I bet these people would agree ...

[Moab]

So far, more than 130 people who had been sentenced to death have been exonerated.

States are considering dropping the death penalty. The states considering it may save as much as 2 million per person. Now that a budget reform I can get on board with.

Texas and Oklahoma who use the death penalty have some of the highest murder rates in the country. So we know it's not a deterrent just something that make fundamentalist Christians happy.

[DDT]

we've had this discussion before nikki....pleeeease give your unbiased link that we can ALL read this, instead of thinking it's just a baldfaced bullshit lie.

thank you in advance for your cooperation

[DDT]

Table 312. Homicide Trends: 1980 to 2008
[Based on Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports Supplementary Homicide Reports. Homicide includes murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, which is the willful killing of one human being by another. Excludes deaths caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder. Justifiable homicides based on the reports of law enforcement agencies are analyzed separately. Deaths from the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 are not included. Data based solely on police investigation, as opposed to the determination of a court, medical examiner, coroner, jury, or other judicial body]
Year Number of victims Rate \1
Total Male Female White Black Other Total Male Female White Black Other
1980 23,040 17,803 5,237 12,643 10,060 337 10.2 16.1 4.5 6.5 37.6 6.4
1981 22,520 17,420 5,100 12,242 9,926 350 9.8 15.6 4.3 6.2 36.6 6.1
1982 21,010 15,913 5,097 11,692 8,917 401 9.1 14.1 4.3 5.9 32.4 6.5
1983 19,308 14,602 4,708 10,653 8,239 419 8.3 12.8 3.9 5.3 29.6 6.4
1984 18,692 13,939 4,751 10,572 7,738 380 7.9 12.2 3.9 5.3 27.4 5.5
1985 18,976 14,095 4,885 10,647 7,933 401 7.9 12.2 4.0 5.3 27.8 5.5
1986 20,613 15,494 5,116 10,971 9,153 486 8.6 13.3 4.2 5.4 31.6 6.3
1987 20,096 14,826 5,274 10,605 9,068 427 8.3 12.6 4.2 5.2 30.9 5.2
1988 20,675 15,435 5,245 10,280 10,053 347 8.4 13.0 4.2 5.0 33.8 4.0
1989 21,500 16,413 5,087 10,431 10,675 394 8.7 13.6 4.0 5.0 35.4 4.3
1990 23,438 18,320 5,121 11,411 11,624 405 9.4 15.1 4.0 5.5 37.9 4.2
1991 24,703 19,297 5,402 11,759 12,328 613 9.8 15.6 4.2 5.6 39.4 6.1
1992 23,760 18,536 5,223 11,315 11,867 577 9.3 14.8 4.0 5.3 37.1 5.5
1993 24,526 18,969 5,560 11,378 12,545 606 9.5 14.9 4.2 5.3 38.4 5.5
1994 23,326 18,317 5,013 10,854 11,945 530 9.0 14.2 3.7 5.0 35.9 4.6
1995 21,606 16,579 5,030 10,477 10,546 587 8.2 12.7 3.7 4.8 31.2 4.9
1996 19,645 15,175 4,475 9,571 9,564 517 7.4 11.5 3.3 4.3 27.8 4.1
1997 18,208 14,079 4,132 8,727 8,952 531 6.8 10.5 3.0 3.9 25.6 4.1
1998 16,974 12,812 4,158 8,518 8,053 399 6.3 9.5 3.0 3.8 22.6 2.9
1999 15,522 11,718 3,804 7,852 7,208 462 5.7 8.6 2.7 3.4 19.9 3.3
2000 15,586 11,844 3,742 7,659 7,522 404 5.5 8.6 2.6 3.3 20.5 2.7
2001 16,039 12,256 3,782 7,987 7,620 430 5.6 8.8 2.6 3.4 20.5 2.8
2002 16,229 12,432 3,772 7,894 7,868 443 5.6 8.8 2.6 3.4 20.9 2.8
2003 16,582 12,828 3,700 8,046 8,007 475 5.7 9.0 2.5 3.4 21.1 2.9
2004 16,137 12,596 3,552 8,056 7,669 423 5.5 8.7 2.4 3.4 20.0 2.5
2005 16,692 13,169 3,571 8,161 8,130 449 5.6 9.1 2.4 3.4 20.9 2.6
2006 17,030 13,433 3,597 8,017 8,546 467 5.7 9.1 2.4 3.3 21.7 2.7
2007 16,929 13,286 3,643 8,043 8,478 408 5.6 8.9 2.4 3.3 21.3 2.3
2008 16,272 12,731 3,541 7,995 7,901 376 5.4 8.5 2.3 3.3 19.6 2.0
FOOTNOTE
\1 Rate is per 100,000 inhabitants.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008; <http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/homtrnd.cfm>.
For more information:
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Homicide
Internet release date: 09/30/2011

seems to me there has been a steady decline everywhere

[Moab]

seems to me there has been a steady decline everywhere

Death Penalty Issues

[curtinsea]

So far, more than 130 people who had been sentenced to death have been exonerated.

States are considering dropping the death penalty. The states considering it may save as much as 2 million per person. Now that a budget reform I can get on board with.

Texas and Oklahoma who use the death penalty have some of the highest murder rates in the country. So we know it's not a deterrent just something that make fundamentalist Christians happy.

It's no less a deterrent than life in prison, so I don't think that is point. Those states use the death penalty the most BECAUSE they have the highest murder rates.

I have an issue with the death penalty myself, but not in it's use, rather the way it is used. It should not be the prosecutors discretion. It should be applied equally as called for under the equal protection of the Constitution . . . . the day Gary Ridgeway dealt his way out of the noose is the day the death penalty became unconstitutional in my opinion, and if I were on the high court, I would strike down the DP in it's current form.

[Moab]

You can find plenty of arguments that claim states like Texas have a higher violent crime rate than non death penalty states ..

[curtinsea]

You can find plenty of arguments that claim states like Texas have a higher violent crime rate than non death penalty states ..

Sure, plenty of people like you who can argue without having to have their facts straight or to make any sense at all

you can't prove cause and effect. You are trying to make a "chicken and egg" argument

[bluffmanxx]

for the most part all you have to do is look at the demographics of the states with high violent crime rates to figure out why.

BTW, the census stats i vound listed california 14th, texas 15th. guess you can't bash texas without bashing blue cali either. ;-)

[DDT]

just like Florida, Texas and New Mexico violent crimes dropped after CCW was passed....as for the death penalty....with forensics and DNA it's getting harder to find a way for violent criminals to skate. anything over 10 years old should be revisited by investigators to make sure no one was put there without purpose.

[kazza1985]

It doesn't act as a deterrent/neither does life in prison. It makes me laugh when I hear British people saying they don't like paying taxes to keep someone in prison and want to bring back the death penalty... yet that would be more expensive. Heaven knows why some of your states haven't got rid of it already. You guys waste sooooo much money on the death penalty.

It also prolongs the agony of the victim's families.

As a spiritualist, I strongly disbelieve in death penalty because there is no punishment after death.