Where Does Our Death Penalty Passion Come From

[Blade]

The death penalty is always a hot topic. We are passionate about what we believe concerning the death penalty. I have to wonder how much of our passion is emotionally driven by something that has happened in our past. Have you or someone you know been a victim of a violent crime? Do you personally know someone who has been convicted of a violent crime? Do you know family members or friends of someone who was a victim or the convicted person? Share your stories if you like.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Blade

The death penalty is always a hot topic. We are passionate about what we believe concerning the death penalty. I have to wonder how much of our passion is emotionally driven by something that has happened in our past. Have you or someone you know been a victim of a violent crime? Do you personally know someone who has been convicted of a violent crime? Do you know family members or friends of someone who was a victim or the convicted person? Share your stories if you like.

I've personally known someone who stabbed his lover to death. I've known countless people who've been affected one way or another by violent crimes, both close friends and acquaintances/coworkers. I spent a decade of my life as a victim of psychological and sexual child abuse.

[Kobi]

I dont have much passion, per se, about the death penalty.
I have been on both sides of the issue and
am currently straddling the fence on it.

I do, however, have influences for my feelings about it.
First I come from a long line of military and law enforcement folks.
There is a certain mind set that develops when loved ones are
always in harms way in protecting others.

Second, I worked in health care/mental health and have seen
the horrors people can perpetrate upon one another. It was
frightening, disgusting, and maddening.

My passion is toward finding some way to stop crime
- any type of crime - in ways that do not compromise
my values, beliefs, morals, and ethics. Crime screws with
my peace of mind. I dont want to deal with a "solution"
that does the same thing.

Think my motto for the New Year is going to be....
Dont F*&$ With MY Kumbaya.

[Glenn]

I've had two friends who've murdered their husbands after being horribly abused. They pled out to invol manslaughter, and were out of the pen in 3-4 years. It usually takes alot to anger a woman to make them want to kill you. I felt no remorse whatsoever for their abusers.

[Isadora]

I worked with victims (children, women, men) of domestic violence and sexual assault/rape for about 30 years. I have seen it. I have heard it. I have witnessed it. I have survived it.

[Laerkin]

I am fiercely against the death penalty. My sister a public defender, defending the poorest and the least educated and the troubled, sometimes in unspeakable crimes. The stories of abuse, racism, blatant disregard, and hatred that so many of her clients have faced are shocking. That's not to say they're necessarily innocent of their crimes, but it's certainly taken my compassion to a whole new level.

I've been a bystander in a violent crime and I've had friends and loved ones affected by violence.

However, I still do not bend when it comes to the death penalty. Murder is murder.

(I am certainly not de-valuing anyone else's experiences or beliefs, simply stating mine with passion .)

Deepest peace to all...

[Rook]

I'm not a Victim, I'm a Survivor..

That being said, my 2nd girlfriend's Father was acquitted from what they called a Crime of Passion, I'm not sure what the details of it all were, it did make the local paper when it happened, my g/f and her brother kept it, as proof of what their Father did to their Mother..
He also got custody of them..
It was painfully evident his preference towards my g/f's step-siblings..

The "system" is seriously Flawed..
That much is Painfully evident for many more reasons than I can verbalize...
I don't advocate Death Penalty, mostly because I believe they should Live with their conscience, small price for taxpayers, lifelong agony for Convict...
Death Penalty is the "easy way" out of their Guilt.
The convicts Death won't bring back their victims to the Families involved, they'll have some sort of closure, but, that's it...

[MsDemeanor]

Originally Posted by Laerkin

I am fiercely against the death penalty. My sister a public defender, defending the poorest and the least educated and the troubled, sometimes in unspeakable crimes. The stories of abuse, racism, blatant disregard, and hatred that so many of her clients have faced are shocking. That's not to say they're necessarily innocent of their crimes, but it's certainly taken my compassion to a whole new level.

I've been a bystander in a violent crime and I've had friends and loved ones affected by violence.

However, I still do not bend when it comes to the death penalty. Murder is murder.

Replace 'sister' with 'husband'; add ramblings about systemic false/misleading/evasive testimony by police, buddy-buddy judges who help out DAs, and crime shows/nightly news scripted to keep suburban white folks scared. Replace 2nd paragraph with 'step brother murdered'. Ditto everything else.

[Nat]

I loved a person very dearly who was convicted of attempted murder.

I also knew a woman whose boyfriend took a knife and murdered her child in front of her and then almost killed her. He got the death penalty.

I also served on the jury for a capital murder trial and helped convict a person - the only black person (who was also legally though not totally blind) in the entire trial - who probably did not pull the trigger. (A russian guy confessed to being the person who pulled the trigger while in jail, according to the testimony of another inmate, but the russian was allowed to return to russia in exchange for testifying for the grand jury against the guy we convicted).

