This is why LWOP is not good enough!

[iamjumbo]

of course mistakes have been made, and will be in the future.  the reality is that those mistakes have NOT resulted in an innocent person being executed, nor will they ever.

With all due respect, how can you be so sure that all those executions never even once included an innocent person? I agree that an extremely high percentage of executions were performed on guilty persons. But, really, unless you can look into people's minds, memories, you cannot honestly make the statement you just made. That requires god-like powers.

I am a pro too. But obviously our justice system is not perfect. How can it be? We are only human and we make mistakes. Our justice system is GOOD, yes, but not perfect. And if something is not perfect, mistakes can and will be made. Maybe it hasn't happened YET. Even that, I doubt. A mistake will be made and, I believe, has been made, once or twice.

Just my opinion.

Having said that, I now take a step back. I believe it has happened once or twice that someone was executed for a crime he didn't commit. But I also believe that that person was guilty of other crimes. Usually, someone who commits 1st degree murder already has a history of felonies. So even if he was innocent of the crime that got him a death sentence, he's still a criminal. So, yes, maybe he got a punishment that was a little bit worse than he "deserved". I can't say I feel too bad about that. It seems to happen much more often that criminals get punishments that are a lot LIGHTER than they "deserve". So if a criminal gets the DP for a crime he didn't commit, I can't say I feel bad. He was a criminal already. He just got a punishment that was maybe a "little bit too harsh".

-zalo

true.  there are few on death row for whom it is their first trip to prison.  since i would support the death penalty for all third strikes, it would not bother me at all.
however, the fact is, a jury found the fool guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  before he was executed, around two hundred people looked at the case, examined the evidence, and concurred in his guilt.  that means that it is an absolute certainty that he was guilty, unless someone can conclusively PROVE that he wasn't.  no amount of maybes, might bes, or anything else has any relevance whatsoever.  until he is conclusively proven innocent, he was guilty, end of story.

[donvito111]

and that is the point.....you always offend people from europe which put some things in asks...in europe the fact is that you are innocent until it is 100 % bombproof that you are guilty....ok, i learned that no innocent person had been executed in the U.S.......let me see the exonerations....there were people 10, 15, 20 years innocent on death row....what is that? collateral damage??? oh yes, their body was not executed but their life was executed although they are free know with 100 $ and some kind of shoes and trousers....bravo

[ScoopD (aka: Pam)]

Those you speak of

and that is the point.....you always offend people from europe which put some things in asks...in europe the fact is that you are innocent until it is 100 % bombproof that you are guilty....ok, i learned that no innocent person had been executed in the U.S.......let me see the exonerations....there were people 10, 15, 20 years innocent on death row....what is that? collateral damage??? oh yes, their body was not executed but their life was executed although they are free know with 100 $ and some kind of shoes and trousers....bravo

Those you speak of were not innocent of the crime, they were released on procedural errors so therefore they are not colleteral damage. Take a look at this discussion on the Innocent Issue here:  http://off2dr.com/modules/smf/index.php?topic=4271.0

[Donnie]

Jumbo: If our laws are so unrational compared to yours - how come that most of our countries has much less problems with crime and criminals?

The people who live in Europe are not the people who live in the United States.   Here in the United States, roughly half of the murders are committed by criminals who come from a group that makes up about 12% of the population.  There is a state that has far less than 12% of that group in its population.  That state typically has one of the lowest murder rates in the US, comparable to European nations.  If you really wish to understand, read Dr. Thomas Sowell's books.  The most recent one is Black Rednecks and White Liberals.

