Another reason to not have a death penalty

What a dreadful thing to do …to make her better so she can be executed again.
This is totally barbaric and to people saying ‘if someone in my family was killed I would want justice’ ….I wouldn’t want to be part of another killing, two wrongs don’t make a right, and in my opinion the state is equal to the person who did the deed in the first place.
For me state killing is a big NO I ve always felt the same from a young person you can’t be right if you do the same as the person you are saying is wrong
State killing is murder and shame on America for this

BlueBelle

What a dreadful thing to do …to make her better so she can be executed again.
This is totally barbaric and to people saying ‘if someone in my family was killed I would want justice’ ….I wouldn’t want to be part of another killing, two wrongs don’t make a right, and in my opinion the state is equal to the person who did the deed in the first place.
For me state killing is a big NO I ve always felt the same from a young person you can’t be right if you do the same as the person you are saying is wrong
State killing is murder and shame on America for this

I feel the same way.
A really dark and twisted way to exercise justice.
An eye for an eye makes everyone blind.

Why did they keep this woman on Death Row for so long and whose decision was it to to implement the death penalty now after 30 years?

It is horrific, more so now after their bungling.

Ladyleftfieldlover

I believe the USA is the only country in the civilised world which has the death penalty.

Not all of states in the USA have the death penalty.
23 states have no death penalty and 4 states have an executive stay which means it is on the books but will not be implemented.

Luckygirl3

*Religions are not silly* .... indeed not. They are terrifying... the misery wrought over the centuries in the name of religion strikes fear in my heart.
And still it goes on ....

Christianity isn't terrifying.

Vintagewhine

Absolutely horrific, this is not what any country should do to another human regardless of the crime committed. It's barbaric and dehumanising for every single person who is involved in it.

I agree. Though I understand why some feel horrific crimes should end this way.

Not for me.

Peacelilydilly

Perhaps the victim's family would disagree, perhaps they would want the killer to suffer, perhaps they would think this is justice/karma.

I can totally understand this.

However, many our own country who have loved ones murdered feel differently and use these henious crimes to do something good themselves to benefit others and help them heal.

Grief is one thing, anger, bitterness, revenge is completely understandable.

Nothing though brings back a loved one.

The death penalty is horrible and archaic.

One of the biggest issues with the death penalty in the USA is that it is used in most cases where the person is from a poor and deprived background and they can’t afford a lawyer. They are not infrequently innocent but have had poor representation by incompetent lawyers. There are now organizations that take on these cases and are then released when they get a fair trial . Some prisoners after 30 or 40 years on death row !

There have been 203 released so far. Who knows how many more are sitting there innocent ? There have also prisoners that were put to death and then found innocent After the fact !

Syracute

The death penalty is horrible and archaic.

One of the biggest issues with the death penalty in the USA is that it is used in most cases where the person is from a poor and deprived background and they can’t afford a lawyer. They are not infrequently innocent but have had poor representation by incompetent lawyers. There are now organizations that take on these cases and are then released when they get a fair trial . Some prisoners after 30 or 40 years on death row !

There have been 203 released so far. Who knows how many more are sitting there innocent ? There have also prisoners that were put to death and then found innocent After the fact !

Horrific!

nadateturbe

Luckygirl3

Religions are not silly .... indeed not. They are terrifying... the misery wrought over the centuries in the name of religion strikes fear in my heart.
And still it goes on ....

Christianity isn't terrifying.

This is your opinion not fact.

Yes dreadful things have been done in the name of religion and still are

also many good things have been done in the name of religion and still are.

I was brought up by parents who believed in the Karl Marx saying, "religion is the opium of the people"

Yes, peoples faith and spiritual feelings can be used against them but its not about religion per se in that case imo its about getting and maintaining power and the means to do it

Jesus himself for example was a revolutionary, preached peace, love thy neighbour, and for a man of his time was very positive to women.

its what has been made of him subsequently that counts and it has been all about power - the power of kings, the power of men, and in wars,

each side claiming "god is on our side" (ref Bob Dylan?)

From the very beginning of time people have first wanted to know how it all begun, and also found the need to express a spiritual or soulful self. Religion in this sense is not about power it is about exploration of an aspect of life.

Faith can neither be proved nor disproved ultimately

(tho of course science can and has taken away some of the basis of belief systems - Darwin took a long time to publish his work "Origin of the Species as it does of course prove Genesis to be a "made up story of its time".

Being brought up as an atheist and science based as such a sense of the spiritual found me when I was not looking for it.

(I'm a Quaker, btw, which will make sense to some or you who know what that is)

I am familiar with a number of religious texts and history and can say one thing definitively

- they all both show two sides if one picks this or that passage and make it "given to them by god" when they were written by men (mostly) and women.

Jihad for example actually means an "Endeavour" or commitment not necessarily war on non Muslims at all.

