Every once in a while some inmate is murdered in prison, and the culprit probably was a fellow con who was sent up for murder or assault. Who says there is no justice in Canada?
Just out of curiousity, what crime is on the rise? Violent crime, or things like property crime?
That's hogwash. Not all murderers get out after the mandatory 2/3 of a sentence served. There is what is called dangerous offenders, criminals classified as such do not get a free pass after the 2/3, and do indeed serve life sentences.
Just out of curiousity, what crime is on the rise? Violent crime, or things like property crime?
And what do you suggest we do with the pedophiles, serial killers, and violent offenders? Currently we lock them up for a while and then place them in our communities and sometimes tell us. Hard to release a dead man.
I don't think this is a valid comparison. To accept this, you would have to assume all states are equal and have the same crime factors. Comparing NY and Utah (not even sure what the statute in Utah is, example purpose only) is probably like comparing Apples and Oranges.
But even given that, NY is probably classified as a death penalty state but I don't believe they have executed anybody in eons. So if you count NY with the death penalty you are warping the statistics and in a big way given NYC probably has a fair bit of crime.
Look at the chart, it includes New York as a non-death penalty state (see the asterix) for the very reason you mentioned (not actually killing people). So even though New York is a Crime ridden place in your own words (which would seem to spike the non-death penalty crime rate up), non-death penalty states have lower crime rates and sinking.
So you actually just proved yourself in error there.
I hardly think you could put me on the "extreme left", but these studies don't convince me at all. There are far to many factors involved in homicide rates for any study on cause/effect to be taken seriously..........things such as demographics (population density, average age, male:female ratio), economic factors (unemployment, lifestyle disparity), culture and on and on.
I am against the death penalty for single instances of murder.......I think there is far too much chance of making a mistake, and consideration of individual rights demands a policy of "it is better for 100 guilty men to go free than for one innocent man to be executed".
I do think mass killers should be executed. They should be tried for each murder seperately, in front of a different judge and jury, and on their third conviction they should be executed ASAP.......some folks (Clifford Olson, for instance) are just too evil to be allowed to live.
Edited to say: If this study is valid, why is Canada's murder rate 1/3 that in the United States?
WARNING: I will hunt down and shoot the first person that replies "because Canada has tough gun control"
Property crime is falling, violent crime is rising slightly......but Canada is still an amazingly peaceful kingdom.
It is true that television and the Internet are giving us access to a lot of this information. We are seeing a lot more of it, but data on crime shows the opposite. It shows that crime is reducing. I do not have to repeat too much of that. The data is out there. Since 1991, for reasons that sociologists have not ever been able to fully explain, our violent crime rates and our overall crime rates are decreasing and continue to do so.
No, I still think state by state comparisons are not valid. I stand corrected about NY however.
Looking at the chart, we can also say that the notible drop around 1995 could be tied to the adoption of the death penalty by NY and KS. You can interpret statistics any way you choose.
Colpy,
Speaking of Gun laws, does this make you wish you lived in Texas at all?
These were all acts recently passed:
The “Castle Doctrine.” Short version: We’re no longer “required to retreat” from anywhere we have a right to be in the first place, we can assume automatically that an intruder on our property constitutes a threat of death and/or great bodily harm and act accordingly and, very importantly, the goblin (if he survives) or his relatives (if he doesn’t) can’t sue us in civil court if his death/injury was found justifiable by a Grand Jury. No more double jeopardy for defending your life and wellbeing.
Emergency Powers Act Amendments — SB 112: Got a disaster area on your hands? Thinking about confiscating weapons from law-abiding citizens, depriving them of the means to defend themselves from looters, rapists, murderers etc., just like Raycist “Chocolate City” Nagin did? Not in Texas you won’t, so keep your tyrant hands to yourself. If you want to keep them attached to a living body.
