death penalty

[Deckerd]

The rest is still damning enough.

But I guess it's fine: I wouldn't want people here to think all Italians are brilliant as me.

That should be

as brilliant as I am.

thank you.


On topic, you've all been waiting for it ... "no civilized country ..." (TM)Deckerd

 

[iguana_tonante]

Yes, I always look up to people from Berlusconia.

PS This is mostly my gall bladder talking. Even so, if being Italian is the start of awesome, so must Berlusconi.

Well, in his own twisted way, Berlusconi is strikingly lurid, you cannot deny that. No half-measures around here.

Sorry about the gall bladder. But at least it makes your posts interesting, instead of the usual unreadable blather.

The rest is still damning enough.

But I guess it's fine: I wouldn't want people here to think all Italians are brilliant as me.

That should be

as brilliant as I am.

thank you.

You know, I thought about wording it that way, but then it seemed like over-killing considering the OP.

Also, I couldn't help but notice you have been particularly acerbic recently. Something wrong?

 

[Deckerd]

Well I thought it was funny. I'll get me coat.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The rest is still damning enough.

But I guess it's fine: I wouldn't want people here to think all Italians are brilliant as me.

That should be

as brilliant as I am.

thank you.

You know, I thought about wording it that way, but then it seemed like over-killing considering the OP.

Also, I couldn't help but notice you have been particularly acerbic recently. Something wrong?

Don't worry about her, she's just annoyed she had to work a bank holiday instead of spending all day drinking.

 

[stj]

Sorry about the gall bladder. But at least it makes your posts interesting, instead of the usual unreadable blather.

Sorry, short and stupid is not a correct definition for readable. By the way, I saw your post about characters in the new BattleStar Galactica and it is painfully obvious you don't speak English as well as you think.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Aww, did I hurt your precious self-esteem?

 

[Stoo]

People have mentioned the death penatly being more expensive than life imprisonment, I'm curious as to why that's the case. Is it legal costs of all the appeals?

 

[horatio83]

Yes, I always look up to people from Berlusconia.

PS This is mostly my gall bladder talking. Even so, if being Italian is the start of awesome, so must Berlusconi.

Well, in his own twisted way, Berlusconi is strikingly lurid, you cannot deny that. No half-measures around here.

Sorry about the gall bladder. But at least it makes your posts interesting, instead of the usual unreadable blather.

To me the way stj picked apart your nationalist crap was pretty lucid and transparent.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Lulz. You must have never read my posts if you think that my silly joke was anywhere near nationalistic. The only place where I congratulate my country is at the dinner table.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

People have mentioned the death penatly being more expensive than life imprisonment, I'm curious as to why that's the case. Is it legal costs of all the appeals?

That's a major part of the cost, but there are a lot of other factors as well.

Why is the death penalty so expensive?

Legal costs: Almost all people facing the death penalty cannot afford their own attorney. The state must assign them two public defenders, and pay for the costs of the prosecution as well.

Pre-trial costs: Capital cases are far more complicated than non-capital cases. Experts will probably be needed on forensic evidence, mental health and the social history of the defendant.

Jury selection: Because of the death penalty question, jury selection in capital cases is much more time consuming and expensive.

Trial: Death penalty trials can last over four times longer, requiring juror and attorney compensation, in addition to court personnel and other related costs.

Incarceration: Most death rows involve solitary confinement in a special facility. These require more security and other accommodations as the prisoners are kept for 23 hours a day in their cells.

Appeals: To minimize mistakes, every inmate is entitled to a series of appeals. The costs are borne at taxpayers' expense. These appeals are essential because some inmates have come within hours of execution before evidence was uncovered proving their innocence.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

^ Be sure to read this link especially. It breaks down the costs by state and at the federal level in detail.

Capital Trials Are Different

Defendants must have a dual trial--one to establish guilt or innocence and if guilty a second trial to determine whether or not they would get the death penalty.

- a four fold increase in the number of motions filed
- more investigators and expert testimony
- more lawyers specializing in death penalty litigation

http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42

Death penalty trials are more expensive for several reasons: They often require extra lawyers; there are strict experience requirements for attorneys, leading to lengthy appellate waits while capable counsel is sought for the accused; security costs are higher, as well as costs for processing evidence — DNA testing, for example, is far more expensive than simple blood analyses.

After sentencing, prices continue to rise. It costs more to house death row inmates, who are held in segregated sections, in individual cells, with guards delivering everything from daily meals to toilet paper.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29552692/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/execute-or-not-question-cost/

 

[horatio83]

Well, talking about unreadable blather...

