are you in for or against the death penalty

[Dino Velvet]

They caught him lying on the witness stand about being a Crowleyite. (Rollins and Depp are too, whether they'll talk about it or not.)

Johnny Depp must've made a deal with Lucifer or somebody. I remember him on 21 Jump Street and thought his spectacular death in Nightmare On Elm Street would be the highlight of his career.

[russtafa]

i never knew that they believe in dark religion.not good at all ,that stuff puts people in mental hospitals

[Nicole Dupre]

i never knew that they believe in dark religion.not good at all ,that stuff puts people in mental hospitals

Damien was in a mental hospital shortly before the murders.

[BluegrassCat]

Obviously I don't know what happened, but aside from the confession of a mentally retarded kid, wasn't all the evidence against them circumstantial?

[Nicole Dupre]

If the whole thing happened somewhere other than bumfuck, and the parents of the victims weren't sketchy white trash, there would have been less speculation on it being anyone other than the three in question. But that's bumfuck for you. The cops are morons, and the courts are a good ol' boy network. And together, they fucked up everything from the start. So they're left with three dead 8 yr olds, and 3 metalhead rednecks back out on the streets; one of whom spilled his guts in graphic detail, until a few celebs make a big enough stink.

[Nicole Dupre]

Obviously I don't know what happened, but aside from the confession of a mentally retarded kid, wasn't all the evidence against them circumstantial?

Yes, but he isn't retarded. He's stupid.

And he asked, after the first confession he gave, to make another one, and said the same thing, if I remember correctly. You can look into it, and let me know for sure. But that's what I remember reading and seeing on television

[Stavros]

Emotionally, I'm often for it. But my emotions are invalid, ultimately. Intellectually, I'm against it. The justice system is far too flawed. Rotting in prison is good enough.

Nicole, your intellectual argument is at the core of this debate. People are convicted on the evidence presented in court, not necessarily on ALL the available evidence. On the one hand, not all of the evidence against OJ Simpson was presented in Court; on the other hand, how many semi-literate Black men have been sent to death row on unreliable evidence their lousy lawyer failed to challenge?

What happens if the emotional need to hang/inject/electrify the convicted turns out to have gone before reason and 'new' evidence shows he/she would have been found not guilty in a different trial?

I dont know much about the West Memphis case: had all three been executed would this have been a just punishment?

I cannot accept that if society condemns murder, it should then do it. Once is enough.

[Nicole Dupre]

I dont know much about the West Memphis case: had all three been executed would this have been a just punishment?

Of course not. I don't want them to get the death penalty. I don't want ANYONE to get the death penalty. But I also don't believe that the WM3 are innocent.

Damien Echols blew kisses to the victims' parent the first time he appeared in court. He tortured a dog to death and drank it's blood. He was put in a psych ward, before the murders were committed, for threatening other teenagers' lives. He practiced black magick, and subscribed to a belief system that involves the ritual sacrifice of children. This was not simply a kid who went through a "goth phase", and who "dressed weird".

He was, and may very well still be, a grandiose sociopath imo. Sociopaths are known to be manipulative liars. I'm sure he regrets getting caught, but I doubt he regrets the murders if he committed them.

[russtafa]

he should be killed

[tsnajwa]

Its really difficult to say because people have gotten the death penalty for a number of reasons.. In cases when there is not a doubt the individual committed the murder, etc I beleive they shoudl get the death penalty.. But I also beleive the death penalty should be extended to lesser crimes besides murder.. In cases where a person has committed multiple violent crimes and there is no rehabilitation or change in behaviour..

Also death by dissection has to be the most horrible way to die omg..