In favor of the death penalty ?
 

Whats your feelings on the death penalty. Are you for, against or don't care.
Must there be circumstances that be meet or ?

Death
 

What can I say, I was a COI at the joint for a couple of years back in the early '80's...only job I could get at the time.

And it wasn't just any joint, it was the Missouri State Pent., the only maximun security institution in the state at the time. They weren't just bad eggs, 95% of 'em were rotten eggs. Life & 50 meant you were a short timer.

About a month before I was hired on, the con's damn near killed a Sgt. in one of the housing units, stabbed him 5 or 6 times, pretty much crippled him. While I worked there, the cons killed an old guard at a different institution, which resulted in a really big stink. The shift commander called for authorization to use firearms to put down the riot, and was denied permission. Well, he was so pissed off, he passed out riot guns, and according to the Cap't. "Shot the shit out of everybody".

And that's a fact...they brought one to MSP (we had the hospital) that took a load to his chest and the side of his head. I was working the control center desk that nite. He was lucky they were firing the two #4 duck and goose loads that they topped the magazine off with at the time, the rest of the magazine was loaded with 00 buck.

A couple of years before I went to work there, the con's murdered an LT who was working his last day before retirement. They stabbed him something like 56 times, stabbed his eyeballs out of his head, then stuffed him under a bunk in one of the housing units. Talked to an old guard who responded...said it was the most gruesome thing that he had ever seen.

I was only there for a couple of years, but I can tell stories for a week.

Bottom line is, there is no need to stockpile people like this. And after a few years, they become so institutionalized that there is no way that they can ever return to society, even if they calm down.

Do you want one living next to you?

Chas

PS: I believe in the death pentaly.

About says it all.....
 

[SIZE="3"]So do I but with conditions. To be convicted there would have to be forensic evidence and circumstantial evidence both strong enough on their own to secure a conviction for a lesser crime. A guilty verdict would automatically be commuted to life imprisonment; no time limit. Anyone convicted could at any time walk through a door and be 'put to sleep'. No pain, no stress, just gone. My thoughts are that anyone wrongly convicted would not do this but would instead try to win an appeal.

Maybe this is a bit simplistic but it's not unknown for mistakes to be made.

It would have to be clear cut evidence that the person had murdered another human being. Too many mistakes are made as recent DNA evidence is showing us. I kind of like combworks idea.

Well, I for one have no problem with ensuring that only the guilty go to prison. The penal system does not create better citizens.

Chas

Michigans so fucking liberal you could shoot a news anchor in the head on the nightly news and they would give you 20 years of soft time and release you in 10.

Kill someone and you get it right back. Thats the way it should be.

Great post, thanks Chas. If I had your experiences in these regards I am sure I would feel the same.
I would also be pro death penalty if indeed we could be sure the accused is guilty as Combwork suggests.

Yep. An' DO IT, don't drag it out over 15-20 years' worth of appeals, delays, retrials, etc.

Fair enough but..................
 

If you are going to take someone's life for committing a 'crime' you've got to be absolutely sure you've got the right person, or at least as certain as it's possible to be. Forget double jeopardy, if new evidence is found or a new way of analyzing existing evidence, bring them back to Court. This maybe sounds like I'm soft on crime but I'm not, just cautious. The last man to be hung in Britain was subsequently found to have been innocent. A bit simple minded; the Police had no trouble getting an admission of guilt out of him.

Isn't there something about; "It's better for 100 guilty men to go free, rather than one innocent man be imprisoned"? I too, think you would have to have DNA, eye witness proof, and other things before executing a man. That said though, I like the way the Russians do it in their gulags. I read that if you are sentenced to die there, they stick you in their "Death Row" where you spend your time wondering when they will come for you. There is no set date, it's up to the discretion of the prison officials. When they do decide it's your day, they lead you to the end of the cells, put you on your knees, and shoot you in the back of the head (all in hearing distance of the other death row inmates). Snikies!:eek: