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Post by panomaniac on Mar 28, 2006 7:25:46 GMT -6
In 12 U.S. states the death penalty is not used. I was just wondering if it would be possible to re-instate the death penalty in these areas?
Has there ever been a state or country that has abolished the DP and then re-instated it?
How is it that 38 U.S. states allow the DP and 12 don't? How can it be legal in 1 state and then illegal or un-constituational in another state?
I live in Australia by the way so forgive me if I am missing something obvious.
I am pro-death penalty by the way and am disappointed my country does not have the DP option.
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Post by Anony+ on Mar 28, 2006 7:51:48 GMT -6
Welcome to the board!
Any state can individually decide whether or not to have the death penalty. It is a state by state issue, to be decided by the legislature of that state. The statute has to be constitutional under both the state's constitution and the federal constitution.
(If you need more of an explanation about what kinds of laws are govererned by federal laws versus what is governed by the states, let us know. But generally speaking, the criminal justice system of laws and procedures is left up to each individual state to decide for itself what will be a crime and how it is to be punished in that particular state).
So if a state hasn't had the DP, but wants to reinstate it, they can. NY comes to mind (although their state supreme court has ruled that the DP law passed in NY is unconstitutional, so it's unenforceable right now). And if a state has the DP, they can abolish it at any time by erasing the law off the books.
HTH.
Allison
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2006 9:32:33 GMT -6
I am from the wonderful state of Minnesota, (one of 12 that doesn't have it) and unfortunately, I would venture to guess that my state won't be bringing it back anytime soon. Yes, Govenor Pawlenty attempted to reinstate the death penalty, but he was met with heavy resistance. Pawlenty said that under his guidelines Minnesota’s death penalty would be one of the most cautious in the nation. The sentence would apply to first-degree murder cases involving the killing of public safety officials, multiple killings, sexual assaults or other “heinous, atrocious or cruel” conditions. County attorneys would have the power to recommend the penalty. Their decisions would be peer-reviewed by a statewide capital punishment review commission. Once in court, juries would need to rule unanimously, and the trial judge would have to concur. As I dug deeper into the whole "issue" I found that it is more than just a matter of the state being pro or anti. Minnesota reviewed a 1998 Iowa Legislative Fiscal Bureau study where it found it costs, on average, $2.4 million to put a criminal to death from arrest to execution. By contrast, a life-in-prison conviction costs about $1.5 million from arrest to natural death in prison. I believe our state on average has about roughly 100 murders a year (the 100 does not reflect the number of murderers as we always get a couple family murder/suicides and others are multiple murders....not sure what would qualify for the death penalty) But the majority of our killings occur in either Hennepin or Ramsey county (Minneapolis & St. Paul area) in the more run-down neighborhoods. (whether it be gang violence or what) My wife graduated with a teaching degree and I know first hand that the decline in education funding has caused quite a headache for counties with school closings due to lack of funding. (2 being hit hard is Ramsey and Hennepin county) Even if 10 people make death row a year, for them....budgeting that extra million per death row person.....(theoretically...10 million extra a year in spending) We have some counties that even one DP case would financially do them in.
This may be one reason why we see states that have the penalty on the books, they have the prisoners on the "row" but they never actually go about setting a date because it's the beginning to a very large financial expense with all the appeals that occur. Again, I am very much pro but if it were to come down to either offering top notch education to the children of the future (and someday, I will have kids that will need this education) or have budget cuts across the state (some of which would be in education) I would have to tend to lean towards education.....which the majority of the state would probably lean. I would not be about ready to throw away the "future" of children across the state just to apply the death penalty. And with all the "Cautions" that are taking place....I would venture to guess only more appeals and trials will take place...thus driving up the cost even more.
Now, if we can streamline it....or heck if gov't even decides to start subsidizing it.....sweet.....but the way even my govenor wants to make it the most cautious in the nation....in the end I believe we would just end up having a state with the rule on it's book that will never get used.
Just my two cents!
