I voted, with some reservations, to keep the death penalty. Why? Because it seems it only applies to certain murderers, some who have been on death row now, for years.
With appeal after appeal, which is legal, these criminals have dodged being executed, for twice their lifetime. There are so many loopholes, when it comes to legality, these people knew what they were doing, in the first place.
Murder, in the first degree, cannot be attributed to insanity. At least, that is my theory. Second degree? The same. So how many of these criminals are in state hospitals being treated for mental instability? They sit in prisons, knowing full well what they did and knowing that they are due the appeals that go with the sentence hoping that new evidence will be brought forth which sometimes it is.
There have been some cases where new evidence has set some prisoners free after years of incarceration. How many innocent people have been executed? I say, the evidence was there in the first place, but, sloppily overlooked just so a person can be charged and sentenced and the case can be closed and the D. A. or defense can earn their respective places in society.
Consider the Medgar Evans murder. He was gunned down in front of his home thirty years before evidence enough was found to send the proper murderer to prison. This killer was Byron de la Beckwith and everybody knew that he was the one who had shot Medgar but there was not evidence enough until Myrlie, Medgar’s wife, insisted on a new trial thirty years later. Sure enough, Byron was found guilty and sent to prison where he died in the way later years of his life.
Byron de la Beckwith was not insane. He had a cocky attitude and knew that by the time his appeals ran out, he would most probably die a natural death.
Rumor has it that evidence, the gun that was used to shoot Medgar was found in a closet in the then judge’s chamber.
The death sentence needs to stay enforced. There are acts of insanity, which most defending attorneys use of course, and then, there are gang-related and others which are just plain murder (first degree).
Even with a death sentence hanging over one’s head, there are still attorneys working with these criminals on their appeals, etc. The criminally insane cannot be helped as far as I am concerned. Even were it so, on medication, these people still need to be monitored for without the medication, all is lost.
Yes, keep the death penalty.