freespeech

Not to mention, the factor of them being violent as such makes them a threat. If the guys Xbox is so valuable, shouldn't he/they called the cops? Ask for it back?

KK

You say, "kill them and be done with it." I think you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members. We have the ability to kill these people, but when you say, "they should be killed and revived as many times as necessary" it makes me wonder who is the real monster.

Psy

Seriously though, kill them and be done with it. The only part of our legal system that needs fixing is our lack of loser pays. It's in so many other legal systems and it cracks down on frivolous law suits as well as death sentence appeals so we can actually afford to kill these motherf*ckers while whiney ass human rights activists do their best to give them "humane" punishments.

Who decides what is humane anyway? I also don't think an eye for an eye applies here. You kill 6 people and you only die once? They should be killed and revived as many times as necessary to match their kill count. Yeah this whole last paragraph is a joke.

sisedi

Stueymon

Psy

Psy

Psy

Cheers

Psy

For example, if back then you stole my goat, many people think that "an eye for an eye" means that I could go and steal your goat. No, it meant that the criminal should either replace or refund how much I had lost. Pretty much exactly like what the court system is today.

I live in NZ where you cannot sue for personal (physical) injury because we have accident compensation where there is a monetary value that you will recieve if four example you lose a handd, or arm or eye at work. It is the same principal.

So an eye for an eye would not make the whole world go blind, but the people who have lost would be compensated by those who took them. Now, how does someone compensate to you for killing your family? I don't know; personally I don't believe in the death penalty and I can't think of anyway they can make it up to you or to mankind; but my point is "an eye for an eye" is rediculously misquoted.

juliopalio

Psy

Psy

karateka

So really, you shouldn't be disappointed in Kotaku, they're doing the rumor-mongering they're paid to do and have been paid to do since the start of the site. The problem is you assumed they were something more.

bnpederson

Billkwando

rainofwalrus

Not to mention all of the hidden costs associated with death row (lawyers, congested courts, etc.)

LedRush

That is $202,429.15 PER HOUR to keep them eating healthy, watching TV and playing basketball. Almost $1.8 BILLION dollars a year.

Think what that money could do for other programs/agencies if these prisoners already sentenced to die were dealt with swiftly.

KillerBee

/popcorn

rainofwalrus

TearsandScreams

RTW

I don't mind people thinking it's wrong or right (at home or abroad). I just feel that this is obviously a complicated and difficult question on which intelligent people can intelligently disagree.

I just don't appreciate the holier-than-thou attitude displayed by some of those against the death penalty.

LedRush

relic1980

TearsandScreams

Of course. We should all sensor what we say regarding opinions that are not held in every country throughout the entire world. Will that shut up the European criticism of the death penalty, too, or should only opinions that conflict with your own be suppressed.

Blogs have opinions, as do newspapers (ever here of an editorial). If you don't like it, skip to the next article. But please don't write condescending messages solely because people don't share your views.

LedRush

vig0r

rainofwalrus

so easy to wave a flag found only minutes ago.

rainofwalrus

Billkwando

The Southern states are very "eye for an eye" when it's convenient. It's all good until you fuck up, then they get all "Old Testament" on your ass.

@dkmfr: Agreed. I intended to post earlier "I guess this clears up whether Crecente is for or against the death penalty" but I never got around to it. I don't know for sure how I feel about it, but to hear someone say it that way does make me a little uncomfortable.

Either way, if all they wanted was the xbox they could've taken is and left instead of killing people (and their dogs) in their sleep.

These guys wanted to kill.

Billkwando

Argyle

LedRush

so you support torture, but not the death penalty? interesting.

rainofwalrus

cudthecrud

frieze

wild_world_girl

This guy will be electrocuted like he deserves.

Kovitlac

Although, I agree with Heinlein's solution to the problem. Corporal punishment. Beat them... publicly. The emasculation effect alone would probably cause people to commit less crimes. Unless they were into that sort of thing...

ekkobi

There is a clear difference between murder and capital punishment. Treating others' views with condescension won't buttress your argument; it will undermine it.

LedRush

Pezdispenser

Prison should be a punishment, and for the majority of people who repeatedly find themselves there, it's a paradise, I agree with that. I guarantee that if our prisons were ever properly reformed to this ideal, we would be swamped with accusations of "inhumane" treatment. It's insane.

Hell, we're building shiny new prisons right NOW, to the tune of Billions (capitol B intended).

captaindirtnap

I agree to a point, but there should always be a death penalty option for certain crimes. Premeditated murder being one.

KillerBee

Silverwolf

Have you been ever been in prison in order to say that it's "a great life"?And if IT IS a great life then they should try to make it less "great" but i don't think that this justifies the death sentence.I say put someone for life in prison giving him only the basic is enough of a sentence.Maybe by the end of his life he/she finally leaves the past behind and becomes a better person,i mean that's the purpose of a prison isn't it?
Death Penalty is a sorry excuse for a faulty prison system.If the system starts working properly you don't need the death penalty.

badmoogle

The point is, for many prisoners, jail is a MUCH better alternative to working a crappy job for a meager living. In prison they have everything they'll ever need, for free.

Our prison system is beyond broken. They focus too much on catering to their needs rather than punishing them for their crimes. Prisoners should get 3 meals, a bed, basic medical care, four walls and an hour a day to go walk outside in a circle. That's it. No TV, internet, games, etc. They should spend every second in jail regretting being there and wanting to get out. A 68.5% recidivism rate leads me to believe the contrary is happening.