Steve
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Post by josephdphillips on Mar 28, 2006 9:40:48 GMT -6
In 12 U.S. states the death penalty is not used. I was just wondering if it would be possible to re-instate the death penalty in these areas? Has there ever been a state or country that has abolished the DP and then re-instated it? How is it that 38 U.S. states allow the DP and 12 don't? How can it be legal in 1 state and then illegal or un-constituational in another state? I live in Australia by the way so forgive me if I am missing something obvious. I am pro-death penalty by the way and am disappointed my country does not have the DP option. Welcome to the board, Panomaniac. Allison responded to your post already with accurate information. The concept behind the states' individual criminal justice systems is called federalism -- the United States Constitution leaves to the states those powers not explicitly defined in the country's founding document. Each state can have its own age of majority, drinking age, speed limits, marriage/divorce laws, etc.
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Post by panomaniac on Mar 28, 2006 13:53:48 GMT -6
Cheers for the information and the welcome people, I appreciate it.
It's interesting that Minnesota has tried to re-instate it and failed. I do see your point though about the cost and agree that cutting education costs just to have the DP would be wrong and would probably mean even more un-educated people ending up on DR.
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Post by onetwobomb on Mar 28, 2006 17:23:18 GMT -6
Of course it can be reinstated in those states. It's up to the people to vote for officials who support the DP.
The United States did back in 1972.
It's up to the people in the state.
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Post by rick4404 on Apr 29, 2007 21:06:16 GMT -6
North Dakota is also one of the states that does not have a death penalty. The last execution in this state occured way back in 1909. Although North Dakota had a death penalty on the books, no one was sentenced to death under the statutes which existed at the time of the Furman v. Georgia US Supreme Court decision. The state Legislature repealed the death penalty in 1973. North Dakota does provide for life in prison without parole in cases involving class AA felony murder (basically the same difference as first degree murder in other states). Otherwise class A felony murder (same as second degree murder) carries a life sentence, but the inmate may be paroled after serving 30 years in prison.
There have been attempts to reinstate the death penalty every now and then in the Legislature since then. Lawmakers appear to be in no rush to bring back capital punishment in North Dakota and the reinstatement bills were all quickly defeated.
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Post by rick4404 on May 20, 2007 17:33:18 GMT -6
North Dakota is also a small state. The entire population of the state is only about 680,000. Only the counties in which the largest cities of the state are could financially handle death penalty cases. If one of our smaller, rural counties only had one death penalty case, I would agree with our friend from Minnesota, that it could financially ruin the county.
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Post by Rev. Agave on May 20, 2007 17:42:20 GMT -6
The citizens of WI voted in favor of bringing back the DP last November, but there is no serious move to make it happen. We hate murderers here, and many folks are embarrassed that we are a anti state.
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Post by rick4404 on May 20, 2007 18:17:54 GMT -6
The citizens of WI voted in favor of bringing back the DP last November, but there is no serious move to make it happen. We hate murderers here, and many folks are embarrassed that we are a anti state. That's right. Wasn't it a state constitutional amendment that the people voted on which would allow the Wisconsin Legislature to enact a death penalty law if it so desired? Some classic cases which could have been death penalty cases in Wisconsin of course include Jeffrey Dahmer. If Wisconsin had the death penalty at the time; I have no doubt he'd be awaiting execution right now. Instead, another inmate saved the taxpayers millions by hacking Dahmer in prison. I suppose all that inmate got was another life sentence for killing Dahmer. Of course if Wisconsin's lawmakers were to enact a death penalty bill it will take some 15 to 20 years for the first person put on death row to be executed.
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Post by HANGMAN1981 on Jun 11, 2007 17:54:38 GMT -6
The 12 states that do not have capital punishment are North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Alaska, and Hawaii. Of these, only Massachusetts and perhaps Hawaii have a large population density. More urban areas mean more crime and a greater chance for murder. Thus, the abolitionist argument of saying the states without capital punishment have a lower murder state because of it, is not accurate. Massachusetts, too has been trying to reinstate capital punishment, but it too has been met with stiff opposition. The politics from Boston likely are shooting it down. I remember reading somewhere about a city in that state where the natives actually pickett to prevent the DP from being reinstated the SAME DAY a murder is reported. Everyone has their right to their own opinion, but shouldn't we use discretion?