But on topic. You must have never read my posts if you think that my silly joke was anywhere near nationalistic. The only place where I congratulate my country is at the dinner table.

Looks like stj was right and you do indeed have problems with post that consist of more than three sentences.
If I said nigga, nigga, nigga and then claimed that it was all just a silly joke I hope that nobody would accept this lame excuse.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Well, talking about unreadable blather...

But on topic. You must have never read my posts if you think that my silly joke was anywhere near nationalistic. The only place where I congratulate my country is at the dinner table.

Looks like stj was right and you do indeed have problems with post that consist of more than three sentences.
If I said nigga, nigga, nigga and then claimed that it was all just a silly joke I hope that nobody would accept this lame excuse.

Iguana is not nationalistic, and this is way off topic, so please move on.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Since we are not in TNZ, I edited it.

(The sentiment still stand, tho. Long-winded and pretentious doesn't mean necessarily intelligent. Which is clearly illustrated here if you believe that racial slurs and a bit of playful bravado are the same thing... or even in the same universe.)

 

[Stoo]

That's a major part of the cost, but there are a lot of other factors as well.

I see! Just picking something from your link:

"Study Reveals Costs in Maryland: $186 Million for Five Executions"

That's pretty shocking.

 

[horatio83]

Since we are not in TNZ, I edited it.

(The sentiment still stand, tho. Long-winded and pretentious doesn't mean necessarily intelligent. Which is clearly illustrated here if you believe that racial slurs and a bit of playful bravado are the same thing... or even in the same universe.)

Looks like stj was right again, your grammar sucks. You might wanna learn something from these oh-so-pretentious idiots who do at least put the words at the right place while they type.
Nationalism is as bad as racism. Silly joke, playful bravado, the excuses are even getting lamer.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Lulz. I know you pride yourself on being dull and unfunny, but joking about one's country is not nationalism.

 

[BennieGamali]

I don't wish them harm. I just want the rest of us to be safe from them. A long prison sentence -- life, if need be -- serves that purpose. Not 100% of the time, but usually.

I don't care enough about random criminals to wish them harm either. But I wish they couldn't harm anyone else.
But if some [insert bad word] did something to my loved ones or myself, I am certain I would wish them harm. I even wish harm upon people who don't pick up their dogs poop. I wish the poop would magically move to the top of their head unless they picked it up.

But I don't think it's a good thing to want revenge. I just can't help wishing people were disciplined for the bad things they do.

Disciplined, yes, of course. Harmed, no. I was not just speaking hypothetically of random criminals. Someone is doing many years in prison for what he did to me. I wish him no harm; I just want him where he can't hurt anyone.

That is good. I wish I was like that.

 

[ichab]

Right or wrong is immaterial. Sooner or later you WILL execute an innocent person and there can be no justification for that.

That has always been my big worry with it. I was once for it but the recent questionable executions in Texas and Georgia changed my opinion on it. Lock these scumbags away for life and make sure they never get out. That way the worse we've possibly done is jail an innocent man instead of killing him.

 

[MacLeod]

I'm sure that many of us have heard this quote from William Blackstone an English judge in the 18th century.

"It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone%27s_Ratio

The actual numbers used are immaterial, it is about erring on the side of caution. Just in case a mistake has been made.

 

[stj]

I'm not quite sure where the thread can go. Practically no one who favors the death penalty does so for any reason other than the desire to kill people, and innocence doesn't diminish the pleasure one bit. The practical and moral arguments against it have been made effectively, yet the joy of state murder remains. The only novelty offered, the practical necessity for the death penalty in revolution, is unpleasant and undebated.

The ill-natured "joke" about Italian being awesome (that's a devastating satire on one's nation's pretensions!) was matched by my bilious jibe about Berlusconia. The only difference is I'm retroactively embarrassed by the crudity. And I'm sure my Italian grammar is much worse, though happily I'm aware of it. So, I don't feel too put upon. And I am aware that the real motive for the extraneous disdain is political animus. Disliking Lega Nord, especially for being lower class, is not leftwing, while disliking the Refoundation opposition or Proposta, assuming it hasn't blown up, is definitely politically conservative. Similarly, being anti-death penalty is not particularly left-wing. Prudence, commonly mislabeled a conservative virtue, in fact dictates the end of the death penalty.

The aside about the stupidity of liking the new BSG's characters was completely OT. Sorry.