Do You Support The Death Penalty?

[delalluvia]

Very very powerful speech.  I especially liked his stab at the meddling of some Catholic Church officials.

Poor Matthew.    He was a flower child, naive and he walked into the lion's den with only his good will to protect him. 

I admire Matthew's father's faith in the people of Wyoming and his confidence that they 'will not tolerate discrimination' etc.  Sadly, his speech fell on deaf ears.  While the good people of Wyoming did the right thing by Matthew in a court of criminal law, they fell down in actually recognizing gay people as people deserving of marriage and all the rights thereof in a civil situation.  They pretty much ruled in one court that no one can go around discriminantly killing people, but ruled in another court that some people are not quite as good as the rest of the 'regular' people. 

I fear we are still far far far away from Dennis Shepherd's utopian vision of a society free of harrassment and discrimination.

As a Hispanic and especially a woman, I can tell him the fight can last millennia.
 

[Mikaela]

Along these lines, I have the text of Dennis Shepard's speach at the sentancing of his sons killers. I think it has been posted on bettermost before, but wtf, here it goes, it is a powerful thing.

I tried to formulate a response to this several times yesterday but everything seemed too trite. So I will just say; thank you for posting this.

[serious crayons]

I tried to formulate a response to this several times yesterday but everything seemed too trite. So I will just say; thank you for posting this.

Mikaela, I know exactly what you mean. Not to piggyback on your post, but it was so well put. I did the same.

[loneleeb3]

I just read Mr Shepards speech.
Words can't express my feelings.
All I can say is my heart hurts.
I can't imagine what he goes through ona daily basis and the pain he and his family have had to endure.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

It is a very terrible thing they live with daily. I know Judy Shepard travels and lectures on behalf of hate crimes legislation. I think Dennis Shepard is somewhat involved with it as well.

What he said was a fine example I think of someone rising to meet an incomprehencible challenge.

[David In Indy]

From the AOL website:



Legal Challenges Halt Lethal Injections


Infuriating the victim's family, the Supreme Court halts a Mississippi execution by injection at the last minute. The move signals that most or all lethal injections will be suspended until the nation's highest court rules on their constitutionality. Justices are considering whether injections can be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

WASHINGTON (Oct. 31) - The Supreme Court's decision to halt an execution in Mississippi is the latest indication that most, if not all, executions by lethal injection will be halted until justices rule on a challenge to the procedure.

The last-minute reprieve Tuesday for Earl Wesley Berry was the third granted by the justices since they agreed late last month to decide a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedures.

The decision brought an emotional response from about two dozen members of the victim's family, who called a news conference to express their outrage.

"Now you want to tell me that we got a fair shake today?" said Charles Bounds, whose 56-year-old wife, Mary, was kidnapped from a church and killed by Berry in 1987.

"Please don't ever let that man out of prison, 'cause you'll have me, then. ... I'll kill him," he said.

Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia would have allowed the execution to go forward.

Berry was convicted in 1988. His confession was used against him during the trial.

The Supreme Court has allowed only one execution to go forward since agreeing to hear the Kentucky case, which it is likely to hear before its July recess. Michael Richard was executed in Texas on Sept. 25, the same day the court said it would hear a lethal injection challenge from two death row inmates in Kentucky.

State and lower federal courts have halted all other scheduled executions since then, putting the nation on a path toward the lowest annual number of executions in a decade.

Berry asked for a delay at least until the court issues its decision in the Kentucky case. He claimed the mixture of deadly chemicals Mississippi uses would cause unnecessary pain, constituting cruel and unusual punishment.

Kentucky's method of lethal injection executions is similar to procedures in three dozen states. The court will consider whether the mix of three drugs used to sedate and kill prisoners has the potential to cause pain severe enough to violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.




Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr in Parchman, Miss., contributed to this report.

[moremojo]

This is interesting news, but I think it likely that the Court will rule for injections to go forward. The Court is extremely conservative (maybe even reactionary) right now (a "gift" from Bush that will keep on giving for decades to come), and the death penalty in and of itself has not been deemed "cruel and unusual punishment" by the highest-ranking magistrates for quite some time.

[serious crayons]

On a lighter note, here's an excerpt from a story in The Onion that combines both our topics:

Lethal Injection Ban Leads To Rise In Back-Alley Lethal Injections

October 24, 2007 | Issue 43•43

TALLAHASSEE, FL—To all outward appearances, "Kevin" is a typical Southern state governor. He enjoys vetoing bills, attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and hanging out with friends. But the recent suspension of lethal injections in 10 states has put Kevin's political life in serious jeopardy. Unable to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, Kevin, like many young governors who find themselves saddled with an unwanted death row inmate, has been forced to take desperate action and obtain an illegal back-alley lethal injection.

As safe and professional execution facilities like this one in Tallahassee shut their doors, governors are forced to obtain capital punishment on the streets.

"It was awful," said Kevin, who still suffers from nightmares after witnessing the prisoner die in horrible agony without any anesthesia. "We did it on an old card table. All the equipment was really rusty and dirty. I just closed my eyes and prayed for it to be over."

"I had my whole political career ahead of me," Kevin continued through tears. "If I didn't do it, the voters would have left me. I couldn't see any other way."

Lethal injection has long been a polarizing issue and, according to proponents of the banned procedure, Kevin's story is becoming all too common. Dr. Daniel Blecker, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and expert on capital punishment, said that the illegal back-alley execution trend will only intensify if the ban is upheld.

Here's the whole article:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lethal_injection_ban_leads_to_rise

[delalluvia]

Berry asked for a delay at least until the court issues its decision in the Kentucky case. He claimed the mixture of deadly chemicals Mississippi uses would cause unnecessary pain, constituting cruel and unusual punishment.

I wonder if Mr. Berry knows the meaning of "ironic". 

Did he worry about the 'unnecessary pain' suffered by his victim?

He's only worried about it when it comes to himself.   

They'll go forward.

[David In Indy]

I wonder if Mr. Berry knows the meaning of "ironic". 

Did he worry about the 'unnecessary pain' suffered by his victim?

He's only worried about it when it comes to himself.   

They'll go forward.

While I remain adamantly against the death penalty, I must admit I agree with you Delalluvia. That very same thought always crosses my mind when I hear criminals argue this point. The death penalty brings forth a lot of complicated feelings and emotions, and I suppose this is why it's such a hot topic right now in this country. I live in a very pro death penalty state. Almost everyone here is in favor of the death penalty and often times I think I may be the only one here that opposes it. Probably not, but it sometimes feels like that. But I do feel some anger inside when I hear the criminals arguing about these things, and a part of me wonders why they didn't think about this before they did their crime(s).