Texas accounted for 62 percent of all executions in America this year — up from its typical average of about 37 percent. The reason for the increase isn’t that Texas is doing more executions. Rather, it’s that the rest of the country is doing fewer. As a result, of the nation’s 42 executions in the past year, 26 were in Texas. The remaining 16 were spread across nine other states, none of which executed more than three people, the New York Times reported.
The Texas judicial system apparently does not share in the rest of the country’s growing concern about the biased and possibly incorrect application of the death penalty. On the contrary, what separates Texas from other states is its aggressiveness in carrying out executions once a death sentence is imposed.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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39 Comments
While I’m not a fan of CP (and have said so before), if CP is to be the law, it should be carried out as Texas is doing it. IF there is any deterrent effect (and I’m not convinced there is), swift, sure execution is the only way to reap the benefits of that deterrent.
That’s why Constitutional provisions such as States Rights were written.
If the ninnies at New York Times would deal with the weeds in their own back yard, the World would be a much better place.
“The Texas judicial system apparently does not share in the rest of the country’s growing concern about the biased and possibly incorrect application of the death penalty.”
Get over it, the People of Texas don’t have to get all ‘touch feely’ with the rest of the U.S. The people of Texas want it that way and that’s the way it is in Texas.
Bring out the cheese and wine platter for the Mouseketeers at the NYT.
Goos points GMC. While I question the deterrent effect it definitely stops recidivism! And, in the case of people like the Carr brothers I become concerned about the safety of prison staff.
The key IMO is to be REAL SURE of guilt. Then get the rope.
“growing concern about the biased and possibly incorrect application of the death penalty.”
Funny, I don’t know anyone concerned about bias or incorrect application of executions. I’m wondering why we aren’t frying them faster and funding the program with pay-per-view.
Only a dozen or so states do not have CP on the books.
If there is a question of guilt: Then re-examine each case independently. But then get on with carrying out the punishment swiftly.
I don’t see bias, but maybe that’s because I am a middlge class, middle aged white guy. Seems to me, if they are found guilty of a CP crime, have a fair trial, and are sentenced – it doesn’t matter what color their skin is, their social background, or if their mother beat them.
While i’m not necessarily opposed to CP, I do find many faults with it, namely being judicial incompetent/ bias, one could easily list famous and not so famous cases where innocent people were imprisoned or executed because of politcal pressure, racial/ethic bias, judicial misconduct, incompetent lawyers so on. Because of that I think that the standard for CP should be higher say zero doubt vs reasonable not. Other probelms not only with CP but justice system in general Sexism women often get lesser punishments for committing the same crimes as men. And class bias when have we ever seen a wealthy defendant no matter what race be put to death?
God Bless Texas. More states should follow
Capital punishment is what one associates with backward governments around the world.
If the boot fits, Texas, you and Saudi Arabia and China and Tajikistan can all wear it with pride . . .
Great. You kill you die, what is so hard about that.
Great. You kill you die, what is so hard about that.
Posted by: georgetroy | December 26, 2007 at 04:19 PM
So you would put both Ted Kennedy and Laura Bush to death?
Right, how many have been let off death row because of either falsified evidence or dna evidence. There is a problem with some of Texas cases because of the sloppy work one of the labs did.
But it’s okay to kill em anyway, huh. Hell, they probably did something bad anyway, huh, so it’s okay . . . until it happens to you.
Civilized countries don’t kill people. We obviously aren’t civilized yet.
“Funny, I don’t know anyone concerned about bias or incorrect application of executions.”
Um, here!
I am not opposed to the death penalty. I could even go for it being considerable less humane.
But with our justice system and all its flaws and corruption. I’d have to be 110% sure of the guilt of the prisoner.
I have no doubt there are people who deserve to be taken out into the street and shot like the rabid dogs they are. But I lack confidence in our judicial system — and indeed, our people — to mete out justice.
Cops have human flaws, juries are often mistaken, evidence gets misinterpreted or goes undiscovered, eye-witnesses can be unreliable… and there’s no way to correct an unjust conviction and execution.
As long as we know for sure 100% that the person is guilty, I have no problem with putting them down. Some people don’t deserve to live on the planet with the rest of us.
I am in full agreement with the death penalty and feel that it needs to be carried out IMMEDIATELY if a person is sentenced to death as other countries on this planet impose. The people who are handed the death penalty deserve their fate. Why keep them in prison for 5 or 6 years longer? We feed them, put clothes on their bodies and God knows what else we pay for. Yet, they performed such a horrendous crime (probably against another human being, or was another human being), were handed the death penalty and sit on death row for years! Does this make sense? NO it does not! I myself believe that public hangings should be brought back in to play myself. Do it as they did in the old days. Execute these criminals in front of everyone! Maybe that might deter future crimes from happening knowing if they get caught, they will be brought to justice swiftly and with no chance of living past 30 days in jail after they have been convicted! Good old USA is too lax on crime and criminals. We need to make sure they are punished swiftly for a horrendous crime even including the death penalty.
I think the death penalty is fine, but as some one mentioned the courts need to be sure beyound any doubt the person being sentenced to death is absolutly 100% guilty. That would be a nightmare to have a mix up and be that person who is innocent being sentenced to death. Now if a person is found without a doubt guilty of a horrendous crime, then yes it would be better to carry out the death penalty as quickly as possible. It would save people money and weed out the trash and deter others.
Now only if we could quit imprisoning petty drug offenders we would save billions of dollars.
“But I lack confidence in our judicial system -…”
We live in Kansas. Is there a single person on our Death Row, just one mind you, who should not be zapped tommorrow?
“On the contrary, what separates Texas from other states is its aggressiveness in carrying out executions once a death sentence is imposed.”Exactly as it should be.
As for the supposed deterrant effect of public executions, go back to Middle England when the most common crime that resulted in public hangings was the crime of pick-pocketing. The most common occurance of pickpocketing was at… you guessed it, public executions.
But what the hell. Perhaps Kansas should lead the way to public executions! Make it televised and require all channels to show it. Halftime entertainment at the annual KU/K-State football game! Let’s draw and quarter the condemned with four tractors starting at midfield and ripping the arms and legs off the prisoners by driving to the corners of the end zones!
All the blood and gore at the 50 yard line might make field conditions during the first part of the second half of the game a little dicey, but what the hell.
Personally, I’m much more comfortable with a “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” approcah to murderers. I don’t feel a whit less safe that Dennis Rader is cooped up forever instead of being strapped to a gurney with a needle in his arm. Killing people to show people how much we hate killing people reeks of nothing less than vengeance; it lowers the moral credibility of all society.
MH – one concern I have is the safety of prison personnel. After all, if the Dennis Raders have nothing to lose …
Could be true, Ben — but it isnt on this thread!! LOL
Personally, I’m much more comfortable with a “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” approcah to murderers. I don’t feel a whit less safe that Dennis Rader is cooped up forever instead of being strapped to a gurney with a needle in his arm. Killing people to show people how much we hate killing people reeks of nothing less than vengeance; it lowers the moral credibility of all society.
I feel where your coming from moneyhawk. But we’re already over populated on this planet, and I don’t see a problem with taking out the trash. Every single person alive in this country is lucky to be here in a sense, and if someone commits a heingous act of violence and murder I think they have forfeited their right to live, why should we spend money feeding and housing violent criminals in prison when the most heineous murderers could be executed thus saving taxpayers money that could be spent on something more productive towards the common good people.
God Bless Texas. Texas is not the problem. All you bleeding heart liberals is the proble.
“WhiteElephant” –
We probably could agree there are plenty of “worthless” people on the planet that civilization would be better off without.
That does not and should not give us license to wipe them out in a so-called moralistic attempt to “take out the trash.”
A while back I posted that it made no sense to me that “attempted murder” was considered a lesser crime than “murder.” I mean, why give the criminal a break simply because the victim didn’t have the common decency to die? *Attempting* a murder is just as bad as succeeding at murder, isn’t it?
But if the person you try to kill just happens to fight back from the abyss, the justice system gives the crook a break. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, although I’ve heard all the arguments to the contrary.
Removing the scum of the earth from society seems far more effificent to me than attempting to kill them. We all know of cases where innocent people have have been convicted of capital crimes. There is no way to rectify such a sentence. That is the ultimate *in*-juistice, isn’t it?
Society thinks so, and that’s why the endless appeals and huge costs of litigation sap the government treasury. Dennis Rader most assuredly *deserves* to be put to death, but the way it’s worked out he’s a “piece of trash that’s been taken out” and giving him three hots and a cot for the rest of his life will cost taxpayers far less than endless appeals leading to his execution.
For me, personally, life in prison is a far worse sentence than execution. I’m gonna die someday. It’s only a matter of time. But I’ve lived my life so I’m not likely too be put in a cage until death creeps up on me. *That* is literally hell on earth to my way of thinking. And a far worse punishment than simply meeting the Grim Reaper prematurely.
I am repulsed by the attitude Capital Punishment advocates reveal when it seems that vengeance is the operative motive.
Tim McVeigh most certainly earned the death penalty. But what difference has his execution made, really? How is society better? Where is the justice? One death to pay for 259 Oklahomans? I simply can’t do the math.
Yesm, Timothy McVeigh suffered the “ultimate” penalty, but he didn’t suffer enough in my book. I’d rather he’d rotted in jail for decades.
Andrea Yates’ crimes were horrific. But just who would have benefitted if her original death penalty had been carried out?
My original post in this thread expressed my sincere belief there are people on the planet who *deserve* to be executed. But I don’t think that gives the rest of us the right to murder them.
Such an attidude reduces us, the executioners, to a level as low as the executed.
I think most of us are better than that.
I think the ultimate goal should be to reduce the prison population, I think its a vicious cycle, we spend more money on our prison system than any other country. We focus more on punishing people, than preventing crimes. The biggest way to prevent crimes is to try to reduce povery conditions as much as possible, most criminals are born out of poverty, ghettos and slums. But how can we focus on the social ills of poverty if were throwing all that money in the prison system. We’re throwing money at punishment and not prevention.No one wants more social programs, so I see the solution would be to reduce the prison population as much as possible so that extra money we already pay in taxes can be transferred to social programs instead of creating new taxes. I think another part of the problem is that prison is a breeding ground for criminals. You might get a theif or a petty drug user going to jail thats not the worst person in the world, but prison will transform them into an even worse criminal, then when they get out, they will revert back to crime then go back to prison. Its a very flawed system.
Do it as they did in the old days. Execute these criminals in front of everyone! Maybe that might deter future crimes from happening knowing if they get caught, they will be brought to justice swiftly and with no chance of living past 30 days in jail after they have been convicted! Good old USA is too lax on crime and criminals. We need to make sure they are punished swiftly for a horrendous crime even including the death penalty.Posted by: LM | December 26, 2007 at 06:12 PM
Merry Christmas to you, too! LOL
Yeah baby! Let’s pike their severed heads and put ‘em up for display on Douglas St bridge! Crucify ‘em! Required viewing for all! Hell, turn it into a family or school outing! Bring back the wheel, and disallow the coup de grace! Let their crushed limbs be braiden through the spokes, and let their braiden bodies be raised up so that their cries mix with those of the raptors who come to feast!
Think of it as the Sam Raimi or Wes Craven approach to crime fighting. Surely if we can just get enough buzzards to circle over downtown Wichita the sight will stop criminals!
Ask yourself this; when the inevitable mistake is made and an innocent person is executed, would you be willing to go (alone and unarmed) to explain how it happened to his/her family and what you will do to make amends? If not, then you have no business supporting the death penalty.
Worried about those on Death Row?
Why not give some thought to the slain/the murdered/the hacked/the burned to death/the strangled/the multilated/the terrorized?
I keep reading the same lame arguments
‘what if a mistake is made?’
What’s the percentage of mistakes made on death penalty cases and can we really be sure it was a mistake?
If the percentage is 1 percent or lower – those are better odds than the convicted gave the murdered.
Give the convicted one DNA/Forensics/Time line/Alibi Review appeal. If it fails, then that’s it, no more appeals – straight to the execution.
I don’t want anymore taxpayer food being pumped into the stomachs of these vermin than necessary.
“Info_Pipe” posits:
“If the percentage is 1 percent or lower – those are better odds than the convicted gave the murdered.”
Uhm… no.
Those are better odds than the *guilty person* gave the murdered.
And, what the hell, it only means unjustly executing one out of a hundred people.
Hello, Mrs. “Info_Pipe!” Turns out we executed your son by mistake. But look at these 99 people we got right! Sorry ’bout that.
