As Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline goes before the U.S. Supreme Court today to try to defend the state’s death penalty, many Kansans have sound reasons to hope he wins. Most notably, that’s what the system promised the survivors of the killers’ victims, and it was the will of the jurors who heard the evidence and sentenced these men to death. Polls still show strong support for the ultimate punishment, but the exonerations of death-row inmates in other states and the high cost of these prosecutions make you wonder how long it will be before Kansas decides it’s not worth having on the books.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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12 Comments
They need to get Gary Kleypas put to death before they change a darn thing.
Same for the Carr brothers.
They need to just get rid of the waste of legislation called the death penalty. Convert all the sentences to life (hard 40 or 50 as the case may be) and then forget about these guys. The money that could be saved by not having to go through the appeal process makes it worth it in and of itself (granted there are plenty of other reasons to get rid of the death penalty). Odds are we have to retry the Carr brothers case anyway, at least if it’s not capital this time it won’t take as long or be as expensive.
They need to throw out the system that allows numerous appeals and years on death row before the sentence is carried out, that way it won’t be as expensive and the torture of sitting for years in a cell will be reduced.Why should we support someone for the rest of their lives, allowing them free access to many of the things most of us have to work for? They should just be removed from society, just like a rabid dog that would be mercifully put to sleep.If you willingly take a life, you should give your own, it’s only fair.
Da,Those endless appeals and years on death row are the only safety net the system has, and even then it occasionally fails and we execute an innocent person. Throw that out, and what is your solution for when the inevitable mistakes happen?
I don’t mean to toss it all out, just make the whole system more streamlined and efficient. With DNA testing and all the new technology, the chances of executing an innocent person is practically nil.I don’t think there is a shadow of a doubt that the Carr brothers are innocent, do you?
One of the men on death row was once a patient of mine. Yes, he grew up in a dysfunctional family (who hasn’t?), but he was smart and knew the difference between right and wrong. He choose to take two lives during a robbery just for the thrill, and the young children of his victims were orphaned. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever, he deserves to pay the ultimate price for his cruelty. Why should he be allowed to live life when he’s willingly denied it to others and devastated so many lives?
Da,Technologies such as DNA, fingerprints, etc. are not absolutely foolproof, simply because it’s people who are running the tests, and interpreting the results. There’s always room for error.
There should be plenty of checks and balances in the system. For example, when a specimen comes back positve for a match, have 3 different labs do another analysis.
Personally, if I’m convicted of a crime and I’m innocent, I’d rather have a painless death by lethal injection than to spend the rest of my life in prison. Some things are worse than death.
Damoon, call me picky, but I’d rather be exonerated and set free, even if it took years.
Get rid of the appeals, and that’s far less likely to happen. You say you favor check and balances; why do you think there are appeals in the first place?
Well, if so many innocent people are put to death, obviously the checks and balances that are in place now aren’t working. The appeals system is just job security for the lawyers because the government is paying them to draw out the process as long as possible.Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, the system could be improved so that it’s more fair and equal for everyone.Life becomes more valuble when if you willingly take one, you must give up your own.
Right now I’m listening to the media make a hero and a victim out of “Tookie” Williams. I just can’t believe that anyone that caused so much destuction in his life deserves to live. He was quoted as saying that the death penalty is “barbaric”, I wonder what he thinks about what he did to his victims. Sometimes just saying “I’m sorry” and stating that he’s changed is not enough to make up for the lives that were lost due to him. He proclaims his “redemption”, I say let him go be with Jesus.