fear: the race-based comment was a reply to what kiowa said, not you. Kiowamohican's post included "rich, white, suburban". That does suggest race. As far as gender, the biggest discrepancy between capital-eligible crimes vs. those prosecuted is in gender. For whatever reason, many juries and even prosecutors will not seek to or give a woman a death sentence. I have heard the same in other cases. One other case about 5 years ago: after being qualified by both prosecution and defense on the question "can you sentence a convicted murder to death if the facts support it?", at least one juror deadlocked the penalty phase of the Wesley Harris trial and later stated "I cannot sentence a black man to death", even after having stated that she could in pre-trial jury selection. So even if race does play a factor, it may be in the reverse of what people may think.

As far as the other comment...it was just as over-the-top sarcasm as your comment was grasping at straws to find a justifiable excuse to be against capital punishment. If you're against it just say so. You don't need a lame argument like "killing people in captivity is wrong."

No left- Fair enough he looks very guilty, no question. Your statements earlier "This has never happened in the U.S. Period" when it comes to innocent folks being put to death, or innocent folks on death row, was FALSE!
I also would state that my problem with our justice system isn't that Davis was a Black man as you contend, but that your economic status determines the amount of protection you recieve in the arena of legal counsel.
Money should not determine your innocence or guilt or the type or amount of punishment you recieve. Is OJ in jail? YES, but thats because he was caught on tape threatening and robbing someone in Vegas. He should be in jail in California prison for the murder of two people, instead he gets away with it, because he could afford the best legal counsel, is that justice?
Jaf- Your statement "okay, turn them loose, give em to the count of 10, then shoot them. Suit yourself. I don't care." Doesn't surprise me either. It goes right along with your "research" of gender of death row inmates, should it surprise anyone that mostly all males are there? NO!
I also dont recall bringing race into the discussion as a matter of a fact I will quote myself ""Kiwo is also correct in that our legal system is largely based not on RACE but on socio-economic class, and what kind of defense you can afford."" and Kiwo"After all they are just poor, indigent, minorities, MOST of the time."
I think that both statements say that RACE doesnt shape the whole argument, but it certainly is a factor, as is economic class. Your contention that it isn't is just false. Maybe we should just count to ten and start shootin. Spoken like a true macho man without a clue.

Not to mention that the majority of the jury on the Davis case were black. We always seem to have the idiots screaming racism lately though........

34 eye witnesses, several of them his own friends, testified to Troy Davis killing a police officer.

Only two of the seven alleged "recantations" (out of 34 witnesses) actually recanted anything of value -- and those two affidavits were discounted by the court because Davis refused to allow the affiants to testify at the post-trial evidentiary hearing, even though one was seated right outside the courtroom, waiting to appear.

The court specifically warned Davis that his refusal to call his only two genuinely recanting witnesses would make their affidavits worthless. But Davis still refused to call them -- suggesting, as the court said, that their lawyer-drafted affidavits would not have held up under cross-examination.

With death penalty opponents so fixated on Davis' race -- he's black -- it ought to be noted that all the above witnesses are themselves African-American. The first man Davis shot in the car that night was African-American.

There's a reason more than a dozen courts have looked at Davis' case and refused to overturn his death sentence. He is as innocent as every other executed man since at least 1950, which is to say, guilty as hell.

Interesting how none of these facts made it into the article.

I never would want an innocent person to be put to death-for a crime in which he/she did not commit. HOWEVER, I have NO sympathy for the one who is put to death because they have committed the crime...or were heavily involved in crimes that got them convicted in the first place. In this case, I suppose it's POSSIBLE that Davis wasn't "guilty" of killing the police officer. But he CERTAINLY WAS NOT INNOCENT.

Therein lies the difference. If you don't want to be put to death yourself, don't intentionally harm, hurt, or kill someone else. Even though the criminal justice system doesn't operate like this, I would be a proponent of: As soon as you take away someone else's civil liberties, you forfeit your own. Don't expect to be treated to luxuries like cable tv or a gym membership after you rape, murder, or steal, and we won't have so many people looking to get in to the Prison-Sheraton Suites. Food? bologna sandwiches on dry, white bread should hold you over till the next meal. If not, drink a little more water.