KillerBee

My house was robbed a while ago...I swear that if I find those guys...I'd tie them up and whack them with a bat before I call the cops. That's how pissed I am.

karateka

The 'great life'? Are you sure that isn't screaming tabloid frenzy-speak?

aldo_14

Recidivism is lower (50%) in the UK than US. We do not have the death penalty, and the tabloids frequently claim our prison system is too soft (and it's already threatened by overcrowding forcing early release schemes). This improved rate is frequently attributed to a focus on rehabilitation and training.

Perhaps the US' problem lies in societies problems? I somehow doubt anyone prefers jail to freedom, otherwise surely we'd have hobo riots reported every week in the states. But I also realise it's easier to blame criminals on the whole as being simply deficient, rather than as a symptom of hard-to-address social inequalities.

Don't be ignorant to the fact that the prison system is a failure and that people like these guys cannot be saved or rehabilitated. They murdered these poor people in cold blood over some personal items and the thirst for revenge. Why should they be given the chance to live any longer than their victims have? Had this happened to any of your family members, wives, kids, etc. I highly doubt you would want any thing less than for them to die. If someone brutally murdered on of my children, beating them to death with a bat, I would want to kill them myself....or I could let justice be served and let a jury decide that for me. Thank god juries have the power to do that.

So, what if a member of your family was wrongly convicted and executed? What would be the appropriate price in murder (because that is exactly what the execuation of an innocent person is, whether by state or individual) to pay?

Me, I can't help but remember an anecdote from South Africa, of a death row convict bemoaning the abolition of the death penalty as he now had to look forward to a long, long time behind bars.

aldo_14

KillerBee

little_dragon

But I have to correct you: It's not just a few individuals in america who are in favor of the death sentence, it's the majority of the populace.

Death sentence is a very barbaric thing and stems of a very primitive and tribal desire for revenge and not from any wish to change things about your society to mimize the danger of such crimes happening.

little_dragon

Don't be ignorant to the fact that the prison system is a failure and that people like these guys cannot be saved or rehabilitated. They murdered these poor people in cold blood over some personal items and the thirst for revenge. Why should they be given the chance to live any longer than their victims have? Had this happened to any of your family members, wives, kids, etc. I highly doubt you would want any thing less than for them to die. If someone brutally murdered on of my children, beating them to death with a bat, I would want to kill them myself....or I could let justice be served and let a jury decide that for me. Thank god juries have the power to do that.

KillerBee

This was back in 2006 and they're still fighting over this! The American judicial system is effectively drowning itself in its own policies and loopholes.

psychobaka

karateka

Silverwolf

glutto

PrimetimeFool

Yuki

Pata-pwn(TM?)

Yes, being put to death is bad punishment, but the criminal only has to deal with 5-10 years of death row relying on religion or whatever for comforting solace that he'll have his freedom back again soon. Instead, let the bastards rot for decades. Think for a second how demoralizing it would be to know that for the rest of your long life, you won't be allowed to do anything you enjoy. Forget going out on the weekends, forget being in love, forget video games, forget all of it.

Your life is over once you get a life sentence. Real punishment is keeping your mind alive to think about that fact for years and years.

PrimetimeFool

Its at moments like this where your driven by natural human instincts and the chair seems justifiable.

At least punish the man in severity that he would wish for a death sentence.

On another note, some of you take death very lightly. It does a job on you when you saw it on a daily basis. While you guys are internet-thugging, I had to watch thousands of kids without limbs, getting cut down in the field, just out of tribal tensions.

Just think for a minute before spewing your bile.

Fyren

I'm very disappointed, I thought journalism was supposed to be objective.
This kind of comment sure isn't, especially on the internet where you know you're going to be read by people from lots of different countries. Most of them don't have the same prison/justice system as America and don't abide the death penalty.

Kotaku, you disappoint me.

dkmfr

Pata-pwn(TM?)

The other, more subtle reason is to promote the truth. If two defendants are in separate trials, they may be inclined to embellish their testimony (if they give it) to maximize the other defendant's role in the crime. Two scenarios can play out: 1) both play up the other, jury believes defendant, each is acquitted because each jury thought the other would convict the right man, or 2) both juries think the defendants are huge liars, and both are penalized disproportionately because they can't weigh the defendants' testimony properly. (I must note, saying "my friend did it" is not mutually antagonistic)

So, by trying the defendants together you are giving the jury better tools to find the truth and saving a lot of judicial time.

@battra92: The jury could have been improperly instructed, the prosecutor could have behaved improperly to the point of creating prejudice, the psychiatric evaluation could have been improperly performed . . . appeals generally affirm verdicts, but that doesn't mean they're not a good thing.

@themunk: If he raised an insanity or (I think they have this in FL) asked for a lesser offense based on mental illness, he would have had a thorough psychiatric evaluation. That definitely would have been weighed as mitigation at sentencing.

@Salen, hunter8man, NES8bt: Don't be so quick to deal out death in judgment. Even if we are completely sure someone committed a vicious murder, what does killing the defendant accomplish? The victim is still dead, and instead of barely seeing their relative, the family and friends of the defendant will now never see him again. That's not really justice, it's more enforced equality in misery. I like to think justice is more honorable and nuanced than that.

Fnor

KM91

ChimDeathmonkey

sisedi

robinhood10862

bnpederson

Psy

sometimes you americans make me really sick..

little_dragon

sisedi

Cchrist

Pata-pwn(TM?)

"The three man..."

just can't get over the incorrectness.

chrisgriner

themunk

Since the Boston Molasses Disaster [en.wikipedia.org]

phicaluk

battra92

AngryEddy

Also, since when do killers get adjectives realtive to their viscosity? (sorry, couldn't help it)

NES8bt

Derigor

hunter8man

Salen

I'm also for the criminals getting punished for their crimes, so if he wins his appeal I hope he's tried and fried (or imprisoned).

skrame ☆

I Spit On Your Comments

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