Why are you against the death penalty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's because Richmond is not baltimore, not because a bunch of potential killers are afraid of the death penalty or because Ellie Mae Clampett runs them off with a shotgun.

Baltimore, what a charming place. Where every criminal owns a gun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's because Richmond is not baltimore, not because a bunch of potential killers are afraid of the death penalty or because Ellie Mae Clampett runs them off with a shotgun.

And Richmond used to be the murder capital of the US. Back when its gun laws were even looser than they used to be.

Depends upon what kind of firearm you're talking about. It's a well-kept secret (except among Economists who study human behavior and motivating factors) that easing gun restrictions lowers violent crime. Criminals will always be able to get guns, but when they have to confront armed citizens? You have less violent crime. It turns out that even gun-wielding criminals don't want to confront someone else with a gun.

Can you provide the place where this secret is kept? I have seen data that it hasn't changed anything.

[Anonymous]

In DC you can shoot people coming out of a funeral for a shooting victim, and still claim to be a victim. The race card is a handy tool.

[Anonymous]

Massachusetts has gun control laws that are very strict, they have no death penalty, and its homicide rate is exactly half of Virginia. So clearly you can't line up two states and compare them, whether they be VA/MD or VA/MA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's because Richmond is not baltimore, not because a bunch of potential killers are afraid of the death penalty or because Ellie Mae Clampett runs them off with a shotgun.

And Richmond used to be the murder capital of the US. Back when its gun laws were even looser than they used to be.

Depends upon what kind of firearm you're talking about. It's a well-kept secret (except among Economists who study human behavior and motivating factors) that easing gun restrictions lowers violent crime. Criminals will always be able to get guns, but when they have to confront armed citizens? You have less violent crime. It turns out that even gun-wielding criminals don't want to confront someone else with a gun.

I can't speak to the rest of your statement, but this part isn't true. Most common violent criminals have serious mental health issues, and common among that is a significant lack of impulse control. They aren't going to sit there and weigh the pros and cons of whether someone has a gun. They kill out of rage, pride, joy, sexual urge, or other distorted emotion.

[Anonymous]

It turns out that more than half of gun homicides are family and friends. It's the presence of a gun, not its absence, that gets the majority of people killed.

[Anonymous]

In DC you can shoot people coming out of a funeral for a shooting victim, and still claim to be a victim. The race card is a handy tool.

What exactly do you mean by this nasty comment? Are you suggesting that the man who was killed is "claiming" to be a victim? You realize that he didn't have a gun on him, right?

http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/09/jamal-coates-victim-in-u-street-shooting-a-gang-life-in-gentrified-d-c--15763.html

[Anonymous]

I was all for the death penalty until I went to law school. I could not believe the disparate treatment between criminals with money and criminals without. I learned that it really sucks to be poor.

I also worked on the Innocence Project. MY GOD! So many men sit in prision, appeal after appeal - and they are INNOCENT. Unless there is unequivocal evidence that the person did it - eyewitness accounts are hardly accurate - you can't risk killing an innocent man.

And please don't let them be a minority. They might as well walk themselves to the gas chamber.

It's really sad.

[Anonymous]

Because I do not trust the government (and I work for the government) to have the power to comment the ultimate penelty when they can't even do the simple things like process our tax forms and health care information correctly.

Because the Innocence Project (which is an amazing organization) is so overwhelmed that actual cases of innocent people take years to get out of prison.

Because DNA backlog for Innocence is 5+ years

Because Japan, South Korea and the US are the only civilized countries with this mode punishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's because Richmond is not baltimore, not because a bunch of potential killers are afraid of the death penalty or because Ellie Mae Clampett runs them off with a shotgun.

And Richmond used to be the murder capital of the US. Back when its gun laws were even looser than they used to be.

Depends upon what kind of firearm you're talking about. It's a well-kept secret (except among Economists who study human behavior and motivating factors) that easing gun restrictions lowers violent crime. Criminals will always be able to get guns, but when they have to confront armed citizens? You have less violent crime. It turns out that even gun-wielding criminals don't want to confront someone else with a gun.

True but gun violence is also attributable to culture. I believe Vermont and Utah have the lowest gun violence rates yet they have the most liberal gun laws. But think about the socio-economic demographics within those states. Also, the Swiss and Israelis have some of the highest gun ownership rates among non-military or police authority in the world, yet have some of the lowest rates of gun violence. They see gun ownership as part of their civic duty to protect their country from take over by foreign invaders. They are also mainly homogeneous societies that lack a gun culture that glamorizes the power and authority of firearms or gun based recreational activities. They also tend to be community oriented and focus on reintegration into society post release for prisoners. Very different than the US.

[Anonymous]

Because killing for retribution makes us no better. We are supposed to be humans. The death penalty is disgusting.

[Anonymous]

But how is life in prison a just punishment and the death penalty not so, if we're talking about retribution? Is quantity better than quality?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But how is life in prison a just punishment and the death penalty not so, if we're talking about retribution? Is quantity better than quality?

The point is to remove people from society. In prison, they are removed. It both makes our society better/safer and punishes the criminal. There is no need to kill someone to achieve these goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's because Richmond is not baltimore, not because a bunch of potential killers are afraid of the death penalty or because Ellie Mae Clampett runs them off with a shotgun.

And Richmond used to be the murder capital of the US. Back when its gun laws were even looser than they used to be.

Depends upon what kind of firearm you're talking about. It's a well-kept secret (except among Economists who study human behavior and motivating factors) that easing gun restrictions lowers violent crime. Criminals will always be able to get guns, but when they have to confront armed citizens? You have less violent crime. It turns out that even gun-wielding criminals don't want to confront someone else with a gun.

True but gun violence is also attributable to culture. I believe Vermont and Utah have the lowest gun violence rates yet they have the most liberal gun laws. But think about the socio-economic demographics within those states. Also, the Swiss and Israelis have some of the highest gun ownership rates among non-military or police authority in the world, yet have some of the lowest rates of gun violence. They see gun ownership as part of their civic duty to protect their country from take over by foreign invaders. They are also mainly homogeneous societies that lack a gun culture that glamorizes the power and authority of firearms or gun based recreational activities. They also tend to be community oriented and focus on reintegration into society post release for prisoners. Very different than the US.

Don't say true. Most behavioral economists find gun laws at best uncorrelated with crime rates. The PP has not offered proof of this assertion.

[Anonymous]

Because it is unfairly and arbitrarily applied on a county by county basis, not a state by state basis. The local prosecutor makes the decision on whether or not a case will be death penalty eligible.