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Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

tdcj.texas.gov

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Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#81

Post by boeingUH60 »

nailer wrote: post #45
TechBro8615 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> I'd be asking what it is about Christ that turns people into murderous psychopaths... That's a reasonable question. Christianity does have an emphasis on forgiveness, which I suspect these prison chaplain programs emphasize - so it's more a matter of murderers turning themselves into Christians. However murder is considered a mortal sin that separates one's soul from god and that cannot regularly be forgiven. See h…

> However murder is considered a mortal sin that separates one's soul from god and that cannot regularly be forgiven.

Don’t think that’s true. Murder is considered a grave sin but not one that can’t be forgiven…remember Paul (who wrote several books of the New Testament) was a killer, so was Moses in the Old Testament.

I think the only sin mentioned as unforgivable is “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” which is very vague.

(Was raised Christian, no longer one).

Edit: Another comment there’s a Catholic-evangelical disagreement on this, so maybe that’s the case.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#82

Post by aaomidi »

heyflyguy wrote: post #71
ceejayoz wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's this thing called justice In pursuit of justice, we sometimes tip over into revenge . Given the fact that we've sent innocent people to their executions, I'm uncomfortable labeling it justice.

I don't agree or disagree with what you're saying, but isn't this the point of a "jury of your peers"? To exact a punishment befitting the crime?

Note, jury doesn’t necessarily decide sentencing. Just guilt or lack thereof.

If you mention you know about jury nullification you’re going to get dismissed as a juror.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#83

Post by gorgoiler »

There can’t be anything more profound than a state execution and I read these with a great deal of some feeling I can’t put my finger on… respect? reverance? seriousness?

Insight into the very final moments of a persons life — especially with such clarity — is incredibly rare and yet, on this web page, distressingly common.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#84

Post by nobody9999 »

jacobsenscott wrote: post #30
dionidium wrote: post #9

Hard to reconcile some of these last words with the reality of their crimes: Juxtapose: I was so glad to leave this world a better, more positive place. It’s not an easy life with all the negativities. ... I hope I left everyone a plate of food full of happy memories, happiness and no sadness. [0] With this: > On September 11, 1999, Jones murdered his great aunt, 83-year-old Berthena Bryant, bludgeoning her to death…

Just because someone was convicted of a crime it doesn't mean they committed the crime. In the case you quoted above who knows, but certainly there are a few wrongful convictions in there. A really barbaric system.

>but certainly there are a few wrongful convictions in there.

And that's the best argument against capital punishment.

A wrongful conviction with a long (life+$X years) sentence allows for wrongful convictions to not only be reversed, but then the wrongfully convicted can be released, hopefully with some restitution.

If someone is wrongly convicted and executed, there's no useful recourse.

If someone is correctly convicted of a heinous crime, keeping them off the streets is effective enough to stop them from committing such crimes in our society. What's more, I'd say that decades in a 10x10 box is much worse than the sweet release of death in a few years.

I imagine some folks would disagree with that assessment, but that's how I see it.

If it turns out later (cf. The Exonerated Five[1]) that they're not actually guilty and we'd heeded the rantings of some people[2], they would likely have been murdered by the state for a crime they didn't commit. How is that fair or appropriate?

Sadly, we seem to have forgotten about Blackstone's Formulation[0] here in the US. And more's the pity.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone%27s_ratio

[1] https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/central-park-five

[2] https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-news-trump-death-pen...

Edit: Corrected prose.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#86

Post by buzzert »

tomovo wrote: post #41
jslql wrote: post #14

It helps if you read them with an accent.

Using the "race" column? Why is there such a column, anyway? How is that helpful when dealing with prisoners or people in general?

I'm pretty sure he meant the Texas accent, given the number of "y'all"s I've seen.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#87

Post by ceejayoz »

heyflyguy wrote: post #71
ceejayoz wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's this thing called justice In pursuit of justice, we sometimes tip over into revenge . Given the fact that we've sent innocent people to their executions, I'm uncomfortable labeling it justice.

I don't agree or disagree with what you're saying, but isn't this the point of a "jury of your peers"? To exact a punishment befitting the crime?

That's the idea. The actual practice of it has never been near perfect.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/us/02jury.html

> In North Carolina, at least 26 current death row defendants were sentenced by all-white juries. In South Carolina, a prosecutor said he struck a black potential juror because he “shucked and jived” when he walked.

There are other selection biases at play; any of those peers who oppose the death penalty are struck from the jury as a matter of course.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#88

Post by hoten »

escapedmoose wrote: post #44
insane_dreamer wrote: post #35

Why do this? I'm not sure it serves any good purpose.

Don’t you feel anything reading through these? It doesn’t remind you of the humanity of these people?

The question still stands. Why does the state bother to record them? What purpose does it serve for the pro capital punishment government to humanize those it executes?

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#89

Post by dotgov »

thinking4real wrote: post #43
dionidium wrote: post #9

Hard to reconcile some of these last words with the reality of their crimes: Juxtapose: I was so glad to leave this world a better, more positive place. It’s not an easy life with all the negativities. ... I hope I left everyone a plate of food full of happy memories, happiness and no sadness. [0] With this: > On September 11, 1999, Jones murdered his great aunt, 83-year-old Berthena Bryant, bludgeoning her to death…

“On 12/15/98, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Mathis shot three victims in the head with a .45 caliber pistol at a known drug house in Fort Bend County, Texas. One of the victims, a 15-year-old Hispanic female survived the shooting, paralyzed from the chest down. Mathis reportedly turned the gun on two other intended victims, however, when he attempted to pull the trigger, the gun either misfired or had been jammed.” “Ye…

He lived in extreme poverty, was neglected by his parents, got sexually assaulted by his siblings and was forced to have sex with his stepsister when he was seven. He shot himself twice, once trying to kill himself. The world he lived in was bad.

Re: Texas Records All Inmates Last Words Before Execution And Puts Them All Online

#90

Post by Lendal »

frakt0x90 wrote: post #19
owlninja wrote: post #8

They used to do last meal as well, but I guess they stopped?

At least in Texas, yes. Kind of a funny story how it ended https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Last-meal-r...

I don't find it funny at all. Bureaucracies use that type of excuse all the time to justify piling on additional cruelties.

In Florida, inmates may no longer receive mail. No love letters. No Christmas cards. Nothing. FDOC claim it's because some prisoner's mail might have had "drugs" in it. That's the excuse anyway. As of last year, no prisoners in Florida may receive mail from loved ones anymore. Insanity is what I call it. Nothing justifies it. Having been convicted of a crime doesn't justify it, because we also find legal ways to be cruel to people who haven't been accused of any crime. I don't know what people get out of it. Something is wrong with us.

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