Nathan Deal just murdered Troy Davis

[fisharmor]

If the cops had simply gunned him down in the street, nobody would have had anything to say about it.
Since that seems to be where official procedure is heading, perhaps they're smarter than we give them credit for.

 

[phill4paul]

I use to be a defender of the death penalty. However, as time goes by and I examine it I no longer can support it. There has been too many cases where innocent men have languished in jail for 20+ years only to be cleared of all charges. I, at this point, do not believe that the State should have powers not held by individuals. As far as the argument that citizens should not have to pay for the 'upkeep' of those convicted I believe the cost to be minimal in erring on the side of future justice.


“Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal’s deed, however calculated can be compared. For there to be an equivalency,
the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him, and who, from that
moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life.”

— Albert Camus

 

[Cowlesy]

A couple of thoughts on this.

First, Yeah, as others said, Nathan Deal couldn't have done a thing. The legislature in GA has taken that power from the governor and handed it to a parole / pardons board.

Second, Tory Davis didn't shoot one man that night, he shot two. The evidence of the actual rounds were inconclusive, but the shell casings at both scenes matched. The first guy was shot in the face. The second, Mark MacPhail, was shot in the head and heart as Troy stood over him.

Third, there were 9 eyewitnesses, and yes, 7 of them did recant. But, they only recently recanted, they refused to be cross examined by any prosecutor, and they only seemed to recant when death penalty abolitionists contacted them and put pressure on them to "do the right thing."

All that aside, the state should not have the right to kill someone, even if they don't like him. Troy Davis was of no further risk in prison. For those that say he's in a better place, well, that may be true, but it may also be false. We don't know what lies after death, nobody has ever come back from an execution.

That was after MacPhail was coming to the aid of a homeless man being pistol-whipped by Troy Davis after he refused to give Davis a beer.

I love how 9 people go "Yep definitely him" but then after the abolitionists/naacp/rev. al make their collective case that this is really about counterpunching a corrupt system, do 7 of them recant.

I also don't think he should have been executed, but that's because I think rotting away in prison for another 60 years is far worse a sentence than just getting it over with.

 

[wannaberocker]

That was after MacPhail was coming to the aid of a homeless man being pistol-whipped by Troy Davis after he refused to give Davis a beer.

I love how 9 people go "Yep definitely him" but then after the abolitionists/naacp/rev. al make their collective case that this is really about counterpunching a corrupt system, do 7 of them recant.

I also don't think he should have been executed, but that's because I think rotting away in prison for another 60 years is far worse a sentence than just getting it over with.

Rep +.

But id disagree on the idea that i want tax payer money going to have this guy in prison for life. As painful and costly as the 20 year long appeals process is, its still better than having to pay for him for 40 or 50 more years.

 

[wannaberocker]

yea I bet that jury in 1989 Georgia was really smart and rational

Thats like saying "yeah i bet 1700's founding fathers were real smart and rational". Time and geography has no hold on intelligence or rationality.

 

[goldencane]

Rep +.

But id disagree on the idea that i want tax payer money going to have this guy in prison for life. As painful and costly as the 20 year long appeals process is, its still better than having to pay for him for 40 or 50 more years.

Just FYI, the death penalty ends up being way more expensive than keeping a person alive for life. You can do an internet search and find plenty of studies on the subject.

 

[wannaberocker]

Just FYI, the death penalty ends up being way more expensive than keeping a person alive for life. You can do an internet search and find plenty of studies on the subject.

You mean because of the number of appeals and all?

 

[brandon]

I will never understand how murdering only murderers somehow makes it not still murder.

There's an important distinction to be made between killing and murder. Killing is just that: intentionally ending someone elses life. Murder is a legal term, that encompasses just a subset of killings, as defined by the state.

The state is fine with killing. It's problem is with murder.

 

[Graeme]

State says it's okay to kill this guy: It's not murder. State doesn't say it's okay: It's murder. IN short, the state chooses who its enemies are, and can authorize anyone to kill them.

 

[dbill27]

Governments shouldn't have the power to kill for many reasons. That being said, this saddened me for way different reasons. This guy was obviously guilty, he murdered innocent lives. It was a slow news cycle and cnn needed a story so now everyone thinks this guy was innocent and feels sorry for him. I feel horrible for the families of the murdered for having to watch this bs on television. If you want to have a death penalty debate then fine, but don't paint a monster in a pretty light.

 

[Graeme]

Governments shouldn't have the power to kill for many reasons. That being said, this saddened me for way different reasons. This guy was obviously guilty, he murdered innocent lives. It was a slow news cycle and cnn needed a story so now everyone thinks this guy was innocent and feels sorry for him. I feel horrible for the families of the murdered for having to watch this bs on television. If you want to have a death penalty debate then fine, but don't paint a monster in a pretty light.

That's my case here. There are better, more innocent people that can be used to show the death penalty is racist, horrible, and wrong. It doesn't make it right used in this case or the James Byrd murder case yesterday... but people are far less sympathetic to killers being killed in their name than they are to completely innocent people being killed in their name.

 

[Voluntary Man]

DEATH BY GOVERNMENT . By R.J . Rummel

read it, and if you still favor capital punishment, we'll talk.

in theory, i have no problem with the death penalty. in practice, it is administered by the wrong entity. granting the state the power to execute its own citizens places us all in grave danger.

to my thinking, let a jury sentence a man to death; then, if no member of the victim/s's family is willing to execute the sentence, commute the sentence to life without parole, until a family member steps forward. until then, it is just too dangerous for our govt to employ professional hangmen.

read the book.

 

[Graeme]

The victim's family in this case was all too willing to throw the switch, push the button, pull the trigger, light the fuse, etc.

 

[Voluntary Man]

The victim's family in this case was all too willing to throw the switch, push the button, pull the trigger, light the fuse, etc.

good enough for me. as long as our creepy uncle doesn't get to do it.