Alaska is the "last frontier," North Dakota is a Great Plains state where little happens, and Iowa is just.....well, you can surely see where I am getting at. As for the other states, their populations are either small, or consolidated around one major city. Thus is the case with the twin cities in Minnesota and perhaps Milwaukee and Madison in the Badger State. In my opinion, EVERY state should have capital punishment to prevent these killers from running across state lines and getting a free ride. Dahmer was a classic example of someone who deserved it, but had someone else do the job for taxpayers. Unfortunately, we cannot count on that happening.
Even though my state has capital punishment, there has not been an execution here for awhile, and a recent multiple murderer, (Juan Luna) got a repreive. The politics surrounding the city of Chicago no doubt influence this kind of attitude, and the infamous George Ryan suspension on executions in 2000 really made us look bad. We also had the infamous John Wayne Gacy, who STILL spent 14 years on death row before being executed. Although I like the Land of Lincoln, the Windy City presents a considerable problem when it comes to delivering the maximum punishment.
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Post by ichy on Mar 15, 2008 13:34:27 GMT -6
Hangman:
If you think IL is bad, take a look at MD. I live in Baltimore, one of the most murderous cities in the nation. Our current state's attorney has been in office for 13 or 14 years (can't remember the exact number) and in that whole time she's only sought the death penalty twice. Meanwhile out in Baltimore County it's their policy to seek the death penalty in every case that's legally eligible. It puts us to shame (of course, limp-wristed juries and a criminal-friendly Court of Appeals make MD's death penalty a complete farce anyways).
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Post by HANGMAN1981 on Mar 15, 2008 19:04:48 GMT -6
Hangman: If you think IL is bad, take a look at MD. I live in Baltimore, one of the most murderous cities in the nation. Our current state's attorney has been in office for 13 or 14 years (can't remember the exact number) and in that whole time she's only sought the death penalty twice. Meanwhile out in Baltimore County it's their policy to seek the death penalty in every case that's legally eligible. It puts us to shame (of course, limp-wristed juries and a criminal-friendly Court of Appeals make MD's death penalty a complete farce anyways). It is good to hear that your state is at least lifting to moratorium that started due to a high number of blacks on death row! I know a girl that lives in Hagerstown and she says there are slum everywhere. and that the people are very liberal. In Illinois, our governor has been sitting on his hands and watching death row fill up. We need a Republican governor in this state, and it would be great if we could resevse all 171 of those communtations from Ryan. Of the states that do not have the DP, which one do you think would be most likely to reinstate it?
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Post by ichy on Mar 15, 2008 23:15:59 GMT -6
Actually Maryland has another defacto moratorium now. In late 2006 the Court of Appeals said stopped executions because it said the guidelines for carrying them out hadn't been properly approved. It was a ridiculous technicality, but because our current governor is anti-DP (actually I'm sure he'd support capital punishment if he thought it was politically expedient) he hasn't issued new guidelines, which means no executions.
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Post by crappieboy on Mar 17, 2008 13:18:24 GMT -6
Does anyone know why the Gov. of IL has not done anything to bring to an end this so called moratorium?
