Re: [CTRL] NEWS: USA: The USA's hour of shame
ce of murders would not justify the use of the death penalty. One might ask, however, what, precisely, are the definitions of "civilization" that see as "more civilized" a society in which more (innocent) people are murdered than would be the case if the society did not refuse to use the death penalty. Indeed, one might ask the opponent of the death penalty just how many innocent people he is willing to sacrifice to avoid executing the guilty. It is those who oppose the death penalty who act out of humane motives. Motivation is irrelevant to the correctness of an empirical claim. However, since nearly every article on the subject accords to the opponent of the death penalty the right to claim a greater humanity (a right the opponent invokes with alacrity), it is worth noting there are alternative views of the opponent's motivation. One such view is that the opponent's opposition flows not from feelings of humanity, but from the fact that the opponent can picture the murderer being executed, while he cannot picture the statistical group of innocent people who will be murdered if the death penalty deters but is not employed. The picture of the execution is capable, as the murder of the statistically expected victims is not, of eliciting guilt and fear of aggression with which the opponent cannot deal. He rationalizes his avoidance of these with feelings of humanity which bolster self-esteem and avoid awareness of his true motivation. It is every bit as reasonable to see this as the opponent's motivation as it is to accept that his opposition flows from his self-proclaimed greater humanity. Like opponents of the death penalty, I too hope that the death penalty does not deter. If this proves to be the case, we will avoid the terrible choice that deterrence forces upon us. Unlike the opponents of the death penalty, however, I do not fool myself into thinking that this hope speaks well of one's character. After all, it is a hope that is willing to sacrifice the possibility of saving innocent people in order to avoid personal psychological pain. This doesn't count as altruism where I come from. -Original Message- From: DIG alfred webre [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, August 10, 2000 7:08 PM Subject: [CTRL] NEWS: USA: The USA's hour of shame In a message dated 00-08-10 12:48:17 EDT, you write: * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * 10 August 2000 AI Index AMR 51/127/2000 News Service Nr. 154 The USA's hour of shame The US death penalty continues to be one of the world's human rights scandals, Amnesty International said today condemning the two executions carried out in Texas yesterday. "Texas is at the heart of that scandal," the organization continued, pointing to the fact that Texas now accounts for 28 of the 58 executions carried out in the USA this year, and 227 of the 656 since the USA resumed judicial killing in 1977. Brian Roberson and Oliver Cruz were killed by lethal injection within an hour of each other despite serious concerns relating to racial discrimination and mental impairment, two issues that mark many capital cases in the USA. "US contempt for international standards of justice and decency has once again been on display for the world to see," Amnesty International said. The organization also refutes Governor George W. Bush's reported contention that Texas does not execute the mentally retarded, citing the examples of Terry Washington and Charles Boyd -- put to death in 1997 and 1999 -- two of the 140 men and women executed since Governor Bush took office in January 1995. "The flawed nature of Texas justice was further exposed in the cases of Washington and Boyd as the juries that sentenced them to death were never told of the two men's mental impairment," Amnesty International said. Governor Bush did not support a bill to ban the execution of the mentally retarded which failed to pass the Texas legislature in 1999. He also vetoed a bill in 1999 which sought to raise the standard of legal representation for low-income defendants. Background Brian Roberson, black, was sentenced to death for the 1986 killing of an elderly white couple in Dallas County. The prosecutor at his trial systematically removed African Americans from the jury pool, indicating that they were not educated enough to sit on a jury. The prosecutor had been trained at a time when such training in Dallas County routinely used a manual encouraging new prosecutors to remove "minority races", "Jews", and people with "physical afflictions" during jury selection because they "almost always empathize with the defendant". A 1986 study found that in the 15 capital murder cases tried in the county between 1980 and 1986, 91 per cent of African American jurors were removed. At the trial of Oliver Cruz, a Latino accused of the rape and m
[CTRL] DISC: re: [CTRL] NEWS: USA: The USA's hour of shame
In a message dated 00-08-11 14:37:12 EDT, you write: So what if the death penalty deters? Steven Goldberg National Review, June 30, 1989 v41 n12 p42(2) This specious line of pseudo-logic could only get printed in the National Review, a right-wing propoganda broadside headed by William F Buckley, Jr., a known CIA disinformation agent. One cannot separate discussion of the death penalty from a discussion of the mass mind control behind a death penalty. In the USA, the death penalty, carefully regulated by right-wing police state politicians, is meant to establish that the state has a legitimate right to take human life whether in the execution chamber or in exploitative war-making industries. It is an environmental pretext and preamble to a national military-intelligence takeover; it is meant to dumb-down the citizenry to a level of social lateral violence. The death penalty is an engine of a murder and war-making imperial society. That is why the USA as Empire maintains it. "Deterrence" is a sophistic fallacy and smokescreen. Alfred Webre, Vancouver, BC _ EcoNews Service - Alternative News: Ecology, Consciousness Universe Politics mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] USA http://www.earthradioTV.com/index2.html CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com/index2.html A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] NEWS: USA: The USA's hour of shame
In a message dated 00-08-10 12:48:17 EDT, you write: * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * 10 August 2000 AI Index AMR 51/127/2000 News Service Nr. 154 The USA's hour of shame The US death penalty continues to be one of the world's human rights scandals, Amnesty International said today condemning the two executions carried out in Texas yesterday. "Texas is at the heart of that scandal," the organization continued, pointing to the fact that Texas now accounts for 28 of the 58 executions carried out in the USA this year, and 227 of the 656 since the USA resumed judicial killing in 1977. Brian Roberson and Oliver Cruz were killed by lethal injection within an hour of each other despite serious concerns relating to racial discrimination and mental impairment, two issues that mark many capital cases in the USA. "US contempt for international standards of justice and decency has once again been on display for the world to see," Amnesty International said. The organization also refutes Governor George W. Bush's reported contention that Texas does not execute the mentally retarded, citing the examples of Terry Washington and Charles Boyd -- put to death in 1997 and 1999 -- two of the 140 men and women executed since Governor Bush took office in January 1995. "The flawed nature of Texas justice was further exposed in the cases of Washington and Boyd as the juries that sentenced them to death were never told of the two men's mental impairment," Amnesty International said. Governor Bush did not support a bill to ban the execution of the mentally retarded which failed to pass the Texas legislature in 1999. He also vetoed a bill in 1999 which sought to raise the standard of legal representation for low-income defendants. Background Brian Roberson, black, was sentenced to death for the 1986 killing of an elderly white couple in Dallas County. The prosecutor at his trial systematically removed African Americans from the jury pool, indicating that they were not educated enough to sit on a jury. The prosecutor had been trained at a time when such training in Dallas County routinely used a manual encouraging new prosecutors to remove "minority races", "Jews", and people with "physical afflictions" during jury selection because they "almost always empathize with the defendant". A 1986 study found that in the 15 capital murder cases tried in the county between 1980 and 1986, 91 per cent of African American jurors were removed. At the trial of Oliver Cruz, a Latino accused of the rape and murder of Kelly Donovan, white, the prosecutor argued for execution on the grounds that Cruz's learning disability made him more of a threat to society. International standards oppose the death penalty for the mentally impaired. In yet another blatant example of the lottery of US capital justice, Cruz's white co-defendant, charged with the same murder, received a prison term in exchange for testimony against Cruz. Studies have repeatedly shown that the US capital justice system places a higher value on white life. Over 80 per cent of the more than 650 people executed in the USA since 1977 were convicted of crimes involving white victims. ENDS.../ Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. * __ EcoNews Service - Alternative News: Ecology, Consciousness Universe Politics mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] USA http://www.earthradioTV.com/index2.html CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com/index2.html A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL
