Alternatives to the Death Penatly

I can honestly say that my position on the death penalty could change from being against it to being for it if someone close to me were murdered. But since I haven't experienced something like that, it is hard for me to change my stance of being pro-life / anti-death penalty. There is a better way than the death penalty - a morally, socially, and economically bad public policy.

In an environment where prisoners are confined to their cell for 23 hours a day, with no human contact or privacy, constantly being monitored by video cameras, only allowed showers on 3 days each week for up to ten minutes at a time, Super maximum prisons sound like a good alternative. There are no contact visits - prisoners sit behind a plexiglass window. Phone calls are strictly limited along with visitation rights. There are no windows in the cells, and the lights are controlled by the guards and may be left on all night and day. Just imagine living like that for the rest of your life. To me, if I were subjected to this kind of living, where everything was out of my hands and I was not allowed to see the light of day for possibly the rest of my life, I would go insane. I wouldn't want to live.

How are we so sure that the death penalty is a punishment to these killers? For all we know, they might want to die. If so, they might not even feel like they were being punished.

Other alternatives suggested by Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP) found on their website are:

-"Persons convicted of capital murder should serve a minimum of 25 years
in prison before the possibility of consideration for parole. Please note:
consideration for parole in no way suggests an inmate will receive parole.
Parole boards must abide by strict but fair standards in deciding who should
receive parole. The abolition of parole endangers prison workers. "

-"In certain cases, imprisonment should be for life, With no possibility
of parole - ever. "

-"While in prison, prisoners who are physically and mentally able should
work in jobs which are not slave-like and allow for some dignity and purpose of
life for the inmate. Such work situations create safer conditions for guards and
others who work in prisons. "

-"A portion of the prisoners' earnings should go to pay for their
incarceration, and a portion should go into a fund for the victims of violent
crime and their survivors. This would allow for a restitution fund for social,
psychological and religious help for victims and survivor families. Such funds
could also provide financial help for families which have lost a wage earner to
murder. "

(http://www.cuadp.org/altern.html)

While none of these can undo the damage done of having killed someone, neither can the death penalty. In the end all it does is promote more killing rather than preventing it; on it's face, it is murder done by the government.

In response to "Too Much Money"

In response to "Too Much Money"
In response to Josh's article, I thought it was well written with valid points and can see where he is coming from. He believes that the proposal of Texas granting $3 billion to cancer research is too much and Texas will not benefit, especially if no cure is found. While I agree that $3 billion is a high number and think perhaps it should not all be given at one time, I do believe granting money for cancer research is a good idea.

On a personal level, because my best friend had cancer and beat it, and because I have lost family to it and am therefore at a greater risk for getting it, I would much rather see money going towards cancer research than to the war in Iraq.

Thirty-five thousand people die from cancer a year in Texas alone; compare that to the 3,000 casualties from September 11th, and the billions of dollars that are going towards the war in Iraq, sparked from September 11, which is killing more people than saving people. Not that those fallen on 9/11 should not receive justice, I'm just saying that money could just as well be going towards finding cures for cancer, and other deadly diseases.

Even if no cure is found right away, the money spent is used for a good purpose and contributes to bringing researchers that much closer to finding a cure.

Death Penalty: Justice or Murder?

Texas is known for being a state that carries out the death penalty. American Society should not view the death penalty as a form of justice but rather as a barbaric compromise to the confidence we have placed in our judicial system. The decision of choosing who gets to live based on how "grotesque" and horrible their crime is, even if it is the same crime, is arbitrary and contradicts the principle of equality our country was founded on. Not to mention, there is no guarantee of justice, because everyone has their own definition of what justice really is. Just because a victim's life was taken, killing the person responsible will not bring them back. Due to the lack of better judgment on someone's behalf, our supposed equal distribution of punishment is broken. The distribution of the death penalty is never fair either. Not everybody who commits murder is given the death penalty, either because of the state laws, the jury, or plea deals they are given. I am not saying these murderers should not be punished, quite the opposite. I am just curious where we should draw the line between cruel / unusual punishment and justice. When it comes down to it, we're committing the same crime. If a citizen kills somebody, it's called murder; yet if the government takes a life, it is considered justice. When you think about it, we're punishing murder with murder; where is the lesson in that? I find this most disturbing, and I do believe there are other alternatives to the death penalty. It doesn't really solve anything in the long run; it is just more killing and an easy way out instead of dealing with the real issues.