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Post by rick4404 on Mar 18, 2008 7:08:04 GMT -6
Does anyone know why the Gov. of IL has not done anything to bring to an end this so called moratorium? Well, when George Ryan's term ended and Rod Blagojevech (D) was sworn in as governor, Blagojevech chose to keep the moratorium that Ryan imposed in place. Since under Illinois law, a governor has sole authority over matters relative to executive clemency -- pardons, reprieves, commutations, etc. you can probably look for the moratorium to continue. States attorneys, as D.A.'s are referred to in Illinois, are still free to seek death sentences in cases where they can be applied. There are about a dozen or dozen and a half prisoners on Illinois' death row at present. All from murder cases that were tried after Ryan's blanket commutation was issued on his final day in office. Ryan's order only affected those who were sentenced to death at the time. My guess is that Illinois is going to have to elect a Republican governor in order to get someone in office who will be willing to dissolve the moratorium and get the death penalty back on track in Illinois. Blagojevech says he's not willing to end it until he's satisfied that Illinois' death penalty system has been fixed. He points out the same things that Ryan did. Blagojevech pointed out to the high number of cases in which death row inmates were later exhonerated by DNA evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, law enforcement foul-ups, outright lies told by witnesses on the witness stand etc. years later that they were not guilty of the crimes they were condemned to death for. Though I do support the death penalty and I don't want to hear from anyone who thinks I'm not; but doesn't anyone think Illinois is being justifiably pro-active about this? I think it's far better to get it right the first time to make absolutely certain that the person you're sending to death row is in fact guilty of the crime he or she committed. There are no "do overs" when it comes to executing someone. There's no way you can have a "do over" in a case once someone has been executed.
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Post by HANGMAN1981 on Mar 18, 2008 22:34:12 GMT -6
Does anyone know why the Gov. of IL has not done anything to bring to an end this so called moratorium? Well, when George Ryan's term ended and Rod Blagojevech (D) was sworn in as governor, Blagojevech chose to keep the moratorium that Ryan imposed in place. Since under Illinois law, a governor has sole authority over matters relative to executive clemency -- pardons, reprieves, commutations, etc. you can probably look for the moratorium to continue. States attorneys, as D.A.'s are referred to in Illinois, are still free to seek death sentences in cases where they can be applied. There are about a dozen or dozen and a half prisoners on Illinois' death row at present. All from murder cases that were tried after Ryan's blanket commutation was issued on his final day in office. Ryan's order only affected those who were sentenced to death at the time. My guess is that Illinois is going to have to elect a Republican governor in order to get someone in office who will be willing to dissolve the moratorium and get the death penalty back on track in Illinois. Blagojevech says he's not willing to end it until he's satisfied that Illinois' death penalty system has been fixed. He points out the same things that Ryan did. Blagojevech pointed out to the high number of cases in which death row inmates were later exhonerated by DNA evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, law enforcement foul-ups, outright lies told by witnesses on the witness stand etc. years later that they were not guilty of the crimes they were condemned to death for. Though I do support the death penalty and I don't want to hear from anyone who thinks I'm not; but doesn't anyone think Illinois is being justifiably pro-active about this? I think it's far better to get it right the first time to make absolutely certain that the person you're sending to death row is in fact guilty of the crime he or she committed. There are no "do overs" when it comes to executing someone. There's no way you can have a "do over" in a case once someone has been executed. I highly doubt there was any proof of innocence with a single one of these scumbags. Being an Illinois native, I can tell you that George Ryan was one of the most corrupt politicians this country has ever seen. He knew he would be spending some jail time, and commuted the sentences to hide his corruption, which included giving truckers licenses to immigrants that couldn't speak English! Illinois is a highly democratic state, and it's no wonder that we keep second and third-guessing ourselves over who is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence at trial that they are guilty. The justice sysytem here is broken-thanks to Gov. Ryan for making it seem that way. Now death row is piling up fast here again. A Republican governor is badly needed in The Land of Lincoln.
