Texas
Rick Perry Finally Gets Death Penalty Priorities Straight
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
Lethal injections in
Texas's "Walls" death house to continue, bu
t no more special last meals.
It's OK to throw away lives down there, but like the cafeteria monitors say, it's a sin to waste food.
Original Author:
Steve Hanson
Last week during the GOP debate we were treated to the spectacle of a crowd cheering the large numbers of government-sanctioned murders in Texas. This week we were treated to the reality. Troy Davis was put to death last night in Georgia, despite a growing concern on the part of many that his continuous claim of innocence may well have been correct. The court system failed Troy Davis, and we as a nation failed him.
Where to start? The application of the death penalty in the United States is an anomaly among Western nations. We happily cling to a system of punishment that seems to serve no purpose other than retribution. It's not a crime deterrent, it's not even cost-effective. It is government-sanctioned revenge. It is a punishment that cannot be revoked, ameliorated, or forgiven. It is the last desperate act of a government to punish the guilty and destroy a little more of the soul of our nation.
Original Author:
Steve Hanson
Last week during the GOP debate we were treated to the spectacle of a crowd cheering the large numbers of government-sanctioned murders in Texas. This week we were treated to the reality. Troy Davis was put to death last night in Georgia, despite a growing concern on the part of many that his continuous claim of innocence may well have been correct. The court system failed Troy Davis, and we as a nation failed him.
Where to start? The application of the death penalty in the United States is an anomaly among Western nations. We happily cling to a system of punishment that seems to serve no purpose other than retribution. It's not a crime deterrent, it's not even cost-effective. It is government-sanctioned revenge. It is a punishment that cannot be revoked, ameliorated, or forgiven. It is the last desperate act of a government to punish the guilty and destroy a little more of the soul of our nation.
Death Certificates For The Executed Read "Homicide"
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
Just so you know, capital punishment is a nice way of say "killing," plain and simple, and I don't care if the executed person was
Troy Davis in Georgia or Lawrence Brewer, the white supremacist in the
Texas dragging death of James Byrd, Jr.
State killing is state killing. Wrong is wrong.
It's brutal, ugly,
solves nothing, and deters no one.
And no one anywhere is any safer now than they were yesterday.
I had a bit more to say about this a few years ago, after having witnessed an execution in Texas - - George W. Bush's 1st, in 1995 - - and long before Rick Perry started to run up his bigger Texas execution toll, now numbering 244.
The Capital Times
© Copyright 2006, Madison Newspapers, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 07, 2006
SECTION: EDITORIAL
PAGE: A9
BYLINE: James Rowen
TEXAS-STYLE JUSTICE LOOMS IN STATE VOTE
Paul Ryan agrees with Rick Perry: Social Security is a Ponzi scheme
Maybe Paul Ryan really does want to be the vice presidential candidate. What else explains this lunacy?
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