This past week, Q-line asked: Where do you stand on capital punishment and why? Here are your responses: “I AM FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Crimes and criminals have gotten worse and worse and worse over time. Without this deterrent, things would be even worse than they are currently.”
“THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT decision was not unanimous. I do not support capital death punishment due to the horrible imbalance of the judicial system — a system that allows poop-head prosecutors and judges to make decisions based on the findings of a poop-head jury, often due to the failings of a poop-head defense attorney. A recent example of a judicial system failing was the incarceration of a young woman who allegedly poisoned her Marine Corps husband. She has now been set free due to a re-evaluation of the evidence against her. It took two-and-a-half years for the judicial system to come to its senses regarding her wrongful incarceration. Keep in mind folks, she is only one of many prison inmates who are innocent of a crime and are cooling their heals in the big house due to the prosecutor being a better talker than the defense attorney. I can go on and on regarding the multiple improprieties of the judicial system, but I will not. I have ran out of poop.”
“THE SOONER WE BEGIN EXECUTING murderers, the better. They’re not fit to live. Murderers do not deserve to be rehabilitated. They do not deserve to be released. They should be dragged crying and screaming to their execution. Show them the same mercy they showed their victims. Better to execute them, you know they’ll never kill again. They don’t deserve to be paroled either.”
“I THINK IT’S WRONG. BUT, ON THE other hand, because recently this black man was put on death row, and it turned out the DNA was wrong, it was a total miscarriage of justice. I don’t think I’m really for it.”
“THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS ARE really a sad story of a poor Jew who was legally tried, convicted and executed for sedition by the Romans. What always amazes me is that so-called Christians could be so hypocritical to go to church on Sunday and claim to be good Christians and yet espouse capital punishment. They don’t get it. Jesus was all about peace, love and forgiveness, and yet he was legally executed. And today, many so-called Christians, like President Bush when he was governor, execute people all the time.”
“IF THEY DID IN FACT COMMIT THE crime, I am for the death penalty. I think of the victims, even though the perpetrators are suffering the death penalty. I think about what their victims went through on the way to their death.”
“WE ARE ALL BORN INTO A WORLD OF corruption. Most are not able to see past the illusion of this life. A few fall from the narrow path because they lack discrimination and so commit the most horrible of crimes. These people can never be redeemed in this lifetime. Better to rid this world of their dark influence, thereby allowing our world to become a clearer reflection of the ultimate ideal. This will allow those who are lost to redirect their journey toward a clearer brightness.”
“I DON’T THINK CAPITAL PUNISHMENT is necessary for the murder of our trees here by Community Forester Walt Warriner and the majority of the City Council. But, removing them from office to prevent further damage would be a good idea.”
“I AM AGAINST CAPITAL PUNISHMENT for the simple reason only too often the wrong person is put to death, and it is discovered too late.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2008. Read the original PDF.