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Post by rick4404 on Mar 19, 2008 23:09:52 GMT -6
Well, when George Ryan's term ended and Rod Blagojevich (D) was sworn in as governor, Blagojevich chose to keep the moratorium that Ryan imposed in place. Since under Illinois law, a governor has sole authority over matters relative to executive clemency -- pardons, reprieves, commutations, etc. you can probably look for the moratorium to continue. States attorneys, as D.A.'s are referred to in Illinois, are still free to seek death sentences in cases where they can be applied. There are about a dozen or dozen and a half prisoners on Illinois' death row at present. All from murder cases that were tried after Ryan's blanket commutation was issued on his final day in office. Ryan's order only affected those who were sentenced to death at the time. My guess is that Illinois is going to have to elect a Republican governor in order to get someone in office who will be willing to dissolve the moratorium and get the death penalty back on track in Illinois. Blagojevich says he's not willing to end it until he's satisfied that Illinois' death penalty system has been fixed. He points out the same things that Ryan did. Blagojevich pointed out to the high number of cases in which death row inmates were later exhonerated by DNA evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, law enforcement foul-ups, outright lies told by witnesses on the witness stand etc. years later that they were not guilty of the crimes they were condemned to death for. Though I do support the death penalty and I don't want to hear from anyone who thinks I'm not; but doesn't anyone think Illinois is being justifiably pro-active about this? I think it's far better to get it right the first time to make absolutely certain that the person you're sending to death row is in fact guilty of the crime he or she committed. There are no "do overs" when it comes to executing someone. There's no way you can have a "do over" in a case once someone has been executed. I highly doubt there was any proof of innocence with a single one of these scumbags. Being an Illinois native, I can tell you that George Ryan was one of the most corrupt politicians this country has ever seen. He knew he would be spending some jail time, and commuted the sentences to hide his corruption, which included giving truckers licenses to immigrants that couldn't speak English! Illinois is a highly democratic state, and it's no wonder that we keep second and third-guessing ourselves over who is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence at trial that they are guilty. The justice sysytem here is broken-thanks to Gov. Ryan for making it seem that way. Now death row is piling up fast here again. A Republican governor is badly needed in The Land of Lincoln. I would tend to agree with you about that. Although George Ryan as governor of Illinois had the constitutional authority to do what he did, the blanket commutations (including two or three outright pardons) were done in nothing more than the name of political expediency. He knew he would be going on trial in that federal corruption case which finally brought him down; so why not go out in a blaze of glory? Ryan is behind bars today in a minimum security federal prison camp up in Wisconsin. One of those so-called "federal country clubs." His public life and political career are long since over. A number of high profile Republicans have been quietly working on trying to get President Bush to commute Ryan's sentence to the time already served so he can be released from prison. Ryan's 35-year political career was tarnished by scandal. Investigations into widespread corruption during his administration as governor of Illinois led to his retirement from politics in 2003 and federal corruption convictions in 2006. Ryan entered federal prison on November 7, 2007 to begin serving a sentence of six years and six months. By the way, I spelled Illinois present governor's name wrong. It is Rod Blagojevich. My bad.
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Post by rick4404 on Mar 19, 2008 23:30:43 GMT -6
Hangman: If you think IL is bad, take a look at MD. I live in Baltimore, one of the most murderous cities in the nation. Our current state's attorney has been in office for 13 or 14 years (can't remember the exact number) and in that whole time she's only sought the death penalty twice. Meanwhile out in Baltimore County it's their policy to seek the death penalty in every case that's legally eligible. It puts us to shame (of course, limp-wristed juries and a criminal-friendly Court of Appeals make MD's death penalty a complete farce anyways). It is good to hear that your state is at least lifting to moratorium that started due to a high number of blacks on death row! I know a girl that lives in Hagerstown and she says there are slum everywhere. and that the people are very liberal. In Illinois, our governor has been sitting on his hands and watching death row fill up. We need a Republican governor in this state, and it would be great if we could resevse all 171 of those communtations from Ryan. Of the states that do not have the DP, which one do you think would be most likely to reinstate it? If I had to guess, I would say either Michigan or Wisconsin. The voters of Wisconsin did approve a statewide ballot measure on the subject, which frees the Wisconsin Legislature to enact a death penalty law if it so chooses. In Michigan, it would be a bit more difficult. If I understand correctly, the state Constitution of Michigan specifically forbids the state from having a death penalty law. The people of Michigan would have to remove that prohibition from the constitution by voting in favor of a constitutional amendment for that purpose. If the voters do remove the constitutional prohibition, it would then fall upon Michigan legislators to enact a death penalty bill and for the governor to sign it into law; or else the voters can through the initiative bypass the Legislature and petition to get a measure onto the ballot for the purposes of reinstating the death penalty in the state. So, in Michigan as you see this would initially be a very complicated process. But certainly a process that wouldn't be insurmountable.
