The Death Penalty - Does it Work?

[i n e p t]

So, poor Troy "was raised in a troubled home environment and left mentally scarred by parents who had been treated for depression." Too freaking bad! What about Steve's two kids who are now mentally scarred for life because their dad was horribly taken away from them at an early age? What about them, huh?

well...i guess that if they murder someone out of cold blood, then they too will be justified...here's another perfect example of deresponsibilisation...and they wonder why people do anything that pleases themwhat is going to be the standard if you start saying "oh this person had a bad childhood, this person was beaten every day", etc., etc. everyone has a sob story, it does not excuse this kind of behavior, period.

[El Clammino]

If you kill someome in an intentional, violent manner. You should die as punishment. The real sad fact is that it the tax payers have been footing this sh!tbags haybill for the past 20 years.

At the time, I thought that the Death Penalty was justified in this case. I've been looking forward to it happening but now that it's arrived, I just don't know any more. It has been twenty years now and it seems to have been forgotten by most if not all of society.

If the execution was fifteen years ago, how would you have felt?

Sorry for your loss.

[GrandDad]

Well, the saga continues:

Metallica Murderer Gets Death Chamber Reprieve



So, poor Troy "was raised in a troubled home environment and left mentally scarred by parents who had been treated for depression." Too freaking bad! What about Steve's two kids who are now mentally scarred for life because their dad was horribly taken away from them at an early age? What about them, huh?

I'm about sick to death with this thing myself. I didn't hardly get any sleep at all last night.

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments. This thread has been a good form of therapy for me. Thanks again.

BTW, I have always been a fan of Metallica. And I'm sure they don't appreciate being mentioned in the same sentence with this lowlife.

"About 40 minutes after he could have been put to death Thursday night, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials in Huntsville received word the high court indefinitely had blocked the punishment. "

40 minutes after ?
That sounds wrong .
Who delayed it ? and had the Auth. to do that ?

[3fingersalute]

"About 40 minutes after he could have been put to death Thursday night, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials in Huntsville received word the high court indefinitely had blocked the punishment. "

40 minutes after ?
That sounds wrong .
Who delayed it ? and had the Auth. to do that ?

Guess it's one of those things.........they knew it was coming, so they kind of "had problems" and fiddled around until the call came in.

[geoscomp]

"About 40 minutes after he could have been put to death Thursday night, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials in Huntsville received word the high court indefinitely had blocked the punishment. "

40 minutes after ?
That sounds wrong .
Who delayed it ? and had the Auth. to do that ?

It was delayed because the Supreme court was reviewing the case and in process of deliberating the verdict..all cases under review are in a holding pattern till the ruling is passed down

[NooNoo]

Don this is horrible for you and for the Horton Family. I could never get my head round why deathrow takes so long once it has been proved beyond all doubt that the person did it.

I know the judges must be very sure, but I don't see why it takes 20 years to find out whether Kunkle was responsible for his actions or not... as this seems to be the thrust of his case.

Perhaps there is more to reasoning behind the 20 year stalling than is public knowledge.

[GrandDad]

It was delayed because the Supreme court was reviewing the case and in process of deliberating the verdict..all cases under review are in a holding pattern till the ruling is passed down

Ok , didn't know that .

But its not right , they should be able to decided something before the last minute , they just don't wanna decided , busy playing Golf or whatever

[silencio]

Not to diminish your experience but in the words of Ron White "in my state if you kill someone we will kill you back." 19 years on death row... Lawyers seem to be interested in litigation. Is justice even a consideration anymore?

[Shard92]

Yes, your answer is simple, but does not answser the question Don asked. He asked if it helps to deter people from murdering in the first place.

No I was answering the original question.... Does the death penalty work? Yes it does. Very few killers have been able to kill again after execiton, and those who have are because the execution wasn't done thoroughly.

as far as deter.... Nothing deters.... there will always be nuts out there and always be people who just don't care, then you have the stupid who don't realize what is at steak and the intelligent who don't think they could possibly get caught..... so no nothing deters..... although maybe public executions would to some degree but.... Maybe I should clarify though.... nothing deters completely....

[ilovetheusers]

Don, I'm sorry man.

I just don't understand what these people are thinking.

[DonJ]

Found some more info on the decision to stay his execution:

Heavy-metal killer spared again

HUNTSVILLE — A narrow majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices voted Thursday to halt the execution of a former Roosevelt High School student for the second time this year.

