Despite Oklahoma Republican attorney general calling for execution to be halted it is pressing ahead.

Easy solution: do away with the death penalty.

Goonie said:

Oklahoma death row inmate loses clemency bid despite attorney general appeal

Only Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Richard Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May

www.theguardian.com

Should be an easy decision for the governor.

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Should be a call to examine the idea of state sanctioned killing.

Come on, guys. I'm sure he's guilty of something, and after 25 years in the slammer, what good is he anyway?

It's ridiculous these things take so long. I wonder how many sitting on death row have died of natural causes. I think there should at least be a statute of limitations.

Public attitudes on the death penalty in the US are rather complicated.

And when you look at the polling/survey data, it's clear that there are people who hold positions that create a bit of a paradox.



The overwhelming majority in the US acknowledge the risk that an innocent person could be put to death. Nearly two-thirds openly admit that it doesn't deter crime, over half acknowledge that it disproportionally impacts Black people.

Yet, 60% of people support it.

It's an issue that, I'll admit, I've gone back and forth on.

On one hand, the evidence is cut and dry, the government makes mistakes and the judicial/criminal justice system is not perfect.

Since 1973, at least 190 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
For every eight people executed, one person on death row has been exonerated.

Ordinary Christian said:

It's ridiculous these things take so long.

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To answer your question, that's why it takes so long...if executions were a "speedy" process, at least 190 people would've been wrongfully murdered by the government for something they didn't do.


On the other hand, if there was (what I thought to be) 100% air tight proof that someone murdered one of my family members, I think most honest people would admit that their initial gut reaction would be "fry 'em, and make it slow and painful"...it's just a natural human emotion, so I can understand the survey results.


But with regards to this particular case, I think the irregular nature of the "evidence" and all of the anomalies warrant clemency. Nobody as ever even claimed that this guy was the one who did the killing. A hotel maintenance worker (who was a self admitting drug addict) killed the person with a baseball bat, and then struck a deal with the state (in order to get life without parole instead of execution, themselves) and claimed that the other guy ordered the killing (despite there being no other corroborating evidence to support the maintenance worker's story)

Even if one feels that that a case can be made for the death penalty in cases where there's air tight evidence, said evidence was lacking for this case.

I think some of these unfortunate people are used as pawns in the death penalty debate, where their actual case (and the details) becomes secondary to politicians trying to show the public which side of the debate they're on.

ThatRobGuy said:

Public attitudes on the death penalty in the US are rather complicated.

And when you look at the polling/survey data, it's clear that there are people who hold positions that create a bit of a paradox.

View attachment 330550

The overwhelming majority in the US acknowledge the risk that an innocent person could be put to death. Nearly two-thirds openly admit that it doesn't deter crime, over half acknowledge that it disproportionally impacts Black people.

Yet, 60% of people support it.

It's an issue that, I'll admit, I've gone back and forth on.

On one hand, the evidence is cut and dry, the government makes mistakes and the judicial/criminal justice system is not perfect.

Since 1973, at least 190 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
For every eight people executed, one person on death row has been exonerated.



To answer your question, that's why it takes so long...if executions were a "speedy" process, at least 190 people would've been wrongfully murdered by the government for something they didn't do.


On the other hand, if there was (what I thought to be) 100% air tight proof that someone murdered one of my family members, I think most honest people would admit that their initial gut reaction would be "fry 'em, and make it slow and painful"...it's just a natural human emotion, so I can understand the survey results.


But with regards to this particular case, I think the irregular nature of the "evidence" and all of the anomalies warrant clemency. Nobody as ever even claimed that this guy was the one who did the killing. A hotel maintenance worker (who was a self admitting drug addict) killed the person with a baseball bat, and then struck a deal with the state (in order to get life without parole instead of execution, themselves) and claimed that the other guy ordered the killing (despite there being no other corroborating evidence to support the maintenance worker's story)

Even if one feels that that a case can be made for the death penalty in cases where there's air tight evidence, said evidence was lacking for this case.

I think some of these unfortunate people are used as pawns in the death penalty debate, where their actual case (and the details) becomes secondary to politicians trying to show the public which side of the debate they're on.

Click to expand...

Maybe this is my inner technocrat brain taking over, but I’d think we’d make more headway doing away with capital punishment if we sidestepped the morality question altogether and just focused on how bad a job we do of convicting the right people. You’ve already got 78% of the population acknowledging that there’s some amount of risk there. How much effort does it take to convince them that the risk is even worse than they realize? Let the 64% hold their convictions that capital punishment is morally okay in theory, with the argument that, in practice, it’s not worth the risk of executing innocent people.

iluvatar5150 said:

Maybe this is my inner technocrat brain taking over, but I’d think we’d make more headway doing away with capital punishment if we sidestepped the morality question altogether and just focused on how bad a job we do of convicting the right people. You’ve already got 78% of the population acknowledging that there’s some amount of risk there. How much effort does it take to convince them that the risk is even worse than they realize? Let the 64% hold their convictions that capital punishment is morally okay in theory, with the argument that, in practice, it’s not worth the risk of executing innocent people.

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I think your approach has been tried, but hit a wall in a lot of red states.

In large part, due a large percentage of the population in those states that feel that it's a Biblical duty for government to engage in such things, combined with misguided sentiment that "liberals just want to be soft on crime" (granted, some of the actions of elected Democrats over the past 5 years aren't doing any favors with regards to trying to dispel that stereotype)

Some republican governors of red states have tried to pause/restrict it, usually for reasons where they're dealing with "failed lethal injections" and highlighting how mistakes are made (and end up hitting opposition from their own party who quickly start pushing for that pause be lifted).


Admittedly, I'm not sure what the delegated powers are for such things between state & federal level with regards to the death penalty specifically, but I feel like it would have a better chance of getting prohibited at a federal level than it would be at the statehouses of certain states.

Either way, it's going to be a long road given the current polling numbers on the matter:
17% of Republicans, 37% of Independents, and 56% of Democrats said they opposed capital punishment.

Barely over half of democrats oppose it according to this source, those opposition numbers would need to be higher across all 3 cohorts in order for it to have a chance of passing.

People would have to start weighing pragmatism over "revenge fantasy" here in the US.

Dr. Phil has been coming on christian tv between sermons to plead with people to come to the capital steps on Tuesday morn for a rally for this man. Please go if you agree. I'm not familiar with this but Dr. Phil is convinced of his innocence and this is out of the norm for him.

Drug users don’t think about the long term effects of drug use. Most criminals don’t think about the possible punishment if caught. The death penalty doesn’t prevent crime. It is vengeance, pure and simple.

I'm don't know what that has to do with whether he is guilty of this crime or not.