Texas rejects EU executions plea Options

[schwab]

I wouldnt expect anything else from a texas response

Texas has told the European Union to mind its own business after the bloc called on the state's governor to get rid of the death penalty.

The EU expressed "great regret" at Texas' preparations to carry out its 400th death penalty and renewed its call to the US to halt executions.

Johnny Ray Conner, 32, will be executed on Wednesday for the 1998 fatal shooting of a grocery store clerk.

But Governor Rick Perry insisted it was a "just and appropriate" punishment.

He was responding robustly to the EU's denunciation of judicial killings as "cruel and inhumane".

The statement from the Portuguese presidency of the 27-nation bloc said: "The European Union strongly urges Governor Rick Perry to exercise all powers vested in his office to halt all upcoming executions and to consider the introduction of a moratorium in the state of Texas."

Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens
Governor's spokesman

It continued: "There is no evidence to suggest that the use of the death penalty serves as a deterrent against violent crime and the irreversibility of the punishment means that miscarriages of justice, which are inevitable in all legal systems, cannot be redressed."

But Robert Black, a spokesman for the Texas governor, told the BBC News website: "Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination.

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens.

"While we respect our friends in Europe ... Texans are doing just fine governing Texas."

According to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, 1,090 executions have taken place in the US since the Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment in 1976.

Texas has carried out more than a third of those.

[impala454]

a very good response imho.

[GOB]

i would expect the vatican to say something, but not the EU

[schwab]

ive seen articles with the US criticizing other countries for the their death penalties, which seems hypocritical to me...and it does not surprise me that the EU would say that...

[impala454]

yeah because we really need to be humane to people who have murdered several people

[THECHICKEN]

Interesting that of all orginizations and people to request this, it was the EU... and not a humane group.

Though its nice to say "stop the death penalty," its not exactly like it can be summarily stopped. The people want it around, so thus their representatives will keep it around. Is it a little out dated, sure, but you need to convince the people of that before it can be stopped... hopefully that'll be done at some point.

Im not fully against the death penalty, but it is way over used in my opinion

[impala454]

well an open question then:

When do you feel the death penalty is necessary?

[schwab]

hell i think its cheaper to just use it and have it over with..but im not fully for the death penalty, its one of those things im not for but dont mind having it. I personally think only people who are committing brutal murders should receive it...but that is more or less the way it is now anyways.....

Death penalty is not stopping people from committing any crimes, as they said....

[impala454]

yeah but it's stopping us from paying for the scum's room & board for the next 50 years.

[chook]

I'm against the death penalty.

[THECHICKEN]

well an open question then:

When do you feel the death penalty is necessary?

In short: extreme cases

Treason
manson
hitler
etc

[FORSAKENR320]

i'm all for it. and the reason it doesn't stop people from committing crimes is because the public doesn't see it first hand. to say "oh, my nieghbor just died" is something way different that SEEING your nieghbor just die. humans are visual creatures, and we are really good at refusing to see what we don't want to. good example:: impala's debate tactics

[THECHICKEN]

i'm all for it. and the reason it doesn't stop people from committing crimes is because the public doesn't see it first hand. to say "oh, my nieghbor just died" is something way different that SEEING your nieghbor just die. humans are visual creatures, and we are really good at refusing to see what we don't want to. good example:: impala's debate tactics

Yes, and we could also make many lessor crimes death penalty eligible (stealing, etc.) like in the old west, because if it deters then its an ok thing to do right?

Joking aside though, i just think that if we hope to move forward as a species we need to stop with the idea of "you killed someone, so we're gonna kill you right back". If we have laws against killing, it just seems odd that so many could be put to death by the very same laws...

[blaarg]

I've heard death penalty cases cost more than incarcerating the individual for the rest of his/her life. More expensive appellate process, more money to house them on the death row, expensive of the actual execution, etc... outweighs simply throwing them in prison for the rest of their life.

It's tough to get an unbiased opinion to back up this claim (google "death penalty cost" and see what I mean), but it certainly seems at the very least a reasonable assumption.

[blaarg]

i'm all for it. and the reason it doesn't stop people from committing crimes is because the public doesn't see it first hand. to say "oh, my nieghbor just died" is something way different that SEEING your nieghbor just die. humans are visual creatures, and we are really good at refusing to see what we don't want to. good example:: impala's debate tactics

This is the crux of Camus's argument against the death penalty in "Resistance, Rebellion, and Death".
A good read...