Oregon: governor says he will block executions

[Mr. S]

NYTimes.com:

Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon on Tuesday said he would halt the execution of a death row inmate scheduled for next month and that he would allow no more executions in the state during his time in office.

I, for one, think that's a good thing. Death penalty doesn't solve the issue at hand or makes life easier for victims or their families.

Some people certainly need to be kept away from society and executing them would be "more economical" than locking them up for the rest of their life.

 

[cullenand]

Yeah, this is a very good thing. There have been too many people put to death even though their guilt was in doubt. And why cant people realize that putting someone to death just ends their misery, they are free when they die. But if they are kept in jail they can rot there for the rest of their lives and have to worry about not dropping the soap.

 

[Keef]

I must have forgotten my moral stance on execution.

If one intentionally kills another, don't they forfeit their own right to life?

Of course we have a judicial process, which is not 100% fool proof. Mistakes happen. Accidentally killing an innocent person is unacceptable.

But, because that margin of error exists, is it then okay to keep a person who committed the crime alive and incarcerated, forcing the public to pay for them their entire lives?

That brings up the question of privatized prisons. Is that a good idea? I can see a business model for a prison which makes and sells products using the free labor of convicted criminals. But wouldn't this potential free labor provide an incentive for businesses to lobby government into convicting more and more criminals in search of more and more free labor?

In a libertarian world there would not be very many prisoners available to provide free labor because the number of crimes worth time in the slammer would be drastically reduced. That might mean that incarceration and rehabilitation could remain of reasonably inexpensive function of government, a part of the justice system that everybody is entitled to use which is paid for by the few public taxes that would exist.

Or we could just ship them all to Australia. It worked for England.

 

[Grayfox]

I support the death penalty, why should my taxes pay for some idiot when it can be used on health care and education.

Or we could just ship them all to Australia. It worked for England.

And why doesn't Australia ship all the fat people and idiots to America.
Since America is the home of the fat idiot?

Reason is we are not living in the 16th century no more.

 

[Joel]

And why doesn't Australia ship all the fat people and idiots to America.
Since America is the home of the fat idiot?

Reason is we are not living in the 16th century no more.

Relax... I think it was a joke

 

[Sam48]

The death penalty depicts everyone else as the murderer. And for all those who believe the death penalty is equal and just for those who murdered, the shear thought of spending the rest of your life in prison instead is a much more dreadful punishment in my opinion. So yes, I agree with the governor of Oregon on this.

 

[VRacer]

The death penalty is the most just penalty for those that commit an extreme crime. The victim of his or her crime deserve justice. How can anyone say that if the criminal is living at the expense of the victim's family and friends (taxpayers) for the rest of his or her life is a just punishment?

When judging the death penalty, we must look at the crime from the victim's perspective.

That's just my opinion.

 

[TheCracker]

But, because that margin of error exists, is it then okay to keep a person who committed the crime alive and incarcerated, forcing the public to pay for them their entire lives?

I support the death penalty, why should my taxes pay for some idiot when it can be used on health care and education.

Apparently costs you much more to execute them.

Or we could just ship them all to Australia. It worked for England.

Shhhhh!, we still do. We just give them a silly haircut and call them gap-year students.

 

[cullenand]

The death penalty is the most just penalty for those that commit an extreme crime. The victim of his or her crime deserve justice. How can anyone say that if the criminal is living at the expense of the victim's family and friends (taxpayers) for the rest of his or her life is a just punishment?

When judging the death penalty, we must look at the crime from the victim's perspective.

That's just my opinion.

And killing that person is justice? Sounds more like revenge to me. Why cant people understand that killing someone just sets them free, when they are dead they have no worries and are in peace. But letting someone spend the rest or their lives in prison, where they have to sit there and be miserable and worry about not getting raped or stabbed is more of a punishment than killing them.

 

[homeforsummer]

Apparently costs you much more to execute them.

They must be doing it wrong then. Probably cheaper in the middle east. How much does a loop of rope and a stool cost?

 

[PeterJB]

Or a large stone?

 

[BobK]

I would be all in favor of the death penalty if and only if we could be absolutely certain of guilt. But there are still too many prosecutors out there who are more interested in racking up convictions by whatever means than seeing justice truly served.

 

[alexleighton]

I'm glad to see Gov. Kitzhaber doing this. In principle I do support the death penalty in certain cases, but the risk of executing an innocent person because of people who make a mistake or ignore facts to serve their own purposes means I can't support them in the real world.

And as others have mentioned, it costs more to execute someone than to keep them in jail, and I tend to think more could be done to allow/force prisoners to earn their keep and actually repay their debt to society.

 

[Grayfox]

Apparently costs you much more to execute them.

Not by my it doesn't

They must be doing it wrong then. Probably cheaper in the middle east. How much does a loop of rope and a stool cost?

How much does a bullet cost?

 

[Eric.]

How much does a bullet cost?

Can't re-use a bullet.

 

[homeforsummer]

Well spotted. Great value for money with rope.

 

[Grayfox]

Can't re-use a bullet.

Could if it was made of diamond and you used an air cannon to launch it.

Or a cannon would be good, what is a little black powder compared to the message you will send across?

 

[Schwartz]

Is it wierd that whenever there is a court case, I always subconsiously am hoping the defendant is proved not guilty? For example, the Casey Anthony case. When I heard she was proved not guilty, the whole world was outraged, and yet I felt relieved. Is it not normal that I seem to always subconsiously sympathize for the defendant, even if the logical part of me is telling me that the defendent is guilty? Maybe I just have a fear of being wrongly accused for something I didn't do and being locked up. And even though I know logically the death penalty is a good thing, I absolutely HATE it.

 

[Public'sTwin]

Yawn. Good job.

 

[Slash]

I personally believe in an eye for an eye. If you kill someone, you should be killed. If you stab someone, you should be stabbed, and the like. But that's just how I feel.

 

[cullenand]

I personally believe in an eye for an eye. If you kill someone, you should be killed. If you stab someone, you should be stabbed, and the like. But that's just how I feel.

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
- Mahatma Gandhi

 

[Slash]

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
- Mahatma Gandhi

Then everyone deserves that.

 

[a6m5]

I don't believe in death penalty, looks like most of you in this thread neither. But that's beside the point.

Oregonians voted in the death penalty. This particular prisoner accepted death penalty. Oregon Supreme Court approved it by a vote of 3-2.

Governor has the right to stop any execution. But this power is expected to be used when there is a doubt in the case, level of penalty sentenced, etc. What happened here is another politician overriding the people & the law.

In Oregon, this is has been the trend. Firestorm before this one was the light rail(train) system. People keeps voting it down, they keep building them. It's gonna be covered mostly with the Federal money they say. Same Federal government that's been going bankrupt? Just like this State? Geniuses.

I do think that death penalty is wrong. But so are a politician who breaks the law, betray the people, because he can.