Speaking of big, I think it was big of you to ignore this obvious dig: "At least that is how you would justify standing by while he does it." As if that also only happens in Canada even though there are more than a few threads around here highlighting people standing around while kids get killed or die of neglect.

 

Yes, I know that, but if they were, you would write them off as simply the system needing reform and go about your merry way. Many more innocent men than that number have been killed but such things don't concern you; it's more important that you satisfy your thirst for blood and revenge.

Why does it make sense?

-S-

 

It doesn't even have to be so traumatic an incident. In college psych we read about a case where a lecturer was speaking in front of a class of business majors. They used different classes but the same lecturer. At each speech the class was told that so-and-so lecturer held this position, from a low-level person in the company to the CEO. After each lecture the class was asked a series of questions, not knowing they were being tested, and one of them was to describe the person's appearance, height and weight, etc. Keep in mind, it was the same lecturer for all the sessions, only the groups of students changed. What they found was that the more important the students thought the speaker was, the taller he got. It ranged from like 5' 5" to over 6" tall.

-S-

 

Eyewitness accounts are rarely used unless colloborated, when they are it is the first thing an appeals court looks at, when are you guys going to admit that the appeals process actually works.

 

I wonder if some women think about cock size that way?

 

Now that is an interesting experiment and an even more interesting result with the lecturers height increasing with the perceived importance of the lecturer. I'd never thought of that possible connection but it surely goes to show how much we filter our reality through or perceptions.

 

You filter your reality, who'd a thunk it!!!

 

I would think that any fool with eyes to see would know that in our current system of rubber stamping justice only a tiny percentage of all state and federal prosecutions are appealed.

Appeals are mandatory in capital punishment cases but if one looks at the exoneration of people it is obvious they lost their initial appeals, remained sentenced to death and it took extraordinary effort on the part of private groups to eventually present new evidence and get those wrongly sentenced to death released.

 

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In this case the height is corroborated by a lecture hall full of students. Such testimonies, if given in a court case about the description of a suspect would surely have convicted a man. Here, they spent at least a half-hour staring at him while he spoke at a podium and each group got it wrong.

-S-

 

It still worked.

Yes appeals are mandatory, yes the public defender system is weak, yes the overzealous prosecutors are a root cause, but isn't this what the discussion is about?? Judicial reform.

The death penalty discussion in here is simply the pros vs the cons of the use of the sentence.

 

You give far too much credance to eyewitness testimony, as it pertains to capital cases. Do you think there is one defense attorney in the US who hasn't taken part in the same or similar exercize?

 

Now when you take that and apply it to how many court cases are determined by the testimony of eyewitnesses is it any wonder that eyewitness testimony is the most common factor in wrongful convictions of innocent people. In many cases the only evidence prosecutors have are eyewitnesses.

 

If the system is so easily corrupted, wouldn't it be better to simply do away with death penalty cases? Then you remove the possibility that an innocent man is killed and you save the tax payers millions.

-S-

 

What about the hundreds or thousands of innocent people who are incarcerated for non-capital crimes?? Is it okay to totally fuck up someones life because you don't want to fix the system before the sentencing phase??


If you do fix the system, which is what the thread is about, then why wouldn't it be fixed for all??

 

This is one of my primary arguments against the death penalty. Mistakes can possibly be reversed but death cannot. We have no way of knowing how many innocent people have been executed but there is every indication there are probably a lot of them given how many people have been exonerated.

Your point that it is actually a lot cheaper to keep someone in prison serving life without parole is also well taken. That is especially true when there is no credible evidence that the death penalty works as a deterrent.

But good luck getting some people to admit that. They would much rather try to change the subject instead of answering any direct questions of providing support for their claims.

 

check my new thread on capital punishment in China. Food for thought.

 

Are you equating living in prison to being worse than death? Why don't you go ask some of those people if instead of just being sentenced to a jail term they would rather be executed. You want to run all the way to an extreme to try and prove your point but you just make yourself look silly. I agreed with you that reform was needed, but you want to reform it and still kill people. What does your god say about that, anyway?

-S-

 

Hey Stumbles, can't you read???

How many times do I have to express my opinion before you actually acknowledge that I have a right to one??

Several times I have expressed why I feel the death penalty is a part of our judicial system, you seem to want to ignore that.

Several times I have also expressed my belief that you have a right to your opinion and I have respected it. Do you not respect my rights??

How about staying on the subject for a change.

 

No we are talking two completely different things, which you for some strange reason want to make one.

The death penalty is legal in many jurisdictions in the US, deal with that as a seperate issue.

The justice system is out of whack, innocent people are being convicted due to improper prosecution and inept public defenders. There are far more people who receive unwarranted or unjust prison sentences than there are who receive a death sentence.

What you propose is to eliminate the death sentence and to hell with the poor slob who lost everything when he got sentenced to three years for something he didn't do. This happens a hell of a lot more than those who are executed.

My only point is that if you fix the trial, evidence and sentencing parts, you fix most of the problems with ALL court cases. You seem to be happy with fixing only the capital cases.