quote:



The city of Houston and the HPD therefore commissioned an independent investigation to answer the profound questions about the depth and breadth of the problems infecting the lab. James Bolding would turn out to be the central figure in the scandal. It was the same James Bolding that fabricated evidence of Mr. Hughes guilt and withheld actual evidence of his innocence.

The results of the investigation cast serious doubt on the quality of the convictions in which the HPD crime lab serology section had been involved. In 21% of the 850 cases where the defendant was still incarcerated, the investigators "found major issues calling into question the reliability of the serology work performed by the Crime Lab or the accuracy of the results it reported". In 41% of the 29 cases in which the defendant had already been executed, the investigators found similar "major issues".

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ORIGINAL: SadistDave

He's black. I believe the children were black as well.

- Black-on-black crime - The courts don't really care. (Tragic, but true)
- The crime involved the rape of a child and the murder of 2 children.
- As Aylee pointed out, there is a fairly involved process to actually get someone to a death chamber.

I don't see a reprieve in the mans future...

-SD-

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ORIGINAL: Yachtie

If the 'evidentiary facts' presented in the OP are correct... something is rotten in Denmark.

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only say this because many conservatives who support the death penalty think it's cheaper, when, in fact, it's not. They go on and on about how they don't want their tax dollars spent keeping some low life in jail all their life, but they fail to take into consideration all the tax dollars spent on the death penalty legal process. And yes, while the process drags on, we are still paying for their imprisonment also. Again, add the death penalty to the growing list of things that conservatives are completely illogical on......

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ORIGINAL: SadistDave

If it makes you feel any better, I think there should be a time limit imposed. If someone cannot prove their innocence in a few years time, then they should go directly to the chair (gas chamber, etc.).

***

There is nothing unconstitutional about that line of thought. The death penalty is not unconstitutional. The Constitution does not concern itself with how a court can legally use the death penalty, only with how it cannot be implemented (cruel and unusual punishment).

You're using an interpretation of the Constitution. The one you happen to like. It is not the only one.

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ORIGINAL: fucktoyprincess

I do not support the death penalty, for all of the reasons discussed by others like Kali above.

So while this man may be executed, I think it is wrong.

I see nothing wrong with life imprisonment for serious crimes (rather than the death penalty). Loss of freedom over an entire lifetime actually seems to me a greater punishment than death.

And, surprisingly, it is often cheaper for society to simply opt for life imprisonment, as the death penalty process is a hugely expensive one.

Also, interestingly, many of the crimes that horrify the most, are often committed by people who are mentally unstable and therefore cannot be executed, anyway.

So taking all these considerations into account (including what others have said), I just feel the death penalty serves no useful purpose, and simply marks us as an uncivilized society.