I don't know that executing someone is something that makes me "proud" to be a Texan because we also managed to spawn that person. In fact, it seems that we have spawned more people worthy of execution than any other state, including more populous states<--not something I'm particularly proud of. I'm proud to be a Texan but not because of the death penalty.
I whole-heartedly support the death penalty on moral grounds but I can't make a great case for it on any other grounds. It's incredibly cost INEFFICIENT! It costs the taxpayer WAY more to execute a person than to lock them up for the rest of their lives in a small box. The appeals process which is ABSOLUTELY necessary because it limits the number of mistakes that are made - more on that later. Secondly, there's ZERO evidence that it's had ANY 'deterrent' value. We continue to regularly see people committing crimes that result in the death penalty. In spite of the fact that we execute more people than any state, the rate of these crimes has not dropped in any causal way that people have been able to link to the death penalty. I WISH it would deter people - it sure ought to, but it doesn't seem to.
Then, we get to the "mistake" factor. The appeals process is absolutely necessary because the court/legal system is inherently flawed and, when you have such a 'final' result we durn sure better be positive the person is actually guilty! Here in lies my BIGGEST problem with the death penalty. I'm 100% behind executing someone that has committed a heinous murder but there has just been WAY too many mistakes made. Here's a couple Texas stats:
9 inmates were executed that were proven innocent AFTER execution
13 inmates sentenced to death and proven innocent prior to execution, during appeal process.
There have been about 475 (give or take a few) executions since 1976 and, with 22 failures (not lessening of the sentence but outright 'oopsies!') of the system, that means the failure rate is 4.64%!! The thought of making a "mistake" is one that haunts me. Can you imagine being executed for something you didn't do? Can you imagine a family member being executed 'on accident?' That's about the worst thing society could do; and it happens with pretty high regularity.
Until there's a way to prove 100% that someone is truly guilty, and clearly there isn't such a method currently, I have VERY mixed feelings about the death penalty. The retribution that the death penalty provides to society and the victim's family is NOT worth the life of an innocent, IMO. Especially considering the outrageous financial cost and lack of deterrent value that's coupled with the unacceptable failure rate.
I almost think that life in prison, in solitary confinement with NO privileges, would be a harsher sentence than death. And, at least we wouldn't have to worry about killing an innocent person by accident. Plus, we'd save a lot of taxpayer money.
Like I said: I don't have a problem (morally, ethically) with putting a guilty person to death. It's just that we aren't good enough at PROVING guilt to justify the death penalty. I have a BIG problem with executing (or almost executing) innocent people; and it's happening with FAR to much regularity for me to be comfortable with it the way it currently is. Maybe in cases where the entire episode is caught on video and there's ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance that the criminal could be innocent; but standard cases, where there's eyewitness testimony or only physical evidence or circumstantial evidence (all of which CAN be manipulated), and even the tiniest shred of possibility of making a mistake, I have a very hard time getting comfortable with a death sentence. Somehow, I think Jesus would not approve of executing a person without 100% absolute proof of guilt; and that's almost impossible to come by these days. The justice system just gets it wrong TOO often for me to be comfortable with it on an intellectual level, despite my moral support for the idea of it. Justice is NOT done when the price is the death of innocent people. JMO
I whole-heartedly support the death penalty on moral grounds but I can't make a great case for it on any other grounds. It's incredibly cost INEFFICIENT! It costs the taxpayer WAY more to execute a person than to lock them up for the rest of their lives in a small box. The appeals process which is ABSOLUTELY necessary because it limits the number of mistakes that are made - more on that later. Secondly, there's ZERO evidence that it's had ANY 'deterrent' value. We continue to regularly see people committing crimes that result in the death penalty. In spite of the fact that we execute more people than any state, the rate of these crimes has not dropped in any causal way that people have been able to link to the death penalty. I WISH it would deter people - it sure ought to, but it doesn't seem to.
Then, we get to the "mistake" factor. The appeals process is absolutely necessary because the court/legal system is inherently flawed and, when you have such a 'final' result we durn sure better be positive the person is actually guilty! Here in lies my BIGGEST problem with the death penalty. I'm 100% behind executing someone that has committed a heinous murder but there has just been WAY too many mistakes made. Here's a couple Texas stats:
9 inmates were executed that were proven innocent AFTER execution
13 inmates sentenced to death and proven innocent prior to execution, during appeal process.
There have been about 475 (give or take a few) executions since 1976 and, with 22 failures (not lessening of the sentence but outright 'oopsies!') of the system, that means the failure rate is 4.64%!! The thought of making a "mistake" is one that haunts me. Can you imagine being executed for something you didn't do? Can you imagine a family member being executed 'on accident?' That's about the worst thing society could do; and it happens with pretty high regularity.
Until there's a way to prove 100% that someone is truly guilty, and clearly there isn't such a method currently, I have VERY mixed feelings about the death penalty. The retribution that the death penalty provides to society and the victim's family is NOT worth the life of an innocent, IMO. Especially considering the outrageous financial cost and lack of deterrent value that's coupled with the unacceptable failure rate.
I almost think that life in prison, in solitary confinement with NO privileges, would be a harsher sentence than death. And, at least we wouldn't have to worry about killing an innocent person by accident. Plus, we'd save a lot of taxpayer money.
Like I said: I don't have a problem (morally, ethically) with putting a guilty person to death. It's just that we aren't good enough at PROVING guilt to justify the death penalty. I have a BIG problem with executing (or almost executing) innocent people; and it's happening with FAR to much regularity for me to be comfortable with it the way it currently is. Maybe in cases where the entire episode is caught on video and there's ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance that the criminal could be innocent; but standard cases, where there's eyewitness testimony or only physical evidence or circumstantial evidence (all of which CAN be manipulated), and even the tiniest shred of possibility of making a mistake, I have a very hard time getting comfortable with a death sentence. Somehow, I think Jesus would not approve of executing a person without 100% absolute proof of guilt; and that's almost impossible to come by these days. The justice system just gets it wrong TOO often for me to be comfortable with it on an intellectual level, despite my moral support for the idea of it. Justice is NOT done when the price is the death of innocent people. JMO
The system and WE THE PEOPLE have gotten SOOO week and over run by the pansies that the perps DO NOT fear the law
any longer BUT they will fear the armed citizen if WE will stand up and take our country back BUT you probably value your kids life too much to stand up and protect it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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