States likely to delay executions until ruling [signals moratorium on lethal injections]

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | November 2, 2007 edition | Warren Richey

[Former Military Chick]

When the US Supreme Court agreed in late September to take up a Kentucky case testing the constitutionality of the protocol used for executions by lethal injection, the action raised an immediate question.

What about other death row inmates slated for execution; should their scheduled executions be postponed pending a final decision by the high court?

It took more than a month of confusing signals, but the Supreme Court appears to have finally answered that question when it granted a last-minute stay of execution Tuesday evening for a Mississippi death row inmate.

Legal analysts say the action makes it highly unlikely that there will be any executions by lethal injection in the US until after the high court hands down its decision in the Kentucky case.

"I wouldn't place any wagers on any [scheduled executions] being carried out," says Kent Scheidegger, who closely follows death penalty issues at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif. He says stays of execution will most likely be issued by state and federal judges and that those stays will not be disturbed by the high court.

"There may be a couple of skirmishes, but the main war is over," says Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. "This is the clearest indication that there is pretty much a de facto moratorium on executions until

[Former Military Chick]

I am a firm believer in capital punishment. There are crimes that are so hideous that the only punishment is execution. I say this with Charlie Manson in mind, who received a stay, many states followed and families were denied the justice they were entitled to.

[ketsu]

I am a firm believer in capital punishment. There are crimes that are so hideous that the only punishment is execution. I say this with Charlie Manson in mind, who received a stay, many states followed and families were denied the justice they were entitled to.

Would you still believe in capital punishment if 50+% of all of those executed were innocent?

[Non-Sequitur]

I say this with Charlie Manson in mind, who received a stay, many states followed and families were denied the justice they were entitled to.

Manson received a stay beacuse Furman v. Georgia struck down the death penalty laws. If the court sides with the plaintifs on lethal injection then the same thing may happen to everyone on death row.

[Vaquero]

Then

Hang em....

Shoot em.....

just Kill em.

[ripley]

the question is whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual, not if “beyond a shadow of a doubt” has been subverted.

[wally-balls]

Would you still believe in capital punishment if 50+% of all of those executed were innocent?
___________________________________________________________

Out of which orifice did you pull that hypothetical statistic?

[ketsu]

Out of which orifice did you pull that hypothetical statistic?

:yawn: Translation: I don't want to answer the question.

[ketsu]

the question is whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual, not if “beyond a shadow of a doubt” has been subverted.

I was addressed the poster, not the article. Sorry if I was unclear.

The pain involved in the death penalty is less important to me than the way in which it is chosen.

The American judicial system is fundamentally broken, too many innocent poor people convicted(see the illinois death row) and too many rich people exonerated(OJ, Spector).

[oldironsides]

We watch Mumia Abu Jama sit on his arse feeding off the taxpayer after having murdered a Philadelphia policeman. We saw a brother execute another policeman in Philadelphia this week. We have had 3 cops shot in one week. Anyone think that the radical marches by the great unwashed in Philadelphia for Mumia Jamal have nothing do do with it? It is open season on citizens in Philly. Children and police alike are being shot by black men. It is time the media recognized just who is causing the chaos.

[bert]

The states should revert to hanging where there is long established precedent. There is also current precedent in Iraq.

[Dick Vomer]

Would you still believe in capital punishment if 50+% of all of those executed were innocent?

Have you ever been around a jail or prison? 50%...what a joke. 100% of the prisoners are innocent, doncha know?

Let's do this simple experiment.

Make Texas a 3 strikes for felony convictions you get life without parole. Use a weapon (gun) to commit a crime mandatory 15 years, fire the gun mandatory 25 years and injure or kill gets you life without parole, have a nice life.

Death penalty is placed on 180 days to place all reviews and appeals with guillotine used as the most painless method of execution. If any appeals go further than 180 days the state bills the family of the convict and/or the law firm representing the prisoner $5000 per day if the appeal loses to be paid to the families/estates of the victims....each.

Give the experiment about 15 years and lets compare crime between Texas and say...... California, New York, or any other generic state in the Union.

[Little Ray]

I have an idea! Lets go back to hangings. Public hangings. Done on a gallows right in the Town Square. And for some of the more egregious crimes, I support public impalings... Again, right in town square.

Lets face it, if a punishment isn’t cruel or unsual, it ain’t much of a punishment.

[Little Ray]

YES. If 50% were innocent, then problem is the court system and the juries, not the punishment.

[The Great RJ]

Nitrogen asphyxiation ...quick, painless and cheap.

[Max in Utah]

Seconded-- nitrogen doesn't require any medical skills to administer. All that is required is a gas-tight chamber, some piping and ducting. Add an oxygen level gauge to read the atmosphere in the chamber.

It's more than most of the comdemned killers deserve, but I can't see us bringing back public hanging; too many soft-headed people these days.

[ketsu]

YES. If 50% were innocent, then problem is the court system and the juries, not the punishment.

While that sounds nice, you can release somebody sentenced to life in prison. You can't unexecute someone.

[ketsu]

Have you ever been around a jail or prison? 50%...what a joke. 100% of the prisoners are innocent, doncha know?

You don't understand the point. Answer the question first.

[ketsu]

We watch Mumia Abu Jama sit on his arse feeding off the taxpayer after having murdered a Philadelphia policeman. We saw a brother execute another policeman in Philadelphia this week. We have had 3 cops shot in one week. Anyone think that the radical marches by the great unwashed in Philadelphia for Mumia Jamal have nothing do do with it? It is open season on citizens in Philly. Children and police alike are being shot by black men. It is time the media recognized just who is causing the chaos.

I don't really understand how your point is related.

That said black people as the criminal boogie man is relatively recent. Before that it was the Italians, and before that the Germans and Irish.

Very soon the majority of crime in America will be hispanic.

[Little Ray]

Well they better fix it before the next one gets executed, right?

I don’t believe, even for a second, that 50% or even 5% are wrongly convicted. But if there is a problem, it is not the with the penalty, and trying to fix it at that end accomplishes nothing.
And, if there is a problem with wrongful convictions, executions are proceeding so slowly that they probably have plenty of time to fix it, too.

[theDentist]

Would you oppose if 99.99% were guilty?