He didn't do it!

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Yes boys and girls, I am proud to say Michigan does not have a death penalty and Desmond Ricks is going home.
Are those two separate ideas, or is the "and" in there to connect them somehow?
 

skyraider

Veteran Expediter
US Navy
The story will probably be on one of those detective shows in the near future.....it took 25 years to fix this mess??amazing..something smells?????????????????
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Much of it is politics and trying to get a local win. Much different than whether someone is guilty or whether justice is actually served.
 
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Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Yep. In most cases, there's no place in a court room for truth or justice. It's whether you win or lose. It's only relatively recently that prosecutors even had to inform the defense of any exculpatory evidence that would exonerate the defendant. Before the landmark Brady v. Maryland decision in 1963, prosecutors could have evidence that proved the defendant didn't do it, but they could just set that evidence aside and keep it to themselves in order to get that win. Cops that lie, manufactur or withhold evidence are known as Brady Cops.
 
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LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
With irrefutable DNA evidence, confirmed by two independent labs to remove any argument from even some people (some on this forum) yes, the death penalty should be applied. That is the only deterrent for some criminals, the certainty of death if convicted.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
The story will probably be on one of those detective shows in the near future.....it took 25 years to fix this mess??amazing..something smells?????????????????
But if he didn't do it, the real killer might still be out there somewhere. The mess still isn't fixed totally.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
That is the only deterrent for some criminals, the certainty of death if convicted.
Not really.
Executions by Year | Death Penalty Information Center
Check out the Fact Sheet at that link.

Horrific executions, carried out swiftly, might be a deterrent, but what we have now is not. In 1984 the average length of time spent on death row was 7 years. That has ballooned today to be 16.5 years. We now average 20 executions a year, and have more than 2800 people on death row.

If the time on death row were reduced to 2 weeks max, and execution were carried out on the courthouse steps by hanging, by guillotine, or my favorite, by wood chipper, then capital crimes would be greatly deterred, or death sentences would be very rarely handed down.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Yes, there needs to be major changes. A maximum of 2 appeals and the best 2 out of 3 side wins. Maximum time for appeal 1 year. So execution will occur a maximum of 2 years after conviction. Public hanging at the county seat of the county the crime is committed in. Hang them Saturday and remove them Monday.
 

Worn Out Manager

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Air Force
I have mixed views on death penalty. After some particularly heinous crimes I think kill the SOB and save time & money. But most of the time the death penalty in not a deterrent. Have fight in a bar, pull out your gun, kill someone, your not thinking about the penalty. Mentally ill (pervert) sees young child, grabs them, rapes them kills them, not thinking about death penalty. Drugged out guy/girl kills someone during robbery, not thinking of death penalty. They say life in prison costs less than the death penalty. So, I don't know the answer

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Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Back when we still had public hanging and firing squad executions, there was a marked drop in violent crime across the board, that lasted about two weeks. Lethal injection and the electric chair showed no such deterrent effect.

Public wood chipper executions would act as a deterrent, and juries would sentence very, very few people to such a death.
 
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