Christianity as in the Bible has many passages that preach peace and are anti war and anti-taking life, as well as passages for taking up arms in any form.

As regards taking a life in the context we are talking about it is anathema to me.

I cannot say ow I would feel if someone I loved was murdered, most likely deep depression, but it would depend on the particular circumstances?
I would not want them to ever see the light of day again, but murdered?

No.

(I was addressing Luckygirl3 in case of doubt)

WithNobsOnIt

I think the death penalty is the ultimate deterrent. An eye for an eye etc.

The abolishment of capital punishment was seen to be trendy liberal and humane at the time. Needs a vast rethink.

You can literally get away with murder these days.

Absolutely ridiculous.
That’s not proven anywhere just look at the crime in the US states that have tge death penalty.
Can I recommend to those who seem to think the death penalty as some one stop cure all to murder.
Please read Dead Man Walking tge fabulous biography of
Sister Helen Prejean.
Just Mercy by Bryan Steven’s
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
All three are very moving accounts on this subject.
Please inform yourself before you start building a hangman’s noose or whatever macabre suggestions you have to put people to death.

This is Trumps America! How do these people sleep at night? . I think the hospital should have used pain relief no more, let her go, to get her well enough to be subject to lethal injection which in her case isn't, is unbelievably cruel. If I lived in that state I would get out some way, Its warped and godless. I cannot read anything on it or I would get too depressed, so won't comment again, its too much for anyone to get their head round.

I understand your need to preserve your own health Allsorts but I do think it needs talking about to make sure it is not seen as a correct form of punishment and the way forward by the ‘eye for an eye’ brigade
In US some people are on death row for decades , some are kept there from young teenagers.

How can dealing with a crime ever be right to commit the same crime it just has never made sense to me

Singapore, which is another first world and highly developed nation has a much higher number of executions than America, and the long drop hanging is the method.

It is state sanctioned killing. Murder and killing are not the same. ‘Thou shalt not murder’ but mistranslations has it as kill. I can see how the words get confused.

I understand that a small, but significant, number of executions are botched.

John Grisham, writing several books in it in the 1990's and in 2010 "The Confession" addressed it very powerfully and directly. They are full of humanity and the details of those who work against it too...long before Trump (who has just made bad things worse).

Peacelilydilly

The bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

It says lots of things that are now rightly considered barbaric millennia later.

Surely, humanity has evolved since then? Though looking at the state of the world and the lunatics in charge, maybe not?

Thanks for the background history of this woman, Luckygirl. No civilised country can operate state sanctioned murder. I felt murderous about the men involved in the death of pc Harper but the death penalty is barbaric. It says a lot, all negative, about the American justice system. The death penalty doesn’t reduce its murder rate, which is high for obvious reasons

A number of The men who carried out hangings in England seem to have developed drink problems.

I didn't say that medically qualified people not being allowed to administer the lethal injection is an excuse for what's happened AuntieE, but it is a reason which has also been cited where death has taken longer than expected and suffering witnessed.

It is horrific and illogical.

If the purpose of the actions earlier this week were to kill this woman, why, when this did not work, are they working their tripe out to keep her alive? Will they resuscitate her to then kill her?

It does not bear thinking about.

Unsurprisingly I’m one of the dissenting voices on this thread. I seem to be always out of step with the general consensus on most topics.

And regarding Singapore I bet their stance on capital punishment reassures their citizens. It would be for heinous crimes. This touchy feely liberal wishy washy concern doesn’t ‘rehabilitate’ we are fooling ourselves. .

Anyway this, from Google, about Singapore:

“Government and Public Views
• Singapore's Government: Officials state that capital punishment serves as a strong deterrent. They credit strict laws and enforcement for keeping the country safe and lowering major crime rates over the decades.
• Public Support: Surveys by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs show that a large majority of residents (over 80%) believe the death penalty stops serious crimes and drug trafficking.”

Touchy feely, not agreeing with state sanctioned murder? Wow.

Luckygirl3

This is utterly horrific.
She should never have been on death row.
She had bipolar disorder and PTSD: "
Pike was physically and sexually abused by several of her mother's husbands and boyfriends, and raped several times, once when she was 11 and again aged 17. Later, it was discovered that she was repeatedly raped as a toddler by her grandmother's boyfriend."
How can someone so ill and traumatised regulate their behaviour?

What she did was horrific ... that is not in question ... but a civilised society has to find a civilised way of dealing with this.

As for this botched execution and subsequent resuscitation, there are no words. What can they be thinking?

Exactly , this woman had no chance at a normal life ever!

The state of Tennessee failed her as a child and now as an adult.
She did request a firing squad but was denied.

There is also speculation that the quality of the phenobarbital was compromised due to the fact it is no longer sold by the pharmaceutical company for human use. They want nothing to do with their drugs being used for executions.