white supremacist leanings.
Aha! Dylann is not only a mass murderer, but likely in league with some of Trump’s most ardent supporters - the White Supremacists!
BTW, in order of number of people executed from 2007-2012, here’s the list:
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United States, Pakistan, Yemen, North Korea, Vietnam, Libya.
We’re certainly in good company, aren’t we?
Uh, first of all, I’m not president, a senator, congressperson, judge, governor, or even a city council member, so I have no ability to correct the problem of disproportionate sentencing against the poor and minorities, just as you have no ability to stop the death penalty.
So you make an exception for Roof and McVeigh, who truly deserve death. Someone else will make an exception for two other people who truly deserve death. And pretty soon it is a free for all. Or, in other words, the current state of affairs in the United States.
But hey, hangin’ out with the other cool kids on that block, i.e. China, Iran, Irak, Saudi-Arabia and others must be fun!
But I trust you get my point. The death penalty is fundamentally flawed, despite all our best efforts to correct the problem. It is, indeed, used disproportionately against the poor and minorities. So how can anyone continue to defend it? Or are we willing to put up with killing poor black people, and letting rich whites skate? And to accomplish what, exactly?
The Founders if I’m not mistaken talked only of prohibiting “cruel and unusual punishment”, not sure they touched on imposing a death penalty as such so maybe you can cite where it is written in the Constitution… Besides the people who lost family in the church shooting are probably opposed to taking another life. They are spiritual folks who have seen enough murder for one lifetime, even if it is this creep.
@misterneutron I’ve seen that list of countries and it’s disgusting that this democracy is on it with its dictators and tyrants. BTW on the November ballot in California there will be two opposing proposals on the death penalty. One will be to speed up executions and the other will be to ban them completely. The one which gets most votes will prevail but will be challenged and the backers of each are promising that ahead of the vote.
Trump/Roof 2016!! I’m sure this is the first Trump has heard about the shootings. He’ll have to look into it.
And it’s not even the U.S. as a whole, since many states don’t have the death penalty, or don’t exercise it. A relatively small number of states are keeping us in the top ten, with a notable concentration in the south. USA! USA!