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Thread: Delaware Capital Punishment News

  1. #21
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kriers View Post
    I use it to get my point across sometimes.
    I have German ancestry, but I'm a natural-born American living in southern Minnesota.
    I don't understand why you're wasting your time on this pro-death penalty site when you could be writing to legislatures encouraging them to sponsor death penalty repeal bills.

  2. #22
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kriers View Post
    I'm just showing my Support for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Delaware!
    Let me help you find your way.

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    Buh-bye

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    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  3. #23
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Not in the mood for another he/she on the site. Ain't nobody got time for that!
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  4. #24
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Hallelujah and amen!

  5. #25
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    Delaware Senate approves repeal of death penalty

    DOVER — The state Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill repealing Delaware’s death penalty after removing a provision that would have spared the lives of 17 inmates currently awaiting execution.

    The measure passed by a vote of 11-10, with five Democrats and five Republicans voting against it. Three Republicans sided with majority Democrats in voting for the bill after a lengthy and sometimes emotional debate.

    The measure, opposed by Attorney General Beau Biden and several leaders of the law enforcement community, now goes to the state House for consideration. Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has refused to say whether he favors the legislation.

    Supporters of the bill argue that the death penalty is morally wrong, racially discriminatory, ineffective as a deterrent to violent crime and far more costly than sentencing killers to life in prison without parole.

    “I just believe that you don’t teach people that killing is bad by killing them,” Sen. Karen Peterson, chief sponsor of the bill, said after the vote.

    “It is homicide, and it is wrong,” Peterson, D-Stanton, said just before the vote, making a Holy Week reference to Jesus’ crucifixion. “We can either do what Pontius Pilate did and wash our hands and say we take no responsibility for their deaths, or we can put an end to it in Delaware.”

    Peterson said her decision to remove the provision sparing the lives of current death row inmates was not an effort to ensure Senate passage of the bill. She instead said she wanted to remove confusion that might lead to arguments over the constitutionality of that provision.

    “It’s just not an argument that needs to be part of this effort,” Peterson said, expressing confidence that the measure will also pass the House.

    Opponents of repealing the death penalty argued that some murders are so heinous that capital punishment is appropriate.

    “It is rarely applied, it is judiciously applied, and it is fairly applied,” said veteran prosecutor Steve Wood.

    Tina Leager, whose husband was shot to death in a 1996 home invasion by two men now on Delaware’s death row, urged lawmakers not to abolish the death penalty.

    “Until you’ve walked in my shoes, you probably couldn’t quite understand what a victim possibly might want,” she said. “Those criminals get to be put to sleep. I witnessed the violence of my husband being murdered in front of me.”

    But opponents pointed to cases in other states where a person sentenced to death has later been exonerated, arguing that it is only a matter of time before an innocent person in Delaware is sentenced to death.

    “Human beings are not perfect … Delaware can’t afford to be wrong,” said Kirk Bloodsworth, a Maryland man who was the first person in the United States freed because of DNA evidence after being convicted in a death penalty case.

    While voting for the bill, some Democrats suggested that lawmakers need to look at how killers serving life without parole are housed in state prisons to ensure that they don’t enjoy the same privileges as other inmates.

    Sen. Robert Marshall, D-Wilmington, suggested that those convicted of first-degree murder be held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, with an hour for exercise.

    Other lawmakers raised the possibility of future legislatures passing laws that could result in reduced prison terms for inmates previously sentenced to life without parole.

    Earlier this month, the Maryland General Assembly approved a measure to ban capital punishment, which would make the state the 18th in the U.S. to do so.

    http://www.delmarvanow.com/viewart/2...-death-penalty

  6. #26
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    Del. Death Penalty Repeal Stalls In Committee

    A bill to repeal Delaware's death penalty has stalled in a House committee after barely clearing the Senate.

    Members of the Judiciary Committee took no action on the measure Wednesday after it appeared it would fail to win passage.

    The measure barely cleared the Senate last month on an 11-10 vote after chief sponsor Sen. Karen Peterson removed a controversial provision that would have spared the lives of 17 inmates awaiting execution in Delaware.

    Supporters of the bill, including many clerics, argue that the death penalty is morally wrong, racially discriminatory, ineffective as a deterrent to violent crime and far more costly than sentencing killers to life in prison without parole.

    Attorney General Beau Biden and several other law enforcement officials have argued that Delaware's death penalty is fairly applied.

    http://www.wboc.com/story/22067515/d...s-in-committee
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  7. #27
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    April 30, 2013

    DE House Panel Tables Death Penalty Repeal Bill

    DOVER, Del. (AP) - A House committee has voted to table a bill repealing Delaware's death penalty.

    Tuesday's vote by the Judiciary Committee came after its meeting last week ended in confusion, with supporters of the bill failing to win approval to table it and opponents prevented from taking a vote against it.

    But majority Democrats acknowledged that the bill did not have enough votes to be released from committee last week.

    Last week's standoff sent House lawyers to work studying whether rules governing House procedures were followed, and the scheduling of Tuesday's special meeting.

    The measure barely cleared the Senate last month on an 11-10 vote, even after chief sponsor Sen. Karen Peterson removed a controversial provision that would have spared the lives of 17 inmates already awaiting execution in Delaware.

    http://www.wmdt.com/story/22114339/d...h-penalty-bill

  8. #28
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    Death penalty appeal ‘a tough battle’

    By Jen Rini
    Delaware State News

    DOVER — From the time Senate Bill 19 was introduced, the death penalty repeal legislation faced a tumultuous 22 days with Delaware’s 147th General Assembly.

    Now, tabled in a committee, it is one of the lingering issues the lawmakers could potentially carry over come Jan. 14 when they reconvene for the legislative year. The bill, which includes an amendment to keep the death penalty for the 18 men on Delaware’s death row, narrowly passed the state’s Senate by a vote of 11-10 March 26.

    “Time is now to take it,” said Kathleen MacRae, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, an organization involved with the DE Repeal Project coalition.

    She acknowledges the group was in a precarious position since the bill has been caught up in the House Judiciary Committee since April 30, but will still persevere.

    “Our plan is, as we’ve been doing this all along, to continue to lobby the individual members of the committee, the leadership in the House of Representatives and the Governor’s Office to persuade them. There should be a full vote,” she said.

    The DE Repeal Project held a press conference Oct. 9, 2013, in Wilmington to spark the discussion of the repeal leading into the new year. Seventy-four-year-old Sister Helen Prejean, author of the novel “Dead Man Walking,” one of the most outspoken supporters of repealing the death penalty spoke at the event, after leading efforts in Maryland and New Jersey. At the event Sister Prejean urged the group to continue outreach and education. Since then, they’ve partnered with 21 other nonprofit groups and has collected more than 4,000 signatures on a repeal petition for legislators.

    Ms. MacRae expects there could be a close vote, but there are no guarantees that the bill will make it to the House floor. Senate Bill 19 needs six signatures to be released from the 11-member committee.

    If the bill is not released out of committee in a traditional vote, there are two courses of action that can be taken.

    A majority of the committee members can sign the bill in the House of Representatives’ clerk’s office, where legislation is stored, to get the bill released from committee, or the rules can be suspended to bring it to a full vote on the House floor.

    SB 19 sponsor, Rep. Darryl Scott, D-Dover, has said he would consider suspending the rules, which would require the support of 21 representatives, but there are no definitive motions.

    “I think that quiet honestly in an election year we won’t see much effort in the House,” Senate Minority Leader Sen. Gary Simpson, R-Milford said in an interview last week. The senator was one of the lead sponsors of the death penalty repeal in the Senate.

    “It’s a very controversial issue I think people have pretty much made up their minds on how they are going to vote.”

    “I could be completely wrong, but I don’t think so on this.”

    On Dec. 30, the Editorial Board at the New York Times penned an op-ed “Slow Demise of Capital Punishment,” that looked at the trend to abolish the death penalty. In the last five years, 30 states haven’t followed through with any executions and a Gallup poll cites that 40 percent of people surveyed do not believe it is administered fairly, the editorial stated.

    Such statistical education is key, according to Ms. MacRae.

    “Sometimes it is very difficult to get past that emotion to the facts,” she said. “We’ve really moved some people past the emotions to realize the broader implications.”

    In Delaware, the attorney general’s office has said they will seek the death penalty in the most heinous cases.

    “The decision whether to seek the death penalty is the most important and most difficult decision an attorney general makes,” the office stated.

    Some of the first-degree cases that have resulted in the imposition of the death penalty by the attorney general’s office include James Cooke, sentenced to death in September 2012, who was found guilty of raping and killing University of Delaware student Lindsey M. Bonistall in 2005 and Derrick Powell, sentenced to death in May 2011, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Georgetown policeman Chad Spicer on Sept. 1, 2009.

    Brendan O’Neill, the state’s public defender, supported the legislation publicly when the bill was being worked in the Senate.

    “I don’t think [the death penalty repeal” is the problem it has been in the past,” he said. The public sentiment is changing, he added.

    “The process has really engaged the whole Delaware community,” Ms. MacRae added.

    However, it is still going to be a tough battle.

    “My feeling is it won’t get out of committee. I don’t just think there are the votes,” said Rep. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. The rookie lawmaker voted against the bill in April and has no plans to change his decision.

    “I do not support the repeal and overwhelmingly what I’m hearing form my district is people don’t support the repeal,” he said.

    During the debates last year, Gov. Jack Markell did not commit to either side of the issue, and still has an evolving opinion on the repeal in Delaware.

    “This is a difficult issue and I’m continuing to listen to people from both sides of the debate, including in meetings since last year’s session ended,” he said in a statement. “I have given it serious thought, but I’m not ready to state a decision yet.”

    As for now the clock is ticking for the fate of the stalled bill.

    http://delaware.newszap.com/centrald...a-tough-battle

  9. #29
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    Del. Supreme Court nominee speaks on death penalty

    The judge tapped by Gov. Jack Markell to become Delaware’s new chief justice says he is personally opposed to the death penalty.

    But Chancellor Leo Strine Jr. said Monday that judges and other public officials must follow the law in performing their duties and not impose their personal political preferences.

    In a speech to law school students, Strine recounted his experience with the death penalty in three separate roles: as the governor’s chief counsel, a member of Delaware’s pardons board, and a judge sitting by special designation on the state Supreme Court.

    Strine noted that as a member of Board of Pardons, he voted to recommend commutation of a killer’s death sentence, but that he agreed with Supreme Court justices in 2012 to uphold a police officer killer’s death sentence.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...57b_story.html
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  10. #30
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    Law enforcement opposes SB19

    All law enforcement in the State of Delaware has joined together to oppose Senate Bill 19; an initiative to strike from the Delaware statutes what is commonly referred to as the Death Penalty.

    Never before in the history of the state has the law enforcement community come together to present one united voice. Representing over 5,000 individual members, this coalition includes the State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Delaware State Troopers Association, the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware and the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council.

    On March 26, 2013, this initiative passed the Senate by a bare majority and now awaits action in the state House of Representatives. We view this action, and potential for action, as a direct threat to the welfare and safety of those that we represent and to the community at large that we have sworn to serve and protect.

    There is a misconception among many in the community, and perhaps some in the legislature, that all who take a life are subject to the death penalty. In fact very few ever meet the stringent requirements in place before they can be tried for a capital offense. As an example, in Delaware between 2008 and 2012, 203 persons were charged with Murder in the First Degree. During that same period only 5 individuals were sentenced to death. Why so few?

    In Delaware pursuit of Murder in the First Degree case is reserved for the absolute worst of the worst. The Attorney General first must decide to pursue a case against an individual based on the evidence. Then a jury must unanimously convict the charged of Murder First Degree and also must unanimously determine that a statutory "aggravating circumstance" exists. If both standards are met the trial judge then, and only then, can impose the death penalty.

    Since this issue goes well beyond officer safety, it is important that one clearly understands what is being proposed and focus on what constitutes an "aggravating circumstance" as defined in Title 11, Chapter 42 of the Delaware Code. SB 19 proposes to strip these from the laws of Delaware, thereby eliminating the possible imposition of the death penalty to those who would commit the following heinous acts.

    These acts include but are not limited to:

    - Murder during the commission of a rape, kidnapping, arson, robbery or home invasion

    - Murder of a child

    - Murder committed with explosives, poison or torture

    - Murder of a police officer, corrections officer or first responder during the performance of their duties

    - Murder for hire

    - Murder of a hostage

    - Murder of a witness for the purpose of preventing their testimony

    - Murder of a person held for ransom.

    - Murder committed by an escaped convict, or by a person previously convicted of a violent felony

    As part of their rationale for doing this the proponents of SB 19 would have you believe that the system of justice in Delaware is broken and that we have abandoned our collective moral compass in order to feed our appetite for revenge. The truth is that between 1976 and now, there has never been a murder conviction reversed by an appellate court because of doubts about the convict's guilt. Advocates for this change have made the claim that the state will save money by ending appeals. What they fail to tell you is appeals exist and will continue to exist regardless of whether or not the death penalty is in place. Murderers serving life sentences file appeals for as long as they live. They further suggest that the justice system is racially biased. Not only is this claim a slap in the face to every Delaware judge who sits on the bench and every juror who has ever served during a capital murder trial, it is simply not true. The percentage of African Americans on death row is significantly lower than the percentage of African Americans charged with Murder First Degree. Between 2008 and 2012, 80 % of those charged with Murder First Degree were African American. However, they represent only 61 % of Delaware's death row population as of this writing.

    There will never be total agreement on whether the death penalty ultimately saves lives. There have been hundreds of studies done throughout the years that contradict each other. However, what we can agree on is that once the penalty is imposed, that individual will never murder again. Although this argument is often dismissed out of hand, it does matter. According to the U.S. Department of Justice about 9 % of all death row inmates were convicted of another homicide before they committed the crime that led to their death sentence. This obvious outcome is supported by recent studies summarized in an article printed in the New York Times. These studies suggested that for each convicted murderer put to death, 3 - 18 murders are prevented. Another study concluded that as a result of the death penalty moratorium in Illinois, it led to an additional 150 homicides prior to it being lifted. And, a recent Gallup Poll found that 63 % of Americans favor use of the Death Penalty for those convicted of murder. In today's political environment, it is rare to find 63 % of Americans agreeing on anything.

    Currently, as law enforcement officers in Delaware if one of us is murdered during the performance of our duties, the individual can be charged with a Capital Crime. We know in our hearts and by virtue of our experiences on the job that the threat of the death penalty has saved lives. It is difficult to quantify how many or how often it has occurred; but we know that it has.

    During the Senate Debate on SB 19 some stated that taking the life of a law enforcement officer is no different than taking any other life. We agree that all life is precious and must be respected. However, society as a whole remains civil only when its laws and statutes are judiciously enforced. We do not consider ourselves special or privileged. However what we do is unique, specialized and necessary. When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, society has lost more than just that life. Society has lost what that life represents - the delicate line between a civilized society and anarchy.

    When all of the facts are better understood by the public it becomes more difficult to rationalize a yes vote on SB 19. As a coalition, we will continue to educate the public and raise the level of discussion from this point through the 2014 election and beyond. We ask that you too engage in this discussion by contacting those that represent you in the Delaware General Assembly. Convey to them that this is a misguided approach that discards an infrequently used, yet important tool, in keeping our community safe from those that do harm. The stakes are too high and the cost to society too great to do otherwise.

    Thomas J. Brackin

    president

    Delaware State Troopers Association

    Frederick Calhoun

    president

    State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police

    Geoffrey Klopp

    president

    Correctional Officers Association of Delaware

    William Topping

    Chairman

    Delaware Police Chiefs' Council

    (source: CapeGazette.com)
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    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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