Re: [nukkad] Capital punishment - Sordid Statistics

["Samira Razdan" <>]

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There are moments when art attains almost to the dignity 
of manual labour.  -- Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)
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Pankaj wrote...
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Many of you have presented your views on the capital punishment for
rape. Some find it the only way, some find it one way, and some
outright reject it. The cause for rejection is cited as the fact that
it is against Gandhian principle of non-violence or some similar
reasoning. Homi ji raises pertinent point when he asks would it
actually stop the crime?...
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Frankly speaking... I am not an advocate of capital punishment. But
when I read what Az and the others had to say... I admit... I was
carried away for a while... :-(
On Thanksgiving Day... I met some of my friends and we discussed
this matter. And I found that most people were undecided. Very few
could really make up their minds and say an emphatic "Yes" or "No".
Later...

1. A friend forwarded the following to me...

Bud Welch lost his three year old daughter, Julie, in the Oklahoma bombing 
in 1995. After the McVeigh verdict was announced he said:
"I'm opposed to the death penalty. It's vengeance that doesn't do my
heart any good... A lot of people have walked up to me today - at least 15 
or 20 - to tell me that's what they wanted to say but were afraid to say it 
publicly."
To the question whether the death penalty would help the healing process, 
Welch answered: "The death penalty would be a setback, an absolute setback, 
to the healing process."

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2. Here are some figures from the Stanford Law School Library ...

After the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 the number of 
executions increased dramatically from one in 1977, peaking at 98 executions 
in 1999. The execution rate has since fallen, with only 66 executions in 
2001. However, the size of death row has increased – today’s death row 
population is the largest in U.S. history. But there is mounting evidence 
that this system is failing. Between 1973 and 2002, 102 death row inmates in 
24 states were found to be innocent and released from death row, more than a 
third of them in the last seven years

There is also irrefutable evidence that the way in which the death penalty 
is applied is grossly unfair and discriminatory:

- There is a double standard for rich and poor. The quality of legal 
representation is a better predictor of whether or not someone will be 
sentenced to death than the facts of the crime. The quality of legal 
representation depends on whether or not you can hire a lawyer. Almost all 
people on death row could not afford to hire a qualified attorney.

- Where a death sentence is sought determines whether a defendant is 
sentenced to death, more than the circumstances of the crime.

- The race of the victim is often a decisive factor in capital sentencing 
decisions. Almost all death sentences in this country – 81 percent – involve 
white victims. 174 black people have been executed for killing a white 
person, but only 12 white people have been executed for killing a black 
person.

- 35 percent of death row inmates are black, although African Americans 
constitute only 12 percent of the US population.
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So, folks... the data presented above shows that... in the US, capital
punishment is administered arbitrarily and unfairly, and fails to
deter crime or improve public safety.
And ... it is the ultimate denial of civil liberties...
So  ... how can it be a fair punishment ?

-Sam.










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