just so that we are straight-- i have been against the death penalty since as long as i could remember. i write my first research paper, in eighth grade, on the issue of the death penalty and read some fascinating stuff from all sides of the issue. but, i stand firm. for me, killing at the hand of the state is still murder. jesus asked us to turn the other cheek, and walk the second mile. this seems like it translates into rehabilitation instead of retribution in the criminal justice system. (and then there is the eighth amendment). For folks for whom those two arguments don't work, the numbers show that the death penalty is not a deterrent... and it ain't even cheaper than keeping someone in prison for life.
every now and then, there is a story from death row that makes headlines and is so heart wrenching that i can hardly hold my lunch in for the inner turmoil the tragedy causes. Such is the case of troy davis, a man that the state of georgia is preparing to execute. seven of the nine witnesses whose testimony he was convicted upon have recanted. there is no murder weapon. there is no physical evidence. The death of police officers in the line of duty is tragic--but so is the execution of someone wrongly convicted of a crime.
though the georgia state board of pardons and paroles has refused clemency, we still need to urge them to change their mind before it is too late. you can take action here.
stepping off my soap box now. maybe if you are lucky, i will get down off my high horse too.
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I love your soapbox and high horse. The death penalty is nothing but retribution and state sanctioned murder. There is absolutely no research that has ever shown that the death penalty is a deterent. I have never understood how "Christians" can support the death penalty.
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