Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

LonestarCBR wrote:

Stardog82 wrote:There outta be an electric chair in the back of the courthouse. Do not pass go, do not have a last meal.

I'd be fine with that if there was some way to guarantee no false convictions.

So you're against the death penalty in general, not just the fact that a guy sits there for 20 years waiting in anticipation?

That's much easier to understand than the "cruel and unusual" argument for sitting there 20 years.

There are many, many instances where there is absolutely no doubt about the guilt of the death row inmate. In those instances, they should get on with it for me. No delays because I don't know the exact pharmacy the drugs came from, etc. They've callously and usually with forethought of malice created the ultimate crime, and as such should've pay the ultimate price. I personally cannot justify anything else. Just my opinion.

I'm not sure where you got that I'm against the death penalty out of that. I'm pro death penalty, and I'm pro death-penalty-express-lane like we have in TX. Like that Ron White sketch, if three people saw you do what you done, there's no appeals for you bub, you go straight to the front of the line. I think it's a much better use of taxpayer money. If we decide that somebody can't ever be a part of society, it's better to put them to death than feed and house them for decades.

What I'm for is constitutional rights, and erring on the side of upholding them. I believe that if there's a question whether something violates a person's constitutional rights, you should rule that it does and you should stop doing that thing unless there's compelling evidence otherwise. If there's a question about whether being on death row for 20 years is unconstitutional, then yeah, say it is. Get the dude off death row one way or the other--either kill him, or take him off the list.

I personally don't care which way it lands for some dude in California--it's not my tax dollars paying to feed and house him. If Californians are pissed about the decision, they need to get their elected representatives to legislate a change to the process. Either abolish the death penalty there, or put in an express lane like TX. Either is a valid solution.

As for whether leaving somebody on death row for 20 years is actually unconstitutional, I don't have a strong opinion. I can see how you can make a case that it's cruel and unusual like Fixxer described, and I can see how you can make a case that it's not like you described. Thankfully it's not up to me, there's federal judges to make a final call on whether it's constitutional or not.

I think it's time for a group hug.

I didnt read it all so forgive me if I say something already said.

The better decision for the judge would have been to say ok we are going to go ahead with the death sentance today at 4pm.

It is crazy the time it takes to carry out the death sentance in almost every state and even in federal. I personally think it should take no more than a year to go from sentance to execution. Change some of the appeals and such so that people on death row get everything done priority so the process does not change much just the time it takes to complete it.