Possesion of Child Pornography Puts Woman Behind Bars for 8 years

Justified or Too Lenient?

More often than not, when we hear in the news about a sex offender, usually we are told about a man. Very rarely in the news do we hear about women committing sex crimes, especially against children. Although the child pornography was found on 22-year-old Channelview woman, Renee Allene Lofton's computer, that doesn't mean she went out and molested any children. At her sentencing hearing, Lofton told the court that she did not collect over "1,400 pictures and three movies of children being sexually abused" for sexual gratification, but because they brought back memories of her "sexual experiences as an adolescent." Lofton was sentenced to eight years behind bars.

To our knowledge, based on the article and the information given, Lofton did not act out on her "urges," making it difficult to determine whether or not eight years behind bars is a just punishment for possession of pornography. Although I'm glad the government is putting their foot down and being more harsh on sex offenders, including women and not just men, if Lofton indeed did not act out any "urges" after seeing these images, then eight years seems extreme for only having the pornography in her possession, not that I in any way condone this. If however, Lofton did abuse children, then her sentence just might be too lenient. I must say though, because she says it reminds of her "adolescent sexual experiences," assuming by this she means she was sexually abused as a child, by possessing these pictures, she is still living in her past with the abuse and has not received the proper treatment to start the healing process. If what she says is true about her childhood, a mandatory psychotherapy treatment should be added to her sentence. Just putting sex offenders behind bars for a given amount of time then releasing them will not help them and is putting society at a greater risk; it might even make them worse if no medical treatment is administered.



Original article:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Child_Porn.html

Has TX Begun to Rethink the Death Penalty?

It is no secret that Texas is a state that willingly carries out the death penalty when and if it is the chosen punishment. However, in a recent article, it seems that the death penalty ruling could come to a halt while judges debate a recent appeal for Heliberto Chi. Chi was scheduled to be given the lethal injection tonight, October 3rd, 2007, for killing an Arlington store manager in 2001. Though the death penalty is not permanently gone, "It seems clear, based on the actions (by the two courts), that executions will be on hold for the next several months," said Andrea Keilen. According to the article, the recent halt in the executions are due to emerging details from another death penalty case. Apparently the Texas Courts refused to stay open past 5 p.m. on September 25th, so Michael Richard's lawyers, (another death row inmate, who did take the lethal injection later that night), could file an appeal on Richard's behalf. The Judge residing over the case, Cheryl Johnson, did not learn about the request until she read it in an American Statesman story. "It was revealed Tuesday that the decision was made by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller without consulting any of the court's eight other judges or later informing them about the decision ."



I personally have always been against the death pentalty because I believe the decision of choosing who gets to live based on how "grotesque" and horrible their crime is, even if it is the same crime, is arbitrary and contradicts the principle of equality our country was founded on. Not to mention, there is no guarentee of justice, because everyone has their own definition of what justice really is. Just because a victim's life was taken, killing the person responsible will not bring them back. The American Society should not view the death penalty as a form of justice but rather as a barbaric compromise to the confidence we have placed in our judicial system. Due to the lack of better judgement on a Texas Judge's behalf, our supposed equal distribution of punishment is broken. A man who committed the same haneous crime of murder as another man, was given lethal injection while the other may get his sentence changed to life in prison because of a bad judgement call. I am not saying these murders should not be punished, quite the opposite. I am just curious where we should draw the line between cruel / unusal punishment and justice. When it comes down to it, we're committing the same crime. If a citizen kills somebody, it's called murder; yet if the government takes a life, it is considered justice. I find this much disturbing, and I do believe there are other alternatives than the death penalty. It doesn't really solve anything in the long run; it is just more killing and an easy way out instead of dealing with the real issues. In response to this article, I hope this will bring greater attention to the flaws of our system and people will rethink their stand on what justice really is.





ORIGINAL ARTICLE

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/10/03/1003court.html

"Prisoners nabbed after female guard killed"


Two inmates, Jerry Martin and John Ray Falk, were working in a field outside the Wynne Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice north of Huntsville when they killed a woman prison guard after over powering her and running her over in a stolen pick up truck. Both prisoners were apprehended within a few hours. Before being caught though, escapees carjacked a woman outside a Guaranty Bank and stole her red pick up truck. After a shootout with the officers near the bank, the twosome got away. Falk was obtained within an hour but Martin remained at large and was believed to be armed.




(link to original article):
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/092407kvueescapee3-cb.106da4fd9.html