Seriously, why do we treat CRIMINALS who ARE NOT "rehabilitate-able" better than we do our law-abiding seniors who are in state- or county-operated institutions? That, in my opinion, is criminal.

Somehow your "spare me the research" statement doesn't surprise me. Why be bothered with statistical data when you can spread opinions and rhetoric with the stale O.J. buying himself out defense. (Oh, wait...isn't he in prison now?)

"Wisconsin has no capital punishment yet one of the lowest murder rates? how can that be? Your logic IS flawed"

Huh? What have I said tying the two together, except to acknowledge that WI has always had among the lowest rates before, during, and after the moratorium? In saying that, you should not judge states who do have struggles with crime, especially those whose struggles greatly increased during the moratorium.

"Kiwo is also correct in that our legal system is largely based no on RACE but on socio-economic class"

Sorry, "...rich WHITE suburban..." sorta smells a hint of race in there. or was that a description of a GM product formerly built in Janesville?

"Not to say that it doesnt work at all, but killing people in captivity is wrong"
okay, turn them loose, give em to the count of 10, then shoot them. Suit yourself. I don't care.

It is also a complete MYTH that murder rates go down with capital punishmnet. Murder is largely a crime of passion. The killer doesn't draw a gun and think to himself "oh gee, I better not pull the trigger, because I'll be put to death"...fear-rheotoric is also very much correct that it's ECONOMIC CLASS that will largely determine if you are put to death. Don't even try to kid yourself if you don't believe a high profile legal team will get anyone out of a death sentence, or the crime all together. You think that killer in Florida who murdered her kid, and went out partying afterward would have been put to death, if she was found guilty? Of course not. If you have a high profile legal team, you will never be put to death, and likely never even convicted...yep, equal justice for all...rolf

Cute little speech Jaf, only problem is, that our system is flawed and has put innocent people to death. So "throwing the trash away" is a condescending statement by you standing on a soap box. Killing innocent people unjustly makes the system as criminal as the killers it condemns.
Life WITHOUT perole is sufficient punishment. Wisconsin has no capital punishment yet one of the lowest murder rates? how can that be? Your logic IS flawed.
Kiwo is also correct in that our legal system is largely based no on RACE but on socio-economic class, and what kind of defense you can afford. If OJ Simpson was just a middle class schlubhis trial would have been over in a week, and he probably would have been executed by now to your great pleasure. So , please spare me your research. The system is fatally flawed from top to bottom. Not to say that it doesnt work at all, but killing people in captivity is wrong. Also, the fact that being able to purchase good legal defense as an advantage over another who may have commited a similar crime that is poor , is another HUGE flaw.
I see the American Jusitice systm as a microchosm of what our country is, different rules for different people , simply based on income or social economic standing. You may not like it, but it is ABSOLUTELY the truth.

Of course there are those who would prefer to see murder rates spiral out of control like they did the first time they made the mistake of abolishing capital punishment. They could always say Life Without Parole is a better alternative. Of course then they'll elect a Governor who will commute all the sentences to Life with the possibility of parole because somehow the system still isn't fair. Next thing you know you've got some half-wit liberal judge who says maximum security prisons are too full and we have to start releasing some of the prisoners. (any of this sound familiar yet)?

IT'S TIME TO THROW THE TRASH AWAY!

Wouldn't the smaller goverment folks want the government to have less power? Wouldn't the government can't do anything right folks think the government screwed this up like they did everything else and at least get the power to terminate life removed from the government's power?

Its simple -- he killed, he was convicted, he was sentenced, he died sounds like a full circle to me.

