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Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

tdcj.state.tx.us

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Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#61

Post by thesis »

josai wrote: post #60
rohansingh wrote: post #55

This one really hit me: > The act I committed to put me here was not just heinous, it was senseless. But the person that committed that act is no longer here - I am. I'm not going to struggle physically against any restraints. I'm not going to shout, use profanity or make idle threats. Understand though that I'm not only upset, but I'm saddened by what is happening here tonight. I'm not only saddened, but disappointe…

Man. Thanks for posting that. That hits hard. > Tonight, we tell our children that in some instances, in some cases, killing is right. > a system that is supposed to protect and uphold what is just and right can be so much like me when I made the same shameful mistake.

And on the flip side... If you let your emotions get the better of you one time, there's always 2nd chance.

Which lesson should be taught to kids?

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#62

Post by TallGuyShort »

arjunnarayan wrote: post #52
TallGuyShort wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He nested quotes. The entire line was wrapper in quotation marks, as well as the individual quotes inside the line.

My brain is throwing all sorts of parse errors at that quote full of quotes. This is why we have escape characters! (Or, more realistically, two forms of quotation marks for nesting).

Or separate symbols for the beginning and end of a quote, so nesting is unambiguous. You know, something like:

(quote Wonder what their victims word cloud would look like? (quote Mercy) (quote Please) (quote I'm begging) (quote I want my Mommy!) (quote Help))

Everyone just needs to learn s-expressions.

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#63

Post by adamio »

rohansingh wrote: post #55

This one really hit me: > The act I committed to put me here was not just heinous, it was senseless. But the person that committed that act is no longer here - I am. I'm not going to struggle physically against any restraints. I'm not going to shout, use profanity or make idle threats. Understand though that I'm not only upset, but I'm saddened by what is happening here tonight. I'm not only saddened, but disappointe…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Beazley

Crime committed age 17, executed at 25

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#64

Post by yaddayadda »

dmm wrote: post #42
giarc wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don’t think the world will be a better or safer place without me." If they aren't executed, they will spend the rest of their life in jail. So by executing them our gains are two fold. 1. save tax dollars over keeping them in jail long term 2. give victims families peace Something to think about.

There is a reasonable debate surrounding whether an execution is more expensive than simply incarcerating for life, mostly because of the numerous appeals involved with a death sentence. I have no opinion regarding capital punishment.

A little more than a decade ago, I had to do research on capital punishment for a college ethics class. In the United States, at that time, the cost for a death row inmate was several times greater than it was for an inmate in for life without parole.

Additionally, there are the questionable convictions and the legal convictions that are subsequently found to have been innocent but for which innocence is no longer considered (e.g. dobbsbob comment about Rob Will - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7822471).

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#65

Post by freerobby »

thesis wrote: post #61
josai wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man. Thanks for posting that. That hits hard. > Tonight, we tell our children that in some instances, in some cases, killing is right. > a system that is supposed to protect and uphold what is just and right can be so much like me when I made the same shameful mistake.

And on the flip side... If you let your emotions get the better of you one time, there's always 2nd chance. Which lesson should be taught to kids?

A second chance to live out the rest of your days in prison. Yeah, I can live with that.

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#66

Post by orthecreedence »

triangleman wrote: post #16

We have a word cloud and a "greatest hits" list posted here. Remember that this is more than 500 separate cases worthy of consideration or at least having enough decency to hit the back button rather than dig into such a heavy topic. What's not cool is turning these words into a Top 10-linkbait list or a variety show or some other mechanism for insulating yourself from the horror of this post.

I appreciate both. I looked around the full list on the site for a while, and came back here to read comments. I like that people were posting summaries and quotes, because most of them I missed while exploring and some of them contain a lot of wisdom (or just speak to me personally).

I think if you want to see is as people getting karma off the death of someone else, that's ok and you may be correct in some cases, but I see it as more of a gathering and sharing of information that most people don't have the time to do themselves. Or maybe I'm just not seeing the comments you're responding to and they're truly making a mockery.

edit

Just saw a word cloud in the shape of a skull. I see what you mean...

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#67

Post by lrm242 »

dfc wrote: post #57
kohanz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why would the Texas Department of Justice want to draw attention to that?

Because in politics the cover up is often more damaging than the initial transgression? Because the state does not feel that they have done anything wrong and therefore has nothing to gain by appearing to hide information from the public?

Or because there is nothing to hide?

From the data:

  White    231 (44.9%)
  Black    190 (36.9%)
  Hispanic  92 (17.9%)
  Other      2 (0.4%)

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#68

Post by happyscrappy »

massysett wrote: post #58

This list is yet another example of how the condemned receive something that neither their victims nor most other convicts get: a ceremonial death. They get last words. A last meal. Last rites with the clergy. Candlelight vigil by those against capital punishment. Final appeals to the courts and to the governor for clemency. Witnesses to the execution. To rot in obscurity would be greater punishment for these people.…

This is how opposition to the death penalty should be sold instead of pretending that the perp is the victim.

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#69

Post by kohanz »

lrm242 wrote: post #47
llamataboot wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a disproportionate number of people sentenced to death are non-white.

From the data: White 231 (44.9%) Black 190 (36.9%) Hispanic 92 (17.9%) Other 2 (0.4%)

As of the 2010 US Census, the racial distribution in Texas was as follows: 70.4% of the population of Texas was White American; 11.8% African American; 3.8%, Asian American; 0.7%, American Indian; 0.1%, native Hawaiian or Pacific islander only; 10.5% of the population were of some other race only; and 2.7% were of two or more races. Hispanics (of any race) were 37.6% of the population of the state, while Non-Hispanic Whites composed 45.3% [0]

The Hispanic portion is difficult to parse, but it certainly seems that African-Americans are very over-represented.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Texas#Racial_an...

Re: Death Row – Last words of every Texas inmate executed since 1982

#70

Post by jacquesm »

massysett wrote: post #58

This list is yet another example of how the condemned receive something that neither their victims nor most other convicts get: a ceremonial death. They get last words. A last meal. Last rites with the clergy. Candlelight vigil by those against capital punishment. Final appeals to the courts and to the governor for clemency. Witnesses to the execution. To rot in obscurity would be greater punishment for these people.…

Some of them get to go out as innocents.

What's disgusting is a nation that sinks to the level of those it holds the most in contempt.

The death penalty is wrong on so many levels. And all those safeguards aside there are still innocent people murdered by the state.

It's funny how you'd use 'candle lit vigil by those against capital punishment' in the same list as 'witnesses to the execution'.

And 'to rot in obscurity would be greater punishment for these people' lumps you right in with those against the death penalty.

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