\
Motorists Protection Act — HB 1815: When the Texas legislature clarified the “Traveling Law” in 2005, making sure that peaceful, law-abiding citizens wouldn’t have to worry about going to the clink for having a handgun in their vehicle if they didn’t have a CHL, some DAs in Texas decided that they didn’t have to listen to the law and publicly declared that they’d do whatever they damn well pleased and arrest anybody they damn well felt like arresting, proud “civil servants” that they are. Instead of just doing what you’re supposed to do when criminals publicly declare that they intend to disregard the law, which is finding a length of rope and a nice tree, the Texas Legislature decided to have mercy and make the language of the law even clearer. Absolutely no room left for creative interpretation now. If you’re in a vehicle and you’re a law-abiding citizen not prohibited from owning a gun, you have a right to have one with you. We’re not putting the rope away just yet, however. Consider it “insurance.”
\
CHL Confidentiality — HB 991: If any newspaper in the State of Texas decides to go all Roanoke Times on us and publish the personal data of CHL holders in order to intimidate and place innocent lives in danger to satisfy their own dislike for the right to defend yourself, they can forget about it, right now.
Protect Second Amendment Rights for Foster Parents — SB 322: The Texas Child Abductive Services, in another effort to keep their kidnapping quotas up and keep those sweet, tasty government bounties rolling in, wanted to make it impossible for foster parents to own guns. Impossible as in “no guns, or we’re revoking your foster parent status and kidnapping the children.” No, they weren’t demanding “safe storage”, they were demanding “no guns whatsoever, under any circumstances.” Child “Protective” Services, as long as “protection” isn’t taken to mean — well — protection. The Child Abductive Services were told to go pound sand, that foster parents are citizens with rights as well and that includes those enumerated in the Second Amendment.
Colpy,
Speaking of Gun laws, does this make you wish you lived in Texas at all?
These were all acts recently passed:
The “Castle Doctrine.” Short version: We’re no longer “required to retreat” from anywhere we have a right to be in the first place, we can assume automatically that an intruder on our property constitutes a threat of death and/or great bodily harm and act accordingly and, very importantly, the goblin (if he survives) or his relatives (if he doesn’t) can’t sue us in civil court if his death/injury was found justifiable by a Grand Jury. No more double jeopardy for defending your life and wellbeing.
Emergency Powers Act Amendments — SB 112: Got a disaster area on your hands? Thinking about confiscating weapons from law-abiding citizens, depriving them of the means to defend themselves from looters, rapists, murderers etc., just like Raycist “Chocolate City” Nagin did? Not in Texas you won’t, so keep your tyrant hands to yourself. If you want to keep them attached to a living body.
\
Motorists Protection Act — HB 1815: When the Texas legislature clarified the “Traveling Law” in 2005, making sure that peaceful, law-abiding citizens wouldn’t have to worry about going to the clink for having a handgun in their vehicle if they didn’t have a CHL, some DAs in Texas decided that they didn’t have to listen to the law and publicly declared that they’d do whatever they damn well pleased and arrest anybody they damn well felt like arresting, proud “civil servants” that they are. Instead of just doing what you’re supposed to do when criminals publicly declare that they intend to disregard the law, which is finding a length of rope and a nice tree, the Texas Legislature decided to have mercy and make the language of the law even clearer. Absolutely no room left for creative interpretation now. If you’re in a vehicle and you’re a law-abiding citizen not prohibited from owning a gun, you have a right to have one with you. We’re not putting the rope away just yet, however. Consider it “insurance.”
\
CHL Confidentiality — HB 991: If any newspaper in the State of Texas decides to go all Roanoke Times on us and publish the personal data of CHL holders in order to intimidate and place innocent lives in danger to satisfy their own dislike for the right to defend yourself, they can forget about it, right now.
Protect Second Amendment Rights for Foster Parents — SB 322: The Texas Child Abductive Services, in another effort to keep their kidnapping quotas up and keep those sweet, tasty government bounties rolling in, wanted to make it impossible for foster parents to own guns. Impossible as in “no guns, or we’re revoking your foster parent status and kidnapping the children.” No, they weren’t demanding “safe storage”, they were demanding “no guns whatsoever, under any circumstances.” Child “Protective” Services, as long as “protection” isn’t taken to mean — well — protection. The Child Abductive Services were told to go pound sand, that foster parents are citizens with rights as well and that includes those enumerated in the Second Amendment.