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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

#251

Post by dionidium »

nobody9999 wrote: post #236
s1artibartfast wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Seems like a good idea. But no one (AFAIK) is trying to "excuse" criminal behavior even as we try to understand the causes. I think the knee jerk response would be about perspectives on poverty and class, but I think the more interesting response is that the criminal justice system already takes causes into account. Provoked Crimes of Passion are treated differently than premeditated ones. Questions of mental capaci…

>In reality, the justice system almost always takes causes into account. Just not all causes. The interesting question is why some but not others. Absolutely. Circumstances are usually relevant and should be examined. But GP[0] claimed that "progressives" argue that understanding the causes for the commission of crimes should "excuse" those actions. Which is an unsupported assertion and I reject it because, at least…

There’s a kind of thing that happens in these discussions where somebody makes a complaint about an extremist position and somebody else responds that nobody thinks that and the two are kind of talking past one another.

To be clear, I acknowledge that we’re talking about an extreme, broadly unpopular position, but it is one running through certain segments of leftish twitter and academia. (No, I don’t keep a file of such utterances, so I can’t produce a list offhand.)

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

#252

Post by Lendal »

LarryMullins wrote: post #158
Lendal wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> In Florida, inmates may no longer receive mail. This isn't true. You can still send letters to inmates in Florida. The letters are digitized and a copy given to the inmate, rather than the original paper. It seems reasonable to me. Other states have already done similar, but I'm not surprised that Florida gets singled out for the flogging.

You neglect to mention the inmate has to pay for each scanned card or letter, which most inmates can't afford. And you can't write on it, because it's on a screen, so if you're sending crosswords, the inmate can't do the crossword now, which is very demoralizing so they'll just ask you to stop sending them. There is another service where they can pay an exorbitant fee for a printout though. It's also very difficult to read scanned handwritten letters even if you pay for the printout. Inmates will ask you to stop sending Christmas cards because it's not worth it for you, and it's not worth it for them. It costs them more than what the card & postage cost you. Also the screens are pretty shitty so when they break down, it takes months to get a replacement.

The worst thing is the lies about why they're doing this. They think we're stupid. They don't really care about prisoners getting sick from possible drugs on the letters. If they really cared about this issue they would screen the letters for drugs, which would be easier & cheaper than scanning and reprinting them, or they would provide healthcare in prisons (they don't), or they could even stop corrections employees from bringing in the drugs in the first place.

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

#253

Post by pnf »

dvt wrote: post #51
namdnay wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The crime was when he was deeply addicted and drugged out of his mind 22 years earlier. I don't find it shocking that he's had another life since. Killing him in 2021 just seems so... pointless

[flagged]

Don't even try to reason with HN downvoters. They're not interested in your reasons.

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

#254

Post by lmm »

nobody9999 wrote: post #84
jacobsenscott wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

> 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 you've locked someone up for half their lifespan, even in much better conditions than US prisons, even millions wouldn't make up for that, and I doubt we give them millions. Execution takes away someone's whole life, but that's not such a huge step change compared to taking away a substantial portion of their years. We should take false imprisonment just as seriously.

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

#255

Post by pnf »

LarryMullins wrote: post #96
dejj wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 3 aspects to criminal justice: - special prevention - general prevention (=deterrence) - revenge

I understand it to be: - retribution (revenge) - deterrence - rehabilitation - incapacitation (they can't re-offend if they're in prison or dead) In these sort of discussions about justice online, the first is often cast as illegitimate, the second as impossible, the third as the gold standard, and the fourth is frequently ignored completely. Few people ever defend retribution, so I will here. Many people who are vic…

+1 for retribution and social benefits mentioned. Should be obvious. People don't watch enough gangster movies. Or, hell, visit one of the regions of the globe with blood feuds. Not great.

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

#257

Post by pnf »

dotgov wrote: post #137
loeg wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GP is talking about Mathis Milton. You're quoting a wikipedia article about Quintin Jones. Obviously, they are not the same person.

Whoops my mistake. I’ll try to make my point with Mathis Milton as well: “Milton dropped out of school after the 8th grade and worked as a cook, mechanic’s helper, and laborer before his arrest. Milton abused alcohol and drugs as a teenager.” In another article he was being referred to as having “low IQ”. Combined with the fact that the murders happened in a crack house, I infer that he probably lived in a similar en…

And? That describes lots of people who don't go out and commit heinous crimes.

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

#258

Post by pnf »

citizenpaul wrote: post #60
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…

I've seen a number of these things and can only come to one conclusion. Most of the people on death row are deeply mentally ill. The state is effectively using prison in place of mental health facilities. For instance the person you are quoting also mentions friends and family in his final words. Yet he writes his final words specifically to the warden. This does not seem congruent with a sound mind. More like he is…

That doesn't sound like someone particularly mentally ill. Just your common dark triad who can't take responsibility for his actions.

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

#259

Post by pnf »

gonzo41 wrote: post #213
GauntletWizard wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're assuming that mental illness is something that can be cured, and that the cure is not equivalent or worse than killing them. Quite frankly, our brains are plastic, but not that plastic. It's possible (and we don't know enough about brain structure to say for certain either way) that someone can get into an antisocial enough state that it's impossible, by ethical means, to retrain them, to get them out of that…

You know the guy that shot Reagan, John Warnock Hinckley Jr. He just got released from a secure psych facility. He shot the president and then got treated for being crazy. As a response, the conservatives in the 80's defunded public psych work and increased funding for prisons. The death penalty is a cruel policy choice. Nothing more than that.

It's a lot older policy choice than Hinckley so maaaayyybe a little more to it.

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

#260

Post by pnf »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #226
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…

Another way of looking at is that 22 years ago he did a terrible thing that he thought he would never do and has regretted ever since. This does not absolve him of shit, but: We then collectively, as a society, took 22 years to murder him back. Are we going to claim we did it as a mistake? Is ours a crime of passion? What excuse do we have for our violence? "He did it first"? So I find it hard to reconcile that we ar…

You're right, they've suffered a terrible injustice. They are the real victims. We should probably free all violent criminals at once. What could go wrong?
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