By Antonio D. French
Filed Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 10:11 AM
SPECIAL REPORT Labels: Crime, State_House, State_Senate
The Missouri State Legislature right now is considering several bills on capital punishment. Some, like House Bill 258 and Senate Bill 354, seek to abolish the death penalty all together. Others, like HB 445 and SB 439, seek to put a moratorium on all executions so that the process can be examined.
Last week, the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety held a public hearing on HB 445, sponsored by State Rep. Bill Deeken (R-Cole County). The committee heard moving testimony detailing some of the injustices and inconsistencies that exist in the current system.
State Rep. Connie Johnson (D-St. Louis City) was the last to testify before the committee. She briefly described the circumstances around the trial of her cousin, Marlin Gray, who was executed on October 26, 2005. She said that cases have recently been ordered to be retried for reasons that also existed in Gray's case, but now it is too late.
Another famous case, the 1995 execution of Larry Griffin, has led many people to believe that Missouri has already executed at least one innocent man.
"Before you execute somebody we need to make sure all the I's are dotted and all the T's are crossed," said Johnson. "Because once you pull that trigger you cannot bring that person back to life."
5 Comments:
Let's see, people question this murder conviction. However, he did confess to another murder. A murderer is a murderer is a murderer.
Let him swing--preferably in public.
3/21/2007 12:50 PM
Nice piece, Antonio.
Over 100 men have been released from prison after DNA testing exonerated them. Many sat on death row for years and some were within days of being executed. The death penalty can never be foolproof and should therefore be abolished.
On a separate note, the gross disparity between whites and blacks receiving the death penalty is truly appalling. There can be no denying that a white life is given more value in our justice system than a black life. And if a black person is convicted of killing a white person - watch out. They are nearly 8 times as more likely to get the death penalty for that.
I hope the moratorium passes and that the dialogue on this issue continues.
3/21/2007 2:25 PM
I should think that a governor who is against abortion to the extent that he axes funding to a Planned Parenthood clinic which doesn't even perform them, just because they include information about that option, would be completely opposed to the death penalty. To quote Sammy, "Who has the right?" It's not "Thou shalt not kill, unless...", it's just "Thou shalt not kill" - period, end of story.
3/21/2007 8:25 PM
It is ironic that the pro-life lobby is also pro death penalty. I suppose they are true moral relativists.
3/22/2007 1:13 PM
Doug, the pro-life people aren't pro-death penalty. Those who are both are not pro-life, what they are is pro-judgmentalism, with a healthy dose of "I'm superior and this sort of thing will never happen to me" thrown in.
3/23/2007 3:31 PM
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