[mildbill]

 If you have never worked around inmates, LWOP seems like a good alternative. In my humble opinion, it is not.
 A lot(not all), inmates that have been sentenced to very long prison terms, seem to have the same mind-set. If you catch one at a minor or sometimes major, rule infraction it seems like more often than not, what comes out of their mouth, is, "What are you gonna do, put me in jail? I'm already in jail. Do what ya gotta do po-leece, but you still gotta feed me 3 meals a day, bring me clean clothes, etc, etc".
 If you take a bunch of these guys, that will NEVER get out, what incentive do they have to stay out of trouble? Kill an Officer? "What are you gonna do, etc., etc". Kill an inmate? Same thing, only the State is in trouble for not protecting inmates and is likely to be sued for millions, by the family of the deceased. Technically, a LWOP inmate could kill multiple people over the years and STILL be a LWOP inmate. Think of the medical care for an aging LWOP population. It would be staggering.
 I spent 25 years watching these thieves, er, uh, inmates and I've seen how they respond. Death penalty or LWOP? Death penalty, but DR inmate shouldn't be on the row, for more than 3 years.


 All you good Folks in the European Union, your God loves you but I don't really think your opinions about our system means just a whole lot. You know what they say about opinions, huh?

 ...Mild Bill...

[Heidi Salazar]

WOW Bill thank you for that insight!!!

[Heidi Salazar]

I hit post accidentally..Does anyone know of a case where an inmate has received LWOP and then murdered while in prison??

[roo28]

"Cannady was the first Texas prison inmate to be prosecuted under a 1993 statute that allows for capital murder convictions if the offender is serving 99 years or life as a result of previous murder convictions."

I think Rogelio Cannady?

[Russki]

Firstly, I would like to make the point that many Europeans favour the DP and we are NOT all lilly livered decaffinated treehuggers as some of these rather stange people may lead you to believe.

I am a comitted European but believe that we have got some things really wrong. I think the posting of Mild Bill covers it. The issue is one of basic philosophy. Human Rights should apply to humans. Many of these people have, in my mind, given up the right to be included in this group. Therefore, DP should apply.

I suspect that Dark Star just likes to be a victim....should go and Marry a DR inmate!

Frenchy

[ScoopD (aka: Pam)]

Firstly, I would like to make the point that many Europeans favour the DP and we are NOT all lilly livered decaffinated treehuggers as some of these rather stange people may lead you to believe.

I am a comitted European but believe that we have got some things really wrong. I think the posting of Mild Bill covers it. The issue is one of basic philosophy. Human Rights should apply to humans. Many of these people have, in my mind, given up the right to be included in this group. Therefore, DP should apply.

I suspect that Dark Star just likes to be a victim....shold go and Marry a DR inmate!

Frenchy

Hi frenchy,

i know this post was done a couple months ago but I read this from February and read some of your current posts and I wonder....   why the sudden change of heart? Has someone hijacked your account here because the newer posts from you highly differ from this one??

i was once an Anti/Fence sitter....  some people thought my stance changed rather abruptly but those who truly took the time to talk to me during my "confused" days understood my thoughts and knew my change wasn't as dramatic as it appeared. So, unless someone hijacked your account, is there one specific moment that helped push you over to the other side?

Enquiring minds want to know....   

[Dilligaf]

As if the Anti's needed another example of why LWOP does not work, here is another example in my neck of the woods. 

Clyde Beaver, who is 59, strangled his cellie last year, and after pronouncing his guilt, received a LWOP sentence.  The problem is, of course, that he was already serving LWOP for a killing back in 1978.  So much for protecting society with such a sentence.  As Dimebag Darrell and David Allen Coe sang on the Rebel Meets Rebel album, "When a man's got nothing, he's got nothin to lose." 

We deal with this conundrum quite often, but are bound by both law, policies, and politics (both office and public) on how we pursue cases and the sought after punishment.  It can become maddening at times......

[JTiscool]

What state are you in?

[Gregg Fisher]

Time to recycle this  ↓

[Dilligaf]

What state are you in?

In the heart of California.  No shortage of crime, or job security here; only the will to make things happen.

[Hangman1981]

LWOP is not good enough because the scumbags continue to breathe! They also receive life's little necessities that their victims cannot, from food to medication to having the right to marry.