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Post by HANGMAN1981 on Mar 22, 2008 20:48:25 GMT -6
In terms of going out "in a blaze of glory" by commuting the remainings sentences to life, Governor Toney Anaya of New Mexico also did this while leaving office in 1986. He did this due to his personal beliefs on the death penalty itself; not innocence. New Mexico is surprisingly highly democratic as well, and they have been pushing for an abolition bill recently as well. Technically, Michigan has not had the death penalty in the books since it became a state in 1846. One would think that Detroit's reputation would help influence a reinstatement bill, but from your information, it seems unlikely to happen in the near future. Massachusetts tries to pass a bill every year for reinstatement and it came close a few years back. Then-Governor Mitt Romney devised a death penalty bill, although it was rather restrictive like New Hampshire's and likely would never have been used. In you go to this biased website deadlinethemovie.com/state/AL/index.phpyou can view the breakdown of each state as of 2003, but nearly every Governor has a proponent view!
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Post by rick4404 on Mar 24, 2008 7:14:09 GMT -6
In terms of going out "in a blaze of glory" by commuting the remainings sentences to life, Governor Toney Anaya of New Mexico also did this while leaving office in 1986. He did this due to his personal beliefs on the death penalty itself; not innocence. New Mexico is surprisingly highly democratic as well, and they have been pushing for an abolition bill recently as well. Technically, Michigan has not had the death penalty in the books since it became a state in 1846. One would think that Detroit's reputation would help influence a reinstatement bill, but from your information, it seems unlikely to happen in the near future. Massachusetts tries to pass a bill every year for reinstatement and it came close a few years back. Then-Governor Mitt Romney devised a death penalty bill, although it was rather restrictive like New Hampshire's and likely would never have been used. In you go to this biased website deadlinethemovie.com/state/AL/index.phpyou can view the breakdown of each state as of 2003, but nearly every Governor has a proponent view! Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about New Mexico and former Gov. Toney Anaya. If memory serves me right, there were only a handful of inmates awaiting execution when he commuted their sentences to life in prison on his final day in office in 1986. While his anti-death penalty opinions prevailed in his decision, questions had also been raised about New Mexico's form of execution. At the time, New Mexico provided for death by gas chamber. The chamber was old and antiquated and questions were raised about its soundness if an execution had to be carried out. Shortly after the new governor came into office, the state Legislature passed legislation to change the mode of death to lethal injection which that governor quickly signed into office. Massachusetts, on the other hand, as I recall did succeed in enacting a death penalty reinstatement bill was it sometime in the early 1980s? The Legislature had passed a bill which would have given inmates the choice between electrocution and lethal injection. As I recall, numerous court challenges ensued and the new legislation was rendered useless. Not sure if anyone had gotten sentenced to death before the law was shot down or not.
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Post by kingsindanger on Sept 14, 2008 9:47:37 GMT -6
Hangman: If you think IL is bad, take a look at MD. I live in Baltimore, one of the most murderous cities in the nation. Our current state's attorney has been in office for 13 or 14 years (can't remember the exact number) and in that whole time she's only sought the death penalty twice. Meanwhile out in Baltimore County it's their policy to seek the death penalty in every case that's legally eligible. It puts us to shame (of course, limp-wristed juries and a criminal-friendly Court of Appeals make MD's death penalty a complete farce anyways). I was waiting for somebody to mention my state. MD'S DP is symbolic and actually may be in great danger of being repealed because of this study. The study is so far slanted, it is hardly valid
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Post by Breka on May 30, 2009 8:01:37 GMT -6
The citizens of WI voted in favor of bringing back the DP last November, but there is no serious move to make it happen. We hate murderers here, and many folks are embarrassed that we are a anti state. So - if the majority of the people of Wisconsin don't like to be ignored by their state government - they should boot them all out of the Madison State Capitol (but I think for that the DP is a too less important issue) By the way this State Capitol Building at Madison is worth a visit !