Every one of us is gonna die someday. Not every one of us is doomed to live out our natural life in a cage. Just which is the more severe penalty?
Im not sure but I dont recall that Andrea Yates was ever sentenced to Death as I stated above sexism in the judicial system is one of my concerns having a vagina shouldn’t give one a pass on punishment.
“Tom Paine” –
Most certainly Andrea Yates was sentenced to death after her first trial. There was an appeal and she was subsequently sentenced to what basically amounts to a life sentence in a mental institution.
Hers was a horrific crime but it in no way presented society with a legitimate threat.
Americans have executed thousands upon thousands of individuals who presented no threat to society as a whole.
Texas had a case a few years ago of a doomed murderer who ate his Last Meal, but “saved his dessert for later,” clearly not understanding there’d be no “later.”
Andrea Yates got the death penalty at her first trial because it was, inarguably, a horrific crime. She got justice — for her and for society — when the second trial recognized her crime but also that she wasn’t a likely threat to society.
There are plenty of non-capital crimes which, to any reasonable person, would indicate a criminal who *does* pose a threat to society. As I’ve posted previously, it makes no sense that someone gets a lesser sentance for *attempted* murder simply beacuse the victim of the crime doesn’t happen to die.
An “attempted” murderer should be just as bad as a successful murderer, shouldn’t it? But that’s not how the system works.
But in Texas, a guy who stabs somebody thirty or forty times and the victim didn’t die is prosecuted for a lesser crime than Anrea Yates, simply because her victims died. Texas law works that way. And Texas law doesn’t work.
The most aggressive death penalty on the planet hasn’t reduced the frequency of Texas murders a whit.
Perhaps another approach to the problem would be in order.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates This says she was originally sentenced to life with parole after 40 years, and that’s with 5 murders under her belt. Had it been the father who killed 5 children he would be on death row
and MH i agree attempted murder should have the penalty as murder, how good your Doctor is or bad a shot the criminal is shouldn’t be a factor in punishment.
sorry, my kid got hold of the mouse…
“”"But what the hell. Perhaps Kansas should lead the way to public executions! Make it televised and require all channels to show it. Halftime entertainment at the annual KU/K-State football game! Let’s draw and quarter the condemned with four tractors starting at midfield and ripping the arms and legs off the prisoners by driving to the corners of the end zones!”"”
That is extreme but I would have no problems with public or televised executions. The whole idea is to deter others and if people- especially little kids- see an execution it might save them from a life of crime. Just maybe.
how good your Doctor is or bad a shot the criminal is shouldn’t be a factor in punishment.
“But, but, I was aiming fer yer shoulder!”
Like I said, we need pay-per-view. You want CP as a deterent, let people see the horrible manner in which we kill people. Besides, the revenue could help off set the costs, or contribute to a victims fund.
“Lock them up and throw away the key” simply does not work. Some of them find Jesus……..
Monk.”Halftime entertainment at the annual KU/K-State football game! Let’s draw and quarter the condemned with four tractors starting at midfield and ripping the arms and legs off the prisoners by driving to the corners of the end zones!”
They’d no doubt get better ratings if they used four tractors and a helicopter. Or we could go back to the good old Roman standby and feed them to various beasts. If we run out of criminals, we could always use politicians.Maybe that would satisfy the public’s blood lust, or inspire a few to try murder for themselves. Most gun nuts are about an inch away from that already!
I do not think highly of the death penalty, because over zealous prosecutors push for it in order to make a name for themselves. This allows evidence to become clouded.
Their are definately cut and dry cases, where I do support it, but not many.
I admire Texas for still using the death penalty. I wish every state was like Texas in this regard, but I fear it’s more likely that Texas will become like every other state and let the brutal killers live.
The death penalty isn’t uncivilized, it’s the monsters on death row who are uncivilized. The less of them alive, the sweeter and kinder country we become. If we literally killed thousands of these guys a year (which is my dream) we would become a sweeter, nicer, more innocent nation. Killing off these guys in large numbers would make the balance of humanity more sweeter and wholesome..our country needs a cleanse.
Finally, I disagree that spending on social programs prevents crime. Quite the contrary it increases crime because it increases single mother households. Without welfare, women would choose decent quality men to have children with instead of the bad boys and thugs they (lower class women in particular) favor today.