Originally Posted by BENZ-LGB

The felony-murder rule should have been invoked against them.

As long as we have a system of laws, that includes sufficient checks and balances to make sure that the innocent is protected, then I have no problem wiht the DP.

To compare the DP, as practiced here, to what the Taliban and Al-Queda do is intellectually dishonest.

I am willing to gamble my life on the American judicial system. I am not so eager to take the same chance in front of a Taliban-camel court. (That's a play on the term kangaroo-courts and is not meant as an ethnic slur).

Incidentally, while the number of wrongly convicted peresons may have been unacceptably high in the past, that is bound to change in the very near future. The widespread use of new investigatory techniques, such as DNA testing will almost guarantee that no innocent man (or woman) is ever wrongfully convicted, especially in a capital case.

BTW, it is far cheaper to execute a convicted criminal than to keep him locked up in prison for the rest of his life. The problem lies in the series of endless appeals that stretch out the process longer than it has to be.

R.Leo, I am sorry about what happened to your wife's friend. That is a horrible ending to a life...and a nightmare for the surviving relatives and close friends.