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Post by Californian on Jun 1, 2009 8:39:31 GMT -6
Has there ever been a state or country that has abolished the DP and then re-instated it? The state of Kansas, for one.
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Post by rick4404 on Jun 5, 2009 15:42:29 GMT -6
Has there ever been a state or country that has abolished the DP and then re-instated it? The state of Kansas, for one. Kansas state legislators did reinstate a death penalty in 1994, shortly after it was struck down by the Kansas Supreme Court in a ruling earlier that year. However, the aggravating factors that would allow for a Capital Murder conviction are very limited in nature. This is why the alleged shooter of that abortion doctor down there cannot be charged with Capital Murder. The maximum sentence he'll face if convicted on a First Degree murder charge would be an indeterminate sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Here's a good website that explains Kansas' law from the perspective of the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office: sedgwickcounty.org/DA/death.html#aggravatingThe State of Wisconsin is still waiting on passage of legislation to reinstate the death penalty in that state. The voters of Wisconsin approved a ballot measure a while ago that would enable the Legislature the option of enacting a capital punishment statute in the state. Efforts to that end remain stymied in the halls of the Legislature in Madison. It's hard to say if or when that logjam will be broken. Since its admission to the Union on May 29, 1848, as the 30th State, the only execution carried out in Wisconsin was that of immigrant farmer John McCaffary, who was hanged on August 21, 1851 in Kenosha County for drowning his wife. Wisconsin abolished the death penalty in 1853, just two years after McCaffary's execution (in part due to the public revulsion at the spectacle which McCaffary's execution became), becoming just the second state after Michigan to do so. Chances of reintroduction are thought to be very slim due to the progressive tradition of the state. In 2006, an advisory referendum gave 55% of the the Wisconsin voters favorable to the Wisconsin State Legislature restoring capital punishment; the legislators did not restore capital punishment. Wisconsin has one of the lowest per-capita murder rates in the Union.
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nate
Old Hand
momento mori.
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Post by nate on Aug 29, 2009 10:57:15 GMT -6
I know the Philippine has abolished and then reinstated it several times.
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Post by furoraceltica on Sept 11, 2009 2:28:04 GMT -6
In Europe, the DP has been abolished, against public opinion, for all time. Thats right, the European Union (EU), says that a country cannot bring back the DP, regardless of public opinion, and regardless of the crime situation.
I am British, pro DP, and can't wait to leave Europe.
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Post by honeyroastedpeanut on Sept 11, 2009 6:34:19 GMT -6
In Europe, the DP has been abolished, against public opinion, for all time. Thats right, the European Union (EU), says that a country cannot bring back the DP, regardless of public opinion, and regardless of the crime situation. Please prove to us that there's a majority for the DP in Europe right now. Otherwise I don't see a reason to complain about the so, so, so undemocratic EU. Plus you knew all that before you joined. I don't join a football club to convince them of the beauty of synchronized swimming. The problem of lenient punishment which might happen in Great Britain (I don't know representative figures, only the news articles which are posted here from time to time which always reflect an opinion of course) lies with your laws and your courts. I don't think a Polish judge is very lenient, same usually goes for French courts. Fix that first if you think it needs improvement.
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nate
Old Hand
momento mori.
Posts: 544
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Post by nate on Sept 13, 2009 7:27:04 GMT -6
I'm anti but I have to say its up to each country. I wonder how the EU ever got started seeing as how so many Euro's seem to hate it...can't you opt out?
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Post by furoraceltica on Sept 14, 2009 7:37:57 GMT -6
I'm anti but I have to say its up to each country. I wonder how the EU ever got started seeing as how so many Euro's seem to hate it...can't you opt out? You can leave, but the Lisbon Treaty says you need to get the other countries permission. Also, if you jojn the Euro, your gold and dollar reserves are given to the EU, to stop you from re-starting you national currency. The EU got started because its founders lied about it only being about trade.
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