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    sigmaoctansHamilton Nolan
    12/18/14 12:01pm

    With so few people actually put to death (although I agree there should be zero, if we consider ourselves an enlightened, civilized country), the real issue should be how we jail people in the first place. A lot of the oxygen spent on anti death-penalty advocacy would be better used on:

    -Reforming "solitary confinement", which is a form of psychological, and in many ways physical, torture. It is incredibly overused in US prisons.

    -The HUGE racial disparity of the people we jail, due to both criminal laws that actually target people of color, as well as disproportionate application of otherwise neutral laws to people of color, primarily black men.

    -Removing drug possession and low-level dealing as an offense that sends people to prison, period. It doesn't have to be fully legalized, and it doesn't have to even be fully decriminalized. But putting someone addicted to drugs, or someone who sells drugs to make money, into jail is a terrible waste of money.

    -Reducing sentence length across the board, and unlinking the "counts" of a crime with the length of sentencing. There's no real logical reason why a 10 year jail sentence is "less punishment" than a 20 or 30 year sentence. Just because someone commits 3 burglaries instead of 1 doesn't mean sending them to jail for 3 times as long (based on 3 counts) does anything good for anybody.

    -Eliminating "three strikes" style laws, everywhere, that cause people to languish in jail for minor offenses

    -Eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, which take all discretion away from judges (who are supposed to be able to, you know, fairly judge) and invest nearly all discretion in overzealous prosecutors.

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      displayname11111sigmaoctans
      12/18/14 12:08pm

      Lets just have a free for all than!!! Mandatory minimum sentences are actually a good thing. If you are too dumb to rat out your supplier, you deserve to serve the time.

      A habitual criminal does not need to be on the street. Two three four offenses deserve a stricter penalty than a single offense.

      The courtsystem already allows a ton of leaway for criminals. It is only the most severe and deserving that go to prison

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      sigmaoctansdisplayname11111
      12/18/14 12:17pm

      A habitual criminal does not need to be on the street. Two three four offenses deserve a stricter penalty than a single offense.

      Why not leave that decision up to judges, to determine if the criminal before them is irredeemably habitual and deserves a stricter penalty?

      As it stands now, the judge usually can't take any context into consideration (such as mental illness, drug addiction, being simply accessory to a more violent accomplice) when the habitual offender law activates.

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    Quantum SuicideHamilton Nolan
    12/18/14 12:20pm

    The racial disparities addressed in the report are sobering. Although the race of the inmate is typically what stands out for people, we should also examine the role the race of the victim plays in death penalty sentencing.

    (This statistic was also noteworthy: while 57% of death row inmates are racial minorities, 66% of executed inmates in 2014 were people of color. Does anyone know the reason for this difference?)

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      Senor FrogQuantum Suicide
      12/18/14 12:51pm

      Math.

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      Quantum SuicideSenor Frog
      12/18/14 1:02pm

      Math is the reason for the difference?

      Can you spend a few minutes right now thinking about how stupid your response was?

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    The Gray AdderHamilton Nolan
    12/18/14 11:45am

    Seeing is it usually takes 15 years to actually execute someone, I would say the death penalty has been on the decline since the Clinton Administration.

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      Max ContrarianHamilton Nolan
      12/18/14 12:02pm

      Partly explained by the significantly declining crime rate. Fewer horrifying criminals to execute.

      http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/…

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        AventuraMax Contrarian
        12/18/14 12:05pm

        Correlation doesn't equal causation. Death penalty was used very, very often in the first half of the 20th century, but violent crime rates weren't higher back then.

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        Max ContrarianAventura
        12/18/14 12:14pm

        I agree that our changing culture is almost certainly a larger factor.

        But the dramatic declining rate of serious crimes must also be considered.

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      Dave Hamilton Nolan
      12/18/14 11:48am
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        GTRAINDELAYDave
        12/18/14 11:53am

        TEXAS!

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      raincoasterHamilton Nolan
      12/19/14 1:32am

      So, how are the capital sentences on juveniles doing? Gotten better than Yemen yet?

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