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.
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.
It seem's there are a variety of descriptions unnecessary pain, 'excessive pain,' 'unnecessary pain,' 'substantial risk,' 'unnecessary risk,' which results in confusion. It seem's folks want to be politically correct. Let's just remove all the description's so that folks have nothing to argue about. When did it say death was ever to be painless?
You stated "The pain involved in the death penalty is less important to me than the way in which it is chosen." So how would you want the method to be chosen? In some cases the state has allowed the condemned the choice of method of execution, Gary Gilmore chose a firing squad as his execution method. Another chose the gallows'. Of course in recent years the accepted choice was lethal injection with a few states still allowing the inmate to choose between injection and the chair.
We can certainly start another thread discussing "our broken judicial system." I would love to see the appeals process move more quickly. The system in CA seem's to go on and on, some on death row have lived longer than the victim whom they murdered. Again, a discussion for a different thread.