I was the only person on the jury who didn't immediately agree to the guilty verdict. The only person who wanted to go back through all the things that had been said during the trial. It was only after hours of arguing against 11 other jurors that the foreman re-read the instructions which said we were to find him guilty if we believed beyond a reasonable doubt that he had actually murdered the person or if through intentional or negligent action, a reasonable person could have predicted his actions could have led to the person's death. (This is the closest I can come to remembering the instructions - it's been a while). With that instruction, I was able to look at his actions and say they met the criteria. We found him guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison and he'll have no chance for parole until he is 70 years old.

It wasn't a death penalty case. If it had been a death penalty case, I would have been eliminated during jury selection. I would guess that in a death penalty trial, if they eliminate all jurors who disagree with the death penalty, that the jurors left are probably of a more punitive mind and more likely to convict. That's just a guess.

There was one black woman who was near the front of the jury selection, but the prosecutor asked each one of us if we'd be willing to sentence a person to life in prison, and she said no and was eliminated. I still remember the white woman sitting across to me that said, "Come on, Natalie, these people aren't like us!" in response to some question I had. Maybe she wasn't talking about race, but looking back, I really don't know what else she meant. I guess she could have meant "pot dealers" or "criminals." I think she was probably the same age as my mom - everybody in there was older than me by at least 10 years (I think I was 23 at the time).

The defense lawyer did not defend the guy very well. She left huge gaps in his case, she left out critical information. After the trial was over, she caught me in the hallway and asked me for my perspective on the case. I gave her an ear-full about her defense and gave a huge list of things she could have done better. A friend of a friend used to be a prosecutor, and I mentioned her to him, and he said she was one of the best public defenders he'd seen.

So, you know, I think I followed the instructions provided by the court and I do think his actions could have predictably led to the victim's death whether or not he pulled the trigger. It was his idea to rob the guy, it was his idea to take him to a secluded area to do it. It was his idea to invite his brother-in-law and a russian guy who liked to brag about being part of the russian mafia along for the robbery. He wasn't a nice guy. But was he guilty of capital murder? Should a person be convicted of capital murder if he didn't pull the trigger?

I don't know if maybe that trial was unusual, but I suspect it was pretty run-of-the-mill. I wasn't impressed. I wasn't impressed with the way the justice system is set up to work. I don't think he was tried by a jury of his peers. I don't think he had a competent lawyer. I don't think it's fair that the person who bragged about killing the victim is living free with his girlfriend in Russia, and the guy we convicted of capital murder may or may not live to breathe free air again even though he didn't pull the trigger.

I see the justice system as far too flawed to handle the responsibility of deciding a person should be put to death. Death is irreversible.

The Innocence project has cleared the names of 261 people based on DNA evidence alone. Those are just a small sliver of cases where DNA evidence existed and was preserved.

[Blade]

Have you or someone you know been a victim of a violent crime? I have never been a victim of a violent crime. I did/do personally know folks who were victims of violent crimes.

Do you personally know someone who has been convicted of a violent crime? I know 3 people who have been convicted of capitol murder.

Do you know family members or friends of someone who was a victim or the convicted person? Yes to both

Share your stories if you like.

In the early 80's I was living in east Tennessee. I made some friends in college and spent a lot of time at their families homes. I met a lot of their local friends. We'd drink and party and play volley ball and spades and all sorts of things. One of the guys was sorta quiet and had announced that God had called him to preach. We heard him preach on several occasions and even we couldn't believe the change in him. He wouldn't even play games with us if anyone was making bets. His brothers would bet on our games. LOL One of the brothers moved down to McDonald Tn. We visited him and met his neighbors and hug out. One morning all over the news was 2 people had been murdered and their baby left crying in her crib in a trailer park in McDonald. As the story went on Ricky was arrested. He and a few of his friends had decided they wanted to borrow their brothers neighbors Trans Am and they wouldn't let them. So they killed them.

Story number two. Back in 2007 a personal friend of mine decided having a certain male companion was more important than her kids. She had lost a huge amount of weight and was getting a lot of male attention and she liked it. Her children were cramping her lifestyle, holding her back. So she locked them in their bedroom and set the house on fire and laid in a ditch outside and watched it burn. When she called 911 finally it took her several minutes into the conversation to mention that oh by the way my kids are in that house. This is a small community, I knew much of her family and her ex'es family before I ever knew her, however she hung out with us and our biking group 4 days a week for about 2 yrs.

Number 3 was a young man who was a police officer, he was convicted of stalking stopping and killing my ex brother in laws 2nd wife. This is one of my it depends cases....the case was all circumstantial no DNA evidence so no I don't believe he should have gotten the death penalty and he didn't.

The other two cases also got life sentences. Do I believe they should have gotten the death penalty. Yes I do, however in case #2 I think that mother is getting her hell on earth in prison. I'm sure they aren't very nice to women who kill their own kids and she gets to think about them every day.