In my opinion all child molestors should be sentenced to death as well.

here we go with the race card again. The Depts of Corrections statistics I collected showed makeup of death row inmates by race of perpetrator, race of victim, age group (current) age (when crime was committed), age groups of victims, and many other demographics related to the murderer and their victim(s). When I compared that data to the DOJ solved crime rates in capital-eligible states, I found very similar numbers between the white/black ratio of those on death row and those who had committed the crimes. The biggest disparity was in the gender of death row inmates.

The first case I referred to before (the victim being my neighbor), the murderer was a white man from a fairly well-to-do family. It's not the Government that sentences them. It's the people. Their peers. In today's world DNA can and should be used to clear those who may have been wrongly convicted, but can also be used to further guarantee that yes, "they got the right man."

Right janesvillian..Don't forget the military either. Most on the far right want less governmnet, but for some reason love and support a massive military (hence the biggest difference between a conservative, and libertarian).
.
The death penalty is really a joke in this country, and shows how UNEQUAL justice really is here. If this was a rich, white suburban kid growing up, do you seriously think he would have got the death sentence? Of course not..He'd probably be back on the street by now, if that were the case. fearandrhetoric is correct in that MANY have been put to death that DNA later cleared as 100% innocent. Many simply don't care..Makes them feel better that knowing they somehow paid for what they did by the state executing them.. They want the "HARD ON CRIME" politicians. Who cares if a few innocent go down in the process. After all they are just poor, indigent, minorities, most of the time.

Conservatism in America today consists of the firmly held belief that the government is always wrong. Except in the case of capital punishment. Then it's never wrong.

Ya'll know that old conservative saying, right? "You can't spell manslaughter without laughter", or was it "you can't spell execute without cute"...something like that.
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The moment a society kills a man as punishment, regardless of guilt, is the moment that society fails. " Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. "

Thank you Fear...Some people go through life with blinders on. Thanks for stating the indisputable facts!

dkush21: "The problem with capital punishment is that many people were put to death that we later found out were innocent."
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NoLeftist: "This has never happened in the U.S. Period."
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Thank you dkush21 for stating the facts and to fear for citing several cases. NoLeftist, your comment has to be the most ignorant comment ever made, with the possible exception of one or two of Michele Bachmann's comments.

NP Sarah, some just make statements based on ideology alone , not based on anything other than that , sometimes even when we feel passionately about something, we make statements that we may feel are fact that really are just conjecture.
how someone could be passionate about state sanctioned murder is beyond me.

Ryan Matthews served five years on Louisiana’s death row for a murder he didn’t commit before he was exonerated by DNA testing in 2004. His co-defendant, Travis Hayes, was sentenced to life in prison and served eight years before he was cleared in 2007.

Curtis McCarty served 21 years in Oklahoma prison – including nearly 18 years on death row – for a murder he didn’t commit before DNA tests secured by the Innocence Project led to his exoneration in 2007. He was convicted twice and sentenced to death three times based on forensic misconduct.

Kennedy Brewer, an Innocence Project client, served 15 years behind bars – including seven years on death row – for a murder and sexual assault he didn’t commit before DNA testing from 2001 finally led to his exoneration in 2008.

Michael Blair served 13 years on death row for a murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing obtained by his lawyers at the Innocence Project proved his innocence and led to his exoneration in 2008.

Tell me again what you know nobrainist?

Ron Williamson spent a decade on Oklahoma’s death row for a murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing secured by the Innocence Project proved him innocent in 1999. His co-defendant, Dennis Fritz, was sentenced to life and spent 11 years in prison before DNA cleared him as well.

Ronald Jones, an Innocence Project client, served a decade on Illinois death row for a murder and rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence and led to his release in 1999.

Earl Washington, a Virginia man with limited mental capacity, was sentenced to death after he allegedly confessed to committing a 1982 murder he didn’t commit. He served a decade on death row, once coming within nine days of execution before receiving a stay. He would serve a total of 17 years behind bars before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project cleared him in 2000.

Frank Lee Smith died of cancer on Florida’s death row after serving 14 years for a murder and rape he didn’t commit. He was cleared by DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project 11 months after his death.

Charles Irvin Fain served more than 17 years on death row in Idaho for a murder and rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence in 2001.

Ray Krone served a decade in Arizona prison – including four years on death row – for a murder and rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence in 2002.

Nicholas Yarris served more than 21 years on Pennsylvania’s death row before DNA testing proved his innocence and led to his release in 2003.

Kirk Bloodsworth served eight years in Maryland prison – including two years on death row – for a murder and rape he didn’t commit, before he was exonerated in 1993.

Rolando Cruz, and his co-defendant Alejandro Hernandez, served more than 10 years on Illinois death row for a murder they didn’t commit before DNA testing proved both men innocent in 1995.

Verneal Jimerson and Dennis Williams were sentenced to death in the infamous Ford Heights Four case in Illinois for a pair of 1978 murders they didn’t commit. Jimerson was cleared in 1995 after a decade on death row and Williams served more than 17 years on death row before he was freed in 1996.

Robert Miller spent nine years on Oklahoma’s death row for a murder and rape he didn’t commit before he was cleared by DNA testing in 1998.

Really? I beg to differ-
http://www.justicedenied.org/executed.ht...

better one
http://nakedlaw.avvo.com/2010/05/8-peopl...

How many people have been wrongly convicted and saved from death row by the innocence project? Seventeen!!
http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/...
And you have the nerve to say that no one innocent has been put to death? Are you really that dumb? I didn't think so, but now I see everything you say is in terms of political party, hence your screen name. You have no clue , really.

no left- I Merely use the christian angle because many(most) conservatives are devout Christians. And while the Bible has examples of Capital punishment in the Old testament , And Christ himself was a victim of it, I am basing the argument on Christs teachings not what the silly storybook says. Jesus always taught us not to judge.
While in my heart of hearts the man that was executed for the dragging death deserved his punishment, it doesnt make it just or correct to murder a man in captivity.
Istill beg any of you lovers of Capital Punishment to show me a system that doen't kill innocent people in the name of justice. Until you can show me a system that is flawless then I will never support capital punishment. Killing people in captivity is as barbaric as the criminals themselves. There are too many prejudices in men that allow us to make mistakes in Judgement. Just because there are stories of capital punishemnt in the great story book, does not make it right, why? Because the Bible is NOT the word of God, hate to break it to you. It was written by men. As flawed and imperfect as our "justice" system.

"The problem with capital punishment is that many people were put to death that we later found out were innocent."

This has never happened in the U.S. Period.

The other thing nobody mentions is the fact that many murderers cop please and give up accomplices in order to stay off death row. If you get rid of the death penalty, you are giving up all such opportunities, and by extention, are enabling further crime and murder by forgoing convictions based on such evidence. Somehow the lefties never talk about that.

contained within that article I posted: "Earlier this month Senior Judge Albert M. Pickett issued an order denying Mr. Rivera's attorneys' request for a new trial. Mr. Rivera, 43, has repeatedly sparred with his attorneys over their attempts to convince a jury to spare his life. He insists he wants to be put to death."

Why is everyone committed to putting this off?

And he also requested the death penalty at his trial.

THe problem with capital punishment is that many people were put to death that we later found out were innocent. People are being prosecuted and found guilty without proof. If you are going to give the death sentence to anyone, they should be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and there needs to be substantial evidence that the person is guilty.

Lol. Capital Punishment nowadays amounts to little more that euthanasia. THIS http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkiller_new... is barbaric.

Capital punishment is a barbaric practice and used for revenge, nothing more nothing less. I am not for anyone playing judge when it comes to life or death. All the death penalty does is turn our system into revenge killers.
Death Penalty = legalized murder
And who can be prosecuted when OUR system executes an innocent person? I'm not saying that Davis was innocent or guilty; but it has happened that innocents have been executed. What makes it right?

by the way...he finally was executed 16 years after the fact. After both their fathers had already passed away.

I did a very extensive study collecting DOJ and DOC statistics from each state from ~1950 through 2005. What I found was in states that never had capital punishment, murder rates never varied more than slight fluctuations year-to-year. However, in states that had capital punishment, then had it taken away, murder rates skyrocketed. Only after Gary Gilmore's execution marked reinstatement of capital punishment did that out-of-control rise level off. States like Wisconsin and South Dakota, etc. do not notice the difference. States like California, Texas, Georgia, etc really saw a huge jump when capital punishment was abolished. They should be the ones to decide whether or not it is appropriate.

Arguing the cost is ridiculous. When my neighbor was killed, his murderer stated in his pre-trial hearings that he wanted to be executed if found guilty. Still the shoulda-minded-their own-damned-business organizations wanted to get involved. The LAWYERS chose to make appeal after appeal even against the wishes of the convicted. Those of you who argue about the cost are the same ones who put up all the barriers in the first place.

Russel Brewer was executed as well last night for dragging a black man to his death. He also insisted he was innocent. No cries of outrage over his death, though.

Then they have the audacity to say the government should not execute people because it is unchristian? What a joke! Even presuming that the Bible prohibits capital punishment (which it does not), you are the same people that constantly deplore religion being incorporated into governmental policy.

Why the blatant double standards?

Because, as I illustrate here almost every day, leftists are the biggest hypocrites you'll ever meet.

stop with the lib garble, oka this is a life/death issue. Are you a Christian? Do you think Jesus would be all about revenge killing? This is our govt/system breaking the first commandment and justifying it.
Even if this man was completely guilty, he deserves to rot in jail. Not be murdered by our government. Again, the fact that this system of "justice" has killed innocent people is enough for me to say this practice should be halted IMEDIATELY!
Were you watching Fox dancing around celebrating the execution of this man? What the media decides to cover and how they choose to portray it is immaterial to me, the important thing here is that capital punishment is WRONG!

A convicted killer is a convicted killer, why special penalties apply because this man shot an officer is what I don't get. That being said, the death penalty is nothing more than state sanctioned revenge murder. Killing incarcerated criminals is ridiculously dumb. Why are we one of the last civilized nations(loose term) that uses capital punishment?

Any time you have a severely flawed legal system where it has been PROVEN that we have executed innocent people, it is time to revise and remove this practice. It costs less to keep a person in prion for life than to go through the court appeals process and the execution process..
Capital punishment is a barbaric practice and used for revenge, nothing more nothing less. I am not for anyone playing judge wen it comes to life or death. All the death penalty does is turn our system into revenge killers, sorry.

MSNBC true to lib nature was in love with this cop killing dirtbag all last night showing slowmo reels of him walking into court and fawning over him all night. They failed to show the body of the cop that he killed they didnt mention the little girl who will NEVER see her dad again in this life or know what its like to have him give her away at her wedding or anything else. The liberal stinking hippies also failed to mention the wife,parents and friends of this fallen Police officer who lost a good man to a thug with nothing better to do then go out and rob and murder! I say good riddance to bad rubbish.

Not to mention the bloodstained shorts of his found in his mother's washing machine that his defense team fought tooth and nail to keep out of the trial.......Hiding something there Troy? Fact of the matter, he was there with his buddy beating a homeless man. That is not refutable. There is absolutely no doubt that one of those two men(Davis or Coles) killed the police officer. The original jury were obviously privy to much more info that the Monday morning quarterbacks on the internet.............The right decision was made.

pubsrus- After 22 years memories fade and doubt sets in.

pubsrus - unfortunately that's not how the system works. If you go through all the appeals process and have your case looked at and turned away by the supreme court (twice), I don't know what more anyone can do.

I don't agree with the death penalty on spec, but the guy was convicted. Not much you can do other than work to get rid of the death penalty as a whole.

oj's victim wasn't killed with bullets from two different guns or have 7 of 9 witnesses recant testimony either. Was Davis guilty? Only he knows but the bottom line is the execution should have been stayed until the reasons were found why so many witnesses changed their minds.