The problem with the being against the Death Penalty

[Razgovory]

Generally I'm against the death penalty.  It's wasteful and ineffective.  But the problem is that so many people who get executed really deserve it.

Take for example the case of Paul Warner Powell

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/19/virginia.execution/index.html?hpt=T2

(CNN) -- The murderer of a 16-year-old girl who bragged about his crimes was electrocuted Thursday night, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections said.

Paul Warner Powell was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. at a correctional center in Jarratt, Virginia. He did not make a last statement at the execution attended by the victim's family.

Powell was convicted in the 1999 murder of Stacie Reed and the rape of her 14-year-old sister in their Manassas, Virginia, family home.

Powell's execution comes after Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell denied him clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the execution.

The killer claimed double jeopardy after state prosecutors put him on trial for a second time in the killing. In July, the high court delayed Powell's execution while considering the broader constitutional claims, which were finally rejected. Powell rejected lethal injection, the state's usual method of execution.

"I'm hopeful this is the last legal chapter in the long history of this case," said Powell's prosecutor, Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert.

"The survivors -- Stacie's mother and [her sister] -- have really been traumatized by delay after delay. Hopefully they're going to get some peace and closure after all these years."

CNN does not identify sexual assault victims without their permission, even though the surviving victim, now 25, has talked publicly about the case.

The crime shocked the Washington, D.C. area. Reed knew Powell, then 20 and an admitted racist. The state's highest court eventually threw out the 2000 verdict in the first trial, saying prosecutors had not proven other necessary death-eligible offenses were committed against the 16-year-old. Such "aggravating" factors could include rape, attempted rape or robbery in commission of the murder.

The sexual assault and attempted murder of Stacie's younger sister was upheld, and Powell was given a long prison sentence.

Powell, believing he was free from execution, proceeded to write a taunting, profanity-filled letter from behind bars to Ebert, laying out explicit details of the crime unknown to investigators at the time.

"Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all ... are," wrote Powell, who is white.

He said he had gone to the Reed house to confront Stacie about dating a black man. He admitted pinning the victim, threatening to rape her, then stabbing her in the heart when the girl resisted. He then stomped on her throat.

"I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha!" he wrote in 2001. "Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid ... and saving me?"

The killer also said that after that crime, he waited in the house until the younger girl returned from school, then attacked her, leaving her for dead. In the meantime, he drank iced tea from the family refrigerator and smoked a cigarette, part of the forensic evidence that investigators used to place Powell at the scene of the crime.

With this first-hand account from Powell, he was indicated again and charged with murder and attempted rape of Stacie -- a capital-eligible crime. He was convicted again, and federal and state courts subsequently upheld the conviction on appeal.

If you want you can Google the dumb bastard and find the actual letters he wrote.  Guys a total bastard and really did deserve what he got.  Also in a brilliant move he rejected the lethal injection and to go for the much more painful (and entertaining!) electric chair.  Oh well.

[Viking]

And then there is the case of the guy who was found guilty of murder after testifying while OD'ing (or at least, so says the doctor, he didn't seem to mind) on Rufies, just to remind you why you are against it in the first place.

(can't find an article in english)

[Razgovory]

And then there is the case of the guy who was found guilty of murder after testifying while OD'ing (or at least, so says the doctor, he didn't seem to mind) on Rufies, just to remind you why you are against it in the first place.

(can't find an article in english)

Why would a guy take Rufies? 

[PDH]

Why would a guy take Rufies?

Someone told him to go fuck himself?

[DisturbedPervert]

He definately deserves to die.  In cases like this just let the prisoners or guards handle it.

[DontSayBanana]

Fence-sitter here.  5-year waiting list, mandatory psych eval: no remorse, no life.  Remorse, set back the clock and repeat.

Basically, prove that rehabilitation is going on, and that the convict is not just being a useless drag, eating away at others' ability to support themselves.

[Grey Fox]

or Hank Skinner, who's trial & police investigation is a total joke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Skinner

[Tamas]

I oppose it because the state should not have the right to kill its citizens. Even if they deserve it.

[Razgovory]

I oppose it because the state should not have the right to kill its citizens. Even if they deserve it.

States don't have rights.

[grumbler]

I don't trust government with the power of judicial killing.  I don't trust them with the power to declare war, either, but that's not something you can take away from a single government, so I live with that.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

I don't trust government with the power of judicial killing.  I don't trust them with the power to declare war, either, but that's not something you can take away from a single government, so I live with that.

for once grumbler and I are in full agreement here.

[Habbaku]

I don't trust government with the power of judicial killing.  I don't trust them with the power to declare war, either, but that's not something you can take away from a single government, so I live with that.

[The Brain]

At least in the US they can waterboard him every day for years. Countries that don't embrace torture don't have that option though.

[MadImmortalMan]

I oppose it because the state should not have the right to kill its citizens. Even if they deserve it.

States don't have rights.

He's from Europe. They have trickle-down rights there. 

[Ed Anger]

At least in the US they can waterboard him every day for years. Countries that don't embrace torture don't have that option though.

Don't forget the prison rape.