death penalty positions

[Bill McBlueState]

After reading

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=319826
(LBN: Execution Pace Slows Amid Death Penalty Shifts)

I had to wonder: Which of the candidates have come out wholesale against the death penalty? As a death penalty abolitionist, I'm starting to get tired of supporting candidates in spite of their support of the death penalty.

Dean's "only in the most limited circumstances" is acceptable for now, but I wish our candidates would have the courage to call for an outright end to it.

[no name no slogan]

1. Dennis Kucinich

DK is opposed to the death penalty in all situations, and with good reason. Visit www.kucinich.us to see for yourself! :D

[sangha]

2. Sharpton is anti-DP

.

[Bill McBlueState]

3. I found this...

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=846&scid=64

"The Associated Press provided a description of the struggle to execute Ohio death row inmate Lewis Williams on January 14, 2004:

(snip)

"For the first time, witnesses saw members of the execution team insert the needles that will deliver the lethal drugs into an inmate's arms."

(snip)

"Williams, continued to cry out as his mother, Bonnie Williams, 66, sobbed in a room separated by windows from the death chamber.

"He kept pleading even in his final official statement, given at 10:07 a.m. "God, please help me. God, please hear my cry," Williams said.

"Williams continued to cry out even after warden James Haviland pulled the microphone away. Williams continued yelling until 10:08 a.m. when he abruptly stopped speaking. His chest rose and fell a couple times."

And it's f*ing sick.

What sort of person do you have to be to be on one of these "execution teams"? You obviously have to know something about medicine to be able to insert needles in the right places, but still be okay with the idea of killing someone who doesn't want to die.

It's creepy, in a Mengele-esque kind of way. Even more so that it's happening in this country.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

5. We're really quite primitive here. It's embarrassing.....

n/t

[corporatewhore]

4. Kucinich is for bringing us closer to civilised world in terms of dp

[sandnsea]

6. Kerry, except terrorists

I haven't completely studied everything he's said on the death penalty. I just know he's against it. I honestly don't know his rationale for exceptions against terrorists, some things I do accept as not politically smart and in this climate it's not politically smart to be soft on terrorists. But he may have a well-thought out reason that I just don't know about.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

9. Kerry: Only Terrorists. "System is flawed"

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635

Opposes capital punishment, except for terrorists. Believes that the system is flawed so long as innocents are in danger of being executed. johnkerry.com "I'm opposed to the death penalty in the criminal justice system because I think it's applied unfairly, as even Republican governors have determined, and because I'm for a worse punishment. I think it is worse to take somebody and put them in a small cell for the rest of their life, deprived of their freedom, never to be paroled. Now, I think that's tougher."

(Meet the Press, December 1, 2002)

[kerry-is-my-prez]

7. Clark endorsed moratorium on death penalty. "Unpack all cases on death row

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635
According to a recent Miami Herald interview, Clark endorsed a moratorium on the death penalty, saying there has been ''a lot of discrimination and a lot of injustice'' and that cases should be reviewed with DNA evidence.(Miami Herald, September 19, 2003)

"I'll tell you, I'm uneasy about the death penalty. A government like the United States has the right to, in extraordinary cases, take the life of a criminal, but I don't like the way the death penalty has been applied in America. I think it's been applied in an unfair and discriminatory fashion and I think we need to go back and use modern technology and unpack all those cases on death row." (Village Voice, October 29, 2003)

[kerry-is-my-prez]

8. Sparpton, Braun, Kucinich totally oppose it...

n/t

[kerry-is-my-prez]

10. Edwards: "Supports it but advocates reform."

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635
Supports capital punishment, but advocates reform. johnedwards2004.com "We need to make DNA testing more available to death penalty defendants to reduce the risk of wrongful convictions."

[kerry-is-my-prez]

11. Dean: "Should be available for extreme & heinous crimes."

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635
Howard Dean (D)

Believes in the use of the death penalty for heinous crimes involving children or police officers, or as a deterrent to terrorism. deanforamerica.com

"I believe the death penalty should be available for extreme and heinous crimes, such as terrorism or the killing of police officers or young children. But it must be carried out with scrupulous fairness. I applaud former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who imposed a moratorium rather than administer a system in which 13 innocent men were released from death row." (deanforamerica.com)

[kerry-is-my-prez]

12. Gephardt: Supports capital punishment, but advocates reform

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635
Supports capital punishment, but advocates reform. dickgephardt2004.com Co-Sponsor of the Innocence Protection Act (a bill calling for DNA evidence to be allowed in appeals, and for better representation for those facing the death penalty).

[kerry-is-my-prez]

13. Kucinich: death penalty is morally wrong, and racially biased

http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=18&did=635
Dennis Kucinich (D) Believes that the death penalty is morally wrong, and racially biased. Favors Life Without Parole as a morally viable alternative. kucinich.us/ "The imposition of the death penalty is both racially and economically biased. African American defendants are more likely to receive death sentences than others who committed similar crimes. Ninety-eight percent of all defendants sentenced to death could not afford their own attorney."

[Bill McBlueState]

14. thanks for all the research!

:toast: