Death Penalty in Georgia

[BrianFromWA]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/justice/georgia-execution/index.html

So the judge, jury, two separate appeals, and the Supreme Court ruled that this man was guilty and his sentence shouldn't have been commuted, rather that the execution should continue. His lawyer called it a "lynching" and protesters including the Pope weighed in.

Regardless of whether you think it's right or not, it is the law of the land (as ruled on by the Supreme Court). Why is it that, in this case where there was question about guilt all the way to the end, that an execution can go forward...but in clear-cut cases of multiple murders of people at a Chuck E. Cheese, soldiers committing multiple murders and rapes, raping and tossing a woman and her two girls alive into Tampa Bay with bricks tied to their necks, etc., people are allowed to live on the taxpayers' money for decades after being sentenced to death. (Currently the number is over 3,000). And what kind of life do they lead? Well...

This time, Davis declined to request the special last meal offered inmates prior to execution and was offered a standard meal tray: Grilled cheeseburgers, oven-browned potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, cookies and a grape drink.

That meal, sounded like, when I was growing up, what you got on the 4th of July or your birthday. Wonder how many widows and aged veterans would like that to eat as a standard meal, instead of death-row inmates?

 

[Denny Crane]

Appeals courts (SCOTUS is one) cannot rule that the man was guilty (or innocent).

What they ruled is that in finding him guilty, the lower courts gave him proper due process.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I used a run-on sentence where I shouldn't have. I understand that the appellate courts don't rule on guilt, but it's my understanding that they stay the sentence and order a retrial if they deem it necessary. Hence, if they ruled that the execution should continue, they don't see any legal reason for retrial or stay of sentence.

 

[speeds]

Does standard meal refer to standard last meal, in lieu of another choice by the inmate, or standard as in everyday supper?


Also, WTF is juice? I want some grape drink, baby. Sugar-water-purple.

 

[Denny Crane]

The Supreme Court issued a stay for this guy in 2009, but not a retrial. They asked that further evidentiary hearings be held to assure there was no new evidence that might change peoples' minds about his guilt.

The more interesting case, Brian, is that a rather infamous killer was executed in Texas yesterday as well.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/09/22/texas-executes-racist-killer.html

(Democrats used this killer against W during the 2000 campaign because it was a "hate" crime, Bush opposed hate crime laws)

 

[BrianFromWA]

Does standard meal refer to standard last meal, in lieu of another choice by the inmate, or standard as in everyday supper?


Also, WTF is juice? I want some grape drink, baby. Sugar-water-purple.

The article made it sound like that was the everyday supper.

 

[speeds]

Maybe, maybe not...

The most requested last meal is a cheeseburger and French fries. The hamburger meat would be delivered in rolls from the TDCJ meatpacking plant and Price would season it with a little Worcestershire sauce, some garlic powder, salt and pepper. 'Then I'd grill the onions right there beside it and toast the buns with butter. I did the best I possibly could with what I had and I'd always use fresh lettuce and tomato to garnish it with. The simplest meal I ever prepared? One guy asked for a jar of pickles.'

Confessions of a death row chef -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/mar/14/foodanddrink.features12


EDIT: yeah, seems all the inmates were having burgers and Davis, so confident in a last-minute stay, ate the same.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/justice/georgia-execution/index.html
Regardless of whether you think it's right or not, it is the law of the land (as ruled on by the Supreme Court). Why is it that, in this case where there was question about guilt all the way to the end, that an execution can go forward...but in clear-cut cases of multiple murders of people at a Chuck E. Cheese, soldiers committing multiple murders and rapes, raping and tossing a woman and her two girls alive into Tampa Bay with bricks tied to their necks, etc., people are allowed to live on the taxpayers' money for decades after being sentenced to death. (Currently the number is over 3,000).

It's partially about "progressive" politics and sometimes it juries unwilling to sentence a person to die (for whatever reason(s)).

 

[BrianFromWA]

all of the cases I linked to (and the 3,000 number) are people who have been sentenced to death by a jury.

