1. There are many stages in a trial for the inmate to try to prove that he/she is not guilty. The first is Direct appeal which allows the defendant the look for mistakes or errors made in the trial that would lead to a retrial. then there is a post conviction review that goes over the entire trial and looks for any mistakes that anyone missed. After that they move on to the Federal Habaes Corpus which allows the defendant to make a plea to a federal judge, if that does not work they will try the next step which is clemency where a higher power like the Supreme Court or the state government can intervene and give a less severe punishment.
2. All of the methods of execution seem really awful to me but if I had to say the firing squad, the electric chair, hanging and the gas chamber all seem pretty cruel and unusual. The lethal injection is much better and much more humane, if you could even say that, than the others which all cause a lot of pain. Hanging is a thing of the past in my mind. It is too much a symbol of dark times in our history and we should move on from it. The electric chair is obviously no longer used but it sounds like one of the worst ways to die, its painful and it mutilates the body. The firing squad is way too Soviet Russian-esque to me, it is also very painful and can be drawn out for a long while. Choking is proved to be one of the worst ways to die because the victims are fully cognisant of it and it is very emotionally hard.
3. The data was unsurprising to me, I knew that places in the south and California would have more people on death row. It is also expected for there to be less women on death row, the amount of blacks and whites seemed pretty close but the black was always higher and I think this is arbitrary I don't believe that people would rather convict an African American man over a white man.
4. Some of the things included in the former Illinois statute of capital punishment seemed a little out of place, but it was very specific and left very little wiggle room which is good for something like that. But I am glad that the death penalty is gone in Illinois, I think life without parole is a perfect punishment for a murderer.
Some clear opinions Emily but work to support them with more details and specifics. Don't just say what you like or not but instead explain why by also being much more specific in terms of using the readings and materials. Make sure your blog is up to date as well. You are missing the latest death penalty post.
ReplyDeleteAlso, are you going to begin posting on your outside reading soon?