Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 27, 2006 21:02:03 GMT -5
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Time to end death penalty":
The editorial appeals to common sense dictating the abolishment of this form of punishment. The approximately 65 % of Americans - according to a Gallup Poll - who still favor this action simply don't look at facts to come to a logical conclusion. It is self-evident they are only interested in retaliation or vengeance without regard for the life of an innocent man - 123 exonerations since 1976 - or believing this threat is actually a deterrent to crime.
As a moral issue, the debate will go on, with one person quoting scripture and another pleading for compassion. The Star's editorial did not address the issue that even the most stubborn person cannot ignore: the staggering costs associated with capital punishment.
In California, it costs taxpayers more than $114 million annually to house condemned people beyond the cost of having these same people in isolated cells for the rest of their lives. Taxpayers have spent $250 million per execution for killers already put to death.
Add to this the fact that our governor has signed a bill to borrow and spend $220 million to more than double the size of death row. That money will have to be paid back by our children instead of spending it on housing or education.
We can do something about this. No judge can impose the death penalty if the jury refuses to impose the punishment in the first place. We can also tell Greg Totten, our district attorney, that we want life without parole for capital offenses. Just for the record, Ventura County has sent 15 people to death row. The earliest was sentenced in 1980 and is still there.
- Bruce P. Hamilton,Westlake Village
**
Journey offers hope
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Time to end death penalty":
This is an editorial long overdue. In my opinion, the execution of only 1 innocent person is enough to get rid of the death penalty everywhere.
As the mother of a murder victim, I felt I had to practice what I preach and joined a group of people in Texas, who, with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, went on a Journey of Hope "From Violence to Reconciliation," a 17-day trip that started in Houston with a quiet vigil in front of the prison in Huntsville where executions take place.
These people came from many states, from Hawaii to Alaska, California to Massachusetts, and states in between. The group consisted of parents of murder victims, relatives of people on death row, mothers of executed victims and men who had spent many years on death row before finally being exonerated.
We had the opportunity to tell our stories in churches, high schools, colleges and universities, wherever we were invited, including speaking in front of the College of Law in Austin.
The reception we received from all, especially the young people, was very gratifying, especially when they acknowledged it by coming to give you a hug and thanking you for coming.
Our journey ended in Austin, where we met with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
There will be another journey in Virginia this October, and, if at all
possible, I hope to be there. I cannot think of a more worthwhile project for myself at this time of my life.
- Elvira Ramirez Crutcher,Oxnard
**
Punishment irreversible
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Time to end death penalty":
We appreciate The Star's editorial, a compelling summary of the reasons why the death penalty fails California. The new debate about the constitutionality of the use of lethal injection is just the most recent in a long line of complications in administering the death penalty - complications that will never be resolved.
One of the most important issues the editorial highlighted was the number of innocent death row inmates who have been exonerated in the last 30 years. Each day, there is more and more evidence that we have, in fact, executed an innocent person. Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune started a 3-part series on the case of Carlos De Luna, a man who may have been wrongfully executed in 1989 by the state of Texas.
The execution of an innocent person is one of the strongest arguments for abolishing the death penalty. All too often, our justice system makes terrible mistakes by convicting innocent persons. There must be a way of rectifying these mistakes. The execution of an innocent person is the ultimate governmental mistake that we cannot permit.
- Natasha Minsker,Death penalty policy director,ACLU of Northern
California,San Francisco
(source: Letters to the Editor, Ventura County Star)
The editorial appeals to common sense dictating the abolishment of this form of punishment. The approximately 65 % of Americans - according to a Gallup Poll - who still favor this action simply don't look at facts to come to a logical conclusion. It is self-evident they are only interested in retaliation or vengeance without regard for the life of an innocent man - 123 exonerations since 1976 - or believing this threat is actually a deterrent to crime.
As a moral issue, the debate will go on, with one person quoting scripture and another pleading for compassion. The Star's editorial did not address the issue that even the most stubborn person cannot ignore: the staggering costs associated with capital punishment.
In California, it costs taxpayers more than $114 million annually to house condemned people beyond the cost of having these same people in isolated cells for the rest of their lives. Taxpayers have spent $250 million per execution for killers already put to death.
Add to this the fact that our governor has signed a bill to borrow and spend $220 million to more than double the size of death row. That money will have to be paid back by our children instead of spending it on housing or education.
We can do something about this. No judge can impose the death penalty if the jury refuses to impose the punishment in the first place. We can also tell Greg Totten, our district attorney, that we want life without parole for capital offenses. Just for the record, Ventura County has sent 15 people to death row. The earliest was sentenced in 1980 and is still there.
- Bruce P. Hamilton,Westlake Village
**
Journey offers hope
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Time to end death penalty":
This is an editorial long overdue. In my opinion, the execution of only 1 innocent person is enough to get rid of the death penalty everywhere.
As the mother of a murder victim, I felt I had to practice what I preach and joined a group of people in Texas, who, with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, went on a Journey of Hope "From Violence to Reconciliation," a 17-day trip that started in Houston with a quiet vigil in front of the prison in Huntsville where executions take place.
These people came from many states, from Hawaii to Alaska, California to Massachusetts, and states in between. The group consisted of parents of murder victims, relatives of people on death row, mothers of executed victims and men who had spent many years on death row before finally being exonerated.
We had the opportunity to tell our stories in churches, high schools, colleges and universities, wherever we were invited, including speaking in front of the College of Law in Austin.
The reception we received from all, especially the young people, was very gratifying, especially when they acknowledged it by coming to give you a hug and thanking you for coming.
Our journey ended in Austin, where we met with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
There will be another journey in Virginia this October, and, if at all
possible, I hope to be there. I cannot think of a more worthwhile project for myself at this time of my life.
- Elvira Ramirez Crutcher,Oxnard
**
Punishment irreversible
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Time to end death penalty":
We appreciate The Star's editorial, a compelling summary of the reasons why the death penalty fails California. The new debate about the constitutionality of the use of lethal injection is just the most recent in a long line of complications in administering the death penalty - complications that will never be resolved.
One of the most important issues the editorial highlighted was the number of innocent death row inmates who have been exonerated in the last 30 years. Each day, there is more and more evidence that we have, in fact, executed an innocent person. Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune started a 3-part series on the case of Carlos De Luna, a man who may have been wrongfully executed in 1989 by the state of Texas.
The execution of an innocent person is one of the strongest arguments for abolishing the death penalty. All too often, our justice system makes terrible mistakes by convicting innocent persons. There must be a way of rectifying these mistakes. The execution of an innocent person is the ultimate governmental mistake that we cannot permit.
- Natasha Minsker,Death penalty policy director,ACLU of Northern
California,San Francisco
(source: Letters to the Editor, Ventura County Star)