The Death Penalty...
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:37 pm
What are Sensitize member's views on the Death Penalty?
Is it right that a person be killed for their crimes if those crimes are so heinous that they terrify entire communities? What if new evidence comes to light after that person has been put to death? Should the judge and jury be punished? Should the executioner be killed?
We live in a world where mass murderers come and go, many never seeing the light of day ever again and safely locked away from society for both that society's good and their own. In other countries they walk free, having served partial sentences or let out on early release.
In the USA certain states fully endorse the Dealth Penalty and keep people on 'Death Row' for years due to retrials. Is this humane? Are we just as barbaric as cultures and people we've gone to war with or percieved as being savage in their judicial systems?
Here are a few cases to consider:-
Cheers...
Hyperlinks in this post are to;
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/executedoffenders.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abimael_Guzm%C3%A1n
http://www.photius.com/countries/peru/s ... 10254.html
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/dea ... nos805.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340855/
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/dea ... vis558.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Bush
http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/ruth.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088987/
http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/biograp ... elaney.htm
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001565/
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime ... y-mcveigh/
Is it right that a person be killed for their crimes if those crimes are so heinous that they terrify entire communities? What if new evidence comes to light after that person has been put to death? Should the judge and jury be punished? Should the executioner be killed?
We live in a world where mass murderers come and go, many never seeing the light of day ever again and safely locked away from society for both that society's good and their own. In other countries they walk free, having served partial sentences or let out on early release.
In the USA certain states fully endorse the Dealth Penalty and keep people on 'Death Row' for years due to retrials. Is this humane? Are we just as barbaric as cultures and people we've gone to war with or percieved as being savage in their judicial systems?
Here are a few cases to consider:-
- Abimael Guzmán Reynoso - Founding member of Shining Path. It has been recently announced he should serve the rest of his natural life behind bars. However, the Peruvian general public want to see him executed for his part in a Maoist guerrilla war that led to the butchering and murder of tens of thouands of people believed to be collaborating with the authorities.
Aileen Carol Wuornos - Put to death on 9th October, 2002. This was despite there being clear evidence that she suffered with life long mental illness. Her story became the subject of an excellent movie called; Monster - written and directed by Patti Jenkins. George W. Bush allowed Wuornos' death to go ahead, despite calls that she was sick and therefore not deserving of the death penalty.
Allen Lee Davies (Tiny) Executed by electrocution however his death became a source of controversy because it was proved he did not die immediately and that in effect, he was tortured to death on July 8, 1999 and upon approval from the Governor for Florida; Jeb Bush.
Ruth Ellis - Last woman to be hanged in the UK - 13th July, 1955. Her death for the murder of; David Drummond Moffat Blakely became the subject of the 1985 movie; Dance With A Stranger - written by Shelagh Delaney, directed by Mike Newell and starring Miranda Richardson.
Timothy McVeigh: The Oklahoma Bomber - put to death by lethal injection on June 11, 2001. McVeigh returned from the first Gulf War in Iraq and with a few others, was behind the murder of 168 people (mostly civilian) at the FBI Headquarters in Oklahoma. It has been said he was angry at the U.S. Government for their failings both at home and abroad. He was also rumoured to be alligned with white supremacists.
Cheers...
Hyperlinks in this post are to;
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/executedoffenders.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abimael_Guzm%C3%A1n
http://www.photius.com/countries/peru/s ... 10254.html
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/dea ... nos805.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340855/
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/dea ... vis558.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Bush
http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/ruth.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088987/
http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/biograp ... elaney.htm
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001565/
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime ... y-mcveigh/