Death Penalty - News, Thoughts, Info

[Nat]

If I'm ever convicted of a crime I didn't commit, I would prefer life to death.

[Medusa]

People who are wrongfully convicted and given death sentences don't always give up hope, even if it's the hope that someone, somewhere might believe their story and fight for better rights for prisoners.

Check out the West Memphis 3: http://www.wm3.org/

These three were (I believe) wrongfully convicted of murdering 3 boys here in Arkansas and have been in prison for the last 17 years. Damien Echols has been on death row that entire time.

He has written a pretty thoughtful book and has given countless interviews about being wrongfully convicted and how it has affected not only his personal life but the people who believe him to be innocent. Some of these people have been fighting right alongside him for 17 years.

Briefly, these boys were convicted of murder by a backwoods judge here in Arkansas and a prosecuting attorney who painted them all as "devil worshippers" simply because they had black hair and wore Metallica t-shirts. The ENTIRE case was built on circumstantial evidence and it was recently found (as recent as last month) that new DNA testing has proven that NONE of these 3 boy's DNA was found at the crime scene.

It was a modern-day witch hunt by ignorant people and a prosecutor who was trying to win a campaignship for judge. He later DID win and has thrown out multiple requests for new trials and appeals even though he prosecuted the first case. Conflict of Interest anyone?

It's cases like these that bolster my stance on the death penalty. Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin would all be dead right now.

A synopsis of the trial and convictions is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3

Prepare yourself if you choose to read it. It will make you sick to your stomach at such a gross and obvious miscarriage of justice.

And these are 3 White boys from Arkansas. Imagine if they had been Black.

[katsarecool]

Web address:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/
090804090946.htm

Brain Difference In Psychopaths Identified
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Scientists have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy. (Credit: iStockphoto/Hayden Bird)ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2009) — Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues Dr Michael Craig and Dr Marco Catani from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy.

The research investigated the brain biology of psychopaths with convictions that included attempted murder, manslaughter, multiple rape with strangulation and false imprisonment. Using a powerful imaging technique (DT-MRI) the researchers have highlighted biological differences in the brain which may underpin these types of behaviour and provide a more comprehensive understanding of criminal psychopathy.

Dr Michael Craig said: 'If replicated by larger studies the significance of these findings cannot be underestimated. The suggestion of a clear structural deficit in the brains of psychopaths has profound implications for clinicians, research scientists and the criminal justice system.'

While psychopathy is strongly associated with serious criminal behaviour (eg rape and murder) and repeat offending, the biological basis of psychopathy remains poorly understood. Also some investigators stress mainly social reasons to explain antisocial behaviours. To date, nobody has investigated the 'connectivity' between the specific brain regions implicated in psychopathy.

Earlier studies had suggested that dysfunction of specific brain regions might underpin psychopathy. Such areas of the brain were identified as the amygdale, ie the area associated with emotions, fear and aggression, and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the region which deals with decision making. There is a white matter tract that connects the amygdala and OFC, which is called the uncinate fasciculus (UF). However, nobody had ever studied the UF in psychopaths. The team from King's used an imaging method called in vivo diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) tractography to analyse the UF in psychopaths.

They found a significant reduction in the integrity of the small particles that make up the structure of the UF of psychopaths, compared to control groups of people with the same age and IQ. Also, the degree of abnormality was significantly related to the degree of psychopathy. These results suggest that psychopaths have biological differences in the brain which may help to explain their offending behaviours.

Dr Craig added: 'This study is part of an ongoing programme of research into the biological basis of criminal psychopathy. It highlights that exciting developments in brain imaging such as DT-MRI now offer neuroscientists the potential to move towards a more coherent understanding of the possible brain networks that underlie psychopathy, and potentially towards treatments for this mental disorder.'

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff

[Blade]

I do believe in the death penalty. I voted other. I voted that way because I think for me it depends on the crime committed and the evidence shown at trial. Now I'm going to be a good boy and go sit beside Snowy and be quiet.......Maybe

[EnderD_503]

We don't have the death penalty here, which I think is a good thing. Even with forensics being what it is today, people are still wrongly accused. There are some people like Paul Bernardo that, if it were up to me, would get what's coming to them, but then the repercussions of legalising the death penalty for cases such as that aren't worth it, in my view.

[BullDog]

I am against the death penalty. Killing someone will not bring anyone back to life or erase someone being molested, raped or anything else. We need to figure out how to deal with criminals and people who are mentally ill in a rational and humane way (not for the criminal's sake but for ours) and above all try to figure out how to prevent more of these crimes from occuring in the first place. Otherwise we stoop to their level. Exacting revenge is not a way for me to show I love or care about someone.

Since it does cost a lot of money to imprison them, I think they should have to work for their keep if that is feasible. I agree with Aj, make their lives as monotonous as possible.

p.s. it doesn't surprise me that Canada doesn't have the death penalty. They also don't obsess over owning guns.

[Glenn]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

We don't have the death penalty here, which I think is a good thing. Even with forensics being what it is today, people are still wrongly accused. There are some people like Paul Bernardo that, if it were up to me, would get what's coming to them, but then the repercussions of legalising the death penalty for cases such as that aren't worth it, in my view.

That trash has been locked up for 23 hours each day in a tiny cell with squat to do for the last 16 years...and he will live like that until he dies of old age...he wishes Canada had the death penalty.