 

[Spud147]

The Supreme Court issued a stay for this guy in 2009, but not a retrial. They asked that further evidentiary hearings be held to assure there was no new evidence that might change peoples' minds about his guilt.

The more interesting case, Brian, is that a rather infamous killer was executed in Texas yesterday as well.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/09/22/texas-executes-racist-killer.html

(Democrats used this killer against W during the 2000 campaign because it was a "hate" crime, Bush opposed hate crime laws)

I remember that case clearly and if there's anyone who ever deserved the dealth penalty it was those guys.

 

[Denny Crane]

all of the cases I linked to (and the 3,000 number) are people who have been sentenced to death by a jury.

These numbers from memory. From about 1930 to 1970s when the death penalty was suspended, 3500 executions. Since 1976 (I believe) when it was reinstated , another 1300.

 

[PapaG]

I remember that case clearly and if there's anyone who ever deserved the dealth penalty it was those guys.

I keep reading similar things on Facebook from people who claim to be against the death penalty (not that I'm assigning that to you, though). A crime is a crime, isn't it, and a murder is a murder.

There was an interesting dichotomy yesterday. In one execution, we had an African-American who murdered a white policeman who was moonlighting as a security guard at a Burger King. It was opposed by many, and even countries in Europe weighed in on it, along with Al Sharpton, who had a TV show from the site.

In the other, we had a white redneck who brutally murdered a black man. No protests on the day of his execution, and a general feeling of 'well, he deserved it' by the population in general.

I'm not really sure what this means, but it was noticeable to me.

 

[Spud147]

I keep reading similar things on Facebook from people who claim to be against the death penalty (not that I'm assigning that to you, though). A crime is a crime, isn't it, and a murder is a murder.

There was an interesting dichotomy yesterday. In one execution, we had an African-American who murdered a white policeman who was moonlighting as a security guard at a Burger King. It was opposed by many, and even countries in Europe weighed in on it, along with Al Sharpton, who had a TV show from the site.

In the other, we had a white redneck who brutally murdered a black man. No protests on the day of his execution, and a general feeling of 'well, he deserved it' by the population in general.

I'm not really sure what this means, but it was noticeable to me.

I'll be honest with you about that... I'm not sure how I feel about the death penalty. All I know is I would never want to be on a jury that had to make that decision.

That said, the reason the Byrd case bothered me so much was that it was completely random and they basically tortured him to death by dragging him behind their car for several miles. Scraping off skin, twising and bumping on the pavement, horrible slow (relatively slow, it wasn't instant) and painful death because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The other one involved a heat of the moment gun shot wound. It just didn't have the same intent although it had the same result. I do think, however, that there should be a higher level of punishment for killing someone in law enforcement because these people voluntarily put their lives on the line for the rest of us every time they go to work and we owe it to them to try and protect them as much as we can.

Finally, I think both men were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I'm fine with people protesting the death penalty for all (that's our right as Americans) but I don't think there really were questions of his guilt and it seemed to me there were a lot of people jumping on the band wagon for him that hadn't bothered to look at the facts of the case.

 

[ABM]

He was on his way home from Candletop,
Been two weeks gone, and he'd thought he'd stop,
At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Warlord said: Hello
He said How. What's doin'?
Wo said: Sit down, I got some bad news and it's gonna hurt.

He said: I'm your best friend, and you know that's right,
But your young bride ain't home tonight
Since you been gone, she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth
Now he got mad, and he saw red
Andy said: Boy, don't you lose your head,
'Cos to tell you the truth, I've been with her myself.

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southerly lawyer
'Cos the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

Well Andy got scared, and left the bar,
Walkin' on home, 'cos he didn't live far
You see, Andy didn't have many friends,
And he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife musta left town,
So he went home and finally found,
The only thing Papa had left him, and that was a gun

He went off to Andy's house,
Slippin' through the back woods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door,
And he saw Andy lyin on the floor,
In a puddle of blood, and he started to shake

Georgia patrol was making their rounds,
So he fired a shot just to flag them down
A big-bellied sherriff grabbed his gun and said Why'd you do it?

Judge said guilty on a make-believe trial,
Slapped the sherriff on the back with a smile,
And said: Supper's waitin' at home, and I gotta get to it.

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southerly lawyer
'Cos the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

Well, they hung my brother before I could say,
The tracks he saw while on his way,
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin' wife had never left town,
That's one body that'll never be found
You see, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southerly lawyer
'Cos the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southerly lawyer
'Cos the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

 

[Mediocre Man]

Maybe, maybe not...

Confessions of a death row chef -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/mar/14/foodanddrink.features12


EDIT: yeah, seems all the inmates were having burgers and Davis, so confident in a last-minute stay, ate the same.

Fascinating read on the link, Speeds. I have played the last meal game with friends and whatnot, and my last meal depends on what mood I am in at the time, but more often than not, it is something I remember from childhood. Like the article said, simpler times.

 

[Mediocre Man]

LOL Go Texas


http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics...s-enough-on-last-meals-for-death-row-inmates/


No more last meals for our death row inmates

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I'll be honest with you about that... I'm not sure how I feel about the death penalty. All I know is I would never want to be on a jury that had to make that decision.

When I lived in KFalls, a State Trooper was executed when, due to Oregon Liberal Law, he was forced to give a ride to a friend of a guy he had arrested (the law prohibits the trooper from searching the friend he must give a ride to if asked to do so). He was shot in the back of the head. So they caught the guy and placed him on trial. (By the way, his wife was so distressed, she committed suicide over a death that never should have happened and left two little kids behind) The killer was convicted. Then the death jury was selected. One of the questions was whether or not all jurors had an open mind about death penalty and all said they did. When they went to deliberate, one of them stood up, stated she lied and that she does not believe in the death penalty and refused to vote for it. In Oregon, that's perfectly acceptable. So the killer was sentenced to life and sent to a prison in Texas. There he killed a guard who left behind a wife and children.

I believe in mandatory death sentences.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

many innocent people have been executed, so theres that, but slam dunk, confession, 100 witness, super heinous crimes, yeah...kill them all

 

[MARIS61]

I'll be honest with you about that... I'm not sure how I feel about the death penalty. All I know is I would never want to be on a jury that had to make that decision.

That said, the reason the Byrd case bothered me so much was that it was completely random and they basically tortured him to death by dragging him behind their car for several miles. Scraping off skin, twising and bumping on the pavement, horrible slow (relatively slow, it wasn't instant) and painful death because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The other one involved a heat of the moment gun shot wound. It just didn't have the same intent although it had the same result. I do think, however, that there should be a higher level of punishment for killing someone in law enforcement because these people voluntarily put their lives on the line for the rest of us every time they go to work and we owe it to them to try and protect them as much as we can.

Finally, I think both men were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I'm fine with people protesting the death penalty for all (that's our right as Americans) but I don't think there really were questions of his guilt and it seemed to me there were a lot of people jumping on the band wagon for him that hadn't bothered to look at the facts of the case.

More "primitive" cultures probably have it right when it comes to doling out justice.

Shoot the one guy and drag the other guy behind a car.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

More "primitive" cultures probably have it right when it comes to doling out justice.

Shoot the one guy and drag the other guy behind a car.

Agreed 100%

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

More "primitive" cultures probably have it right when it comes to doling out justice.

Shoot the one guy and drag the other guy behind a car.

An attorney friend of mine was traveling in China a couple of years ago doing some study for the feds. She was about 100 miles outside of some major city in a village and her purse was stolen off the bus. She informed the local sheriff. The people were taken off the bus, it was searched and her purse was found in soime stuff belonging to some dude. He confessed. He was taken immediately to the side of the building, placed in his knees and executed. Granted the punishment was a tad harsh, but it had a profound effect on the people on the bus with respect to stealing.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

lol a "tad harsh"?