Troy Kunkle already had been served his last meal when the stay came at 6:30 p.m. — a half-hour after his execution was to take place.

The court's decision offered no explanation but indicated the justices split along a familiar 5-4 margin that marks many of their most controversial rulings.

The order came at a time the justices are widely perceived to be prodding Texas judges to look closer at capital punishment appeals — particularly at the state's highest criminal court, which a day earlier denied a similar request from Kunkle.

The justices used just two paragraphs to halt the lethal injection, and Kunkle, who has spent more than half his life on death row, needed only one word to summarize his reaction.

"Ecstatic," he told Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and then added, "Praise God."

The ruling offered only temporary relief to the 38-year-old who shot a Corpus Christi resident during a stickup two decades ago and then recited lyrics from the heavy metal song "No Remorse."

The decision will stall the case until the justices can further review claims Kunkle's attorneys filed only hours earlier. The process could take weeks or months.

And it remains far from clear Kunkle will win a substantial victory, as his four previous postponements ended with no change.

Each stay wears on the family of the victim, Steven Wayne Horton, whose 75-year-old parents wanted to avoid stress by not attending the execution.

"I don't think it's fair and right," Horton's sister Brenda LaCour said by telephone from Corpus Christi. "We've waited too long."

The Supreme Court issued a similar stay in July, nine hours before Kunkle was scheduled to die. Three months later, the court let the case proceed.

This time, however, the five justices who voted to delay the execution would have a more-than-sufficient majority to add the case to the court's docket, should they decide it's warranted.

According to a spokesman for the court, Chief Justice William Rehnquist joined Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas in voting to let the lethal injection flow.

Kunkle's appeal to the Supreme Court followed other recently successful arguments there that before 1991, Texas often did not allow jurors to sufficiently consider mitigating evidence in defendants' backgrounds.

Kunkle's lawyers claim jurors might have spared the then-18-year-old had they heard about his troubled childhood and his family's history of mental illness.

So now it seems like there are undertones of the U.S. Supreme Court versus the Texas State Supreme Court. Especially when it comes to looking at Capital Punishment Appeals. I fear they are going to overturn his Death Penalty. I've seen a couple of website devoted to abolishing the Death Penalty and Kunkle's name has come up several times. Supposedly, a couple of jurors (now years later) claim that they would not have voted for execution had they known about his "troubled childhood." What a crock!

btw, can you imagine them dragging Chief Justice William Rehnquist to the phone to call in his vote? Plus, I like the wording they used, "voting to let the lethal injection flow."

Good Grief! They could make a freaking movie about this whole ordeal.

[TripleRLtd]

Good Grief! They could make a freaking movie about this whole ordeal.

Damn Don, I feel like I just read the script. What a freaking bummer!!
Yeah you're right, it would be an anger inducing movie.

[DonJ]

Yeah, and remember you saw it here first.

If Kunkle had been executed 15 years ago, it sure wouldn't be bothering me now. I guess that's what they mean by "closure". As it is, it's just going to have to wait as "...the process could take weeks or months."

...sigh...

[DonJ]

Latest Update from CNN:
Justices deny review of Texas appeal

In other action Monday, the Supreme Court refused to review the appeal of a Texas death row inmate convicted of murdering a robbery victim nearly 20 years ago.

The Supreme Court had previously voted twice, most recently in a 5-4 order last month, to stay Troy Kunkle's execution while his attorneys filed appeals. His attorneys had argued that Kunkle's drug and alcohol abuse history was not properly considered as mitigating evidence at trial.

Justices declined Monday to accept the appeal, allowing Kunkle's execution to proceed.

In a concurring opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that he had initially agreed to a stay because justices believed they had authority to review the case. However, upon closer review, justices realized the appeal was based solely on state law.

"That result is regrettable because it seems plain that Kunkle's sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution," Stevens wrote.

Kunkle, 38, and several friends were high on drugs and beer and looking for someone to rob when they offered Stephen Horton, 31, a ride home August 11, 1984. Kunkle, then 18, shot Horton in the back of the head with a pistol; the victim had $13 in his wallet.

Three companions received prison terms ranging from 30 years to life.

Defense lawyers said Kunkle was raised in a troubled home and left mentally scarred by parents who had been treated for depression.

The case is Kunkle v. Texas, 04-7271.

[+Daemon+]

if they can kill in cold blood then what would stop them anytime, and pure pressure is not a factor, they would have dont it alread, only way I see is if a friend stuck a gun to there heads and said kill, but ti was not like that. Kill 'em!!!