Here is how human rights activist Dorina Lisson responded to yesterday’s post:
Oh please don't insult my intelligence !!!
The execution costs was meant to be a mere glimpse into the millions of dollars spent each year in the USA over the death penalty system ... whether it be in Oregon, Venus or other US states.
Whatever caused the USA to be in financial poo-poo, can be debated. However, it is blatantly obvious that the USA cannot continue to spend millions of taxpayers' money on the death penalty system, which is riddled with legal errors, is rotten to the core and seriously flawed beyond repair. Life in prison without parole is a cheaper alternative. In case you haven't noticed - the fear/terror/control of death over society is no longer a deterrent. It might have been in your time, but not anymore - things have changed.
You might like to know that a few years ago I did research into the thoughts of prisoners at Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas. One hundred convicted persons were asked whether they would have committed the same crime if they knew, beforehand, that they would be executed for that crime. 98 percent stated they wouldn't have been deterred by the thought of execution. Times have changed ... 'fear' is slowly dissolving among the youth in society. Today's youth are another type of 'assertive' generation with little, if any, fear of consequences.
Sorry, but those execution costs involved just to kill a person, seem outrageous and shameful to the civilized world. And don't tell me to mind my own business - human rights belong to everybody - human rights is everybody's business.
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REBUTTAL:
First of all let me say that I would never insult Dorina’s intelligence. She is a very smart young lady who is passionately dedicated to the cause of human rights. And I agree with her that human rights belong to everybody. Where we differ is that I firmly believe the death penalty is NOT a human rights violation.
While there have been legal errors in capital cases, it is not true that the death penalty system “is riddled with legal errors, is rotten to the core and seriously flawed beyond repair.” When you look at the totality of death penalty cases, the legal errors have been far and few between and the only people who say that it is rotten to the core are those who are opposed to capital punishment.
If the death penalty is no longer a deterrent, which I do not believe, it is only because of the endless appeals which have delayed executions for 10 years or more. This has probably led some killers to believe that if they get caught they will never be executed.
Bob Walsh hit the nail on the head when he said: “Before they castrated themselves the British had a functional death penalty and it operated cheaply and efficiently. From verdict to the drop was six months. Max. You could appeal to anybody you wanted, the Home Secretary, the Monarchy, your mother, it didn’t matter. If your appeal didn’t come through in six months they hung you. It worked and under their system is WAS a deterrent.”
While those who commit a murder in the heat of passion do not think about the death penalty, you can bet that those who are contemplating premeditated murder do. And if it weren’t for the death penalty a lot more murders would be committed by burglars, robbers, rapists and child molesters.
Dorina’s research at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas was deeply flawed. In fact it was meaningless. “One hundred convicted persons were asked whether they would have committed the same crime if they knew, beforehand, that they would be executed for that crime.” Of course 98 percent said they didn’t think about the death penalty. Why didn’t the death penalty deter them? Because the crimes they committed did NOT qualify for capital punishment.
During the 1960s, when executions were usually carried out without delays, a group of researchers surveyed death row inmates in several states. The inmates were asked the same question – did they consider the death penalty before murdering their victim(s)? Naturally, almost all of them said they did not. But those death row inmate surveys were also meaningless. The researchers knew from the get-go that none of the death row inmates were about to admit BEING STUPID by disregarding the possibility of being strapped in the electric chair if they got caught.
Believe me, they thought about the death penalty. Those death row inmates just didn’t think they would be caught. And as insurance in case they might get caught, a lot of armed robbers held up their victims with empty guns back then.
Finally, let me get back to the cost issue. The biggest cost associated with the death penalty is what it costs to fight the endless appeals that are filed while a murderer sits on death row. The death row custodial costs are somewhat higher than those for the regular prison population. But as for those sentenced to life without parole, when you add up what it costs to keep them in prison for 20 or more years, it will cost more for a lifer than for an inmate awaiting execution.
We’re still talking about millions of dollars to maintain those lifers.
As I stated before, the costs associated with the death penalty, when figured on a yearly basis for each individual person condemned to death, are a mere drop in the bucket of an annual state budget. Citing those costs as a good reason to abolish capital punishment is nothing more than one big con job!
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