What a shame!

[Diogenes]

TEXAS INMATE’S FINAL WORDS BEFORE EXECUTION: “LET’S RIDE, WARDEN”


Steven Lawayne Nelson, convicted of murdering a pastor inside his own church, was executed in Texas—his wife and service dog witnessing his final moments.

Refusing to walk to the execution chamber in a “non-violent protest,” Nelson remained defiant.

Nelson, 37, strangled Clint Dobson in 2011 and brutally beat his secretary, who survived.

He maintained his innocence until the end.

Texas, which abolished last meals for death row inmates, has 3 more executions scheduled by April.

 

[Diogenes]

I wonder if the enemy will erect a statue to his memory.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

The only "shame" I see here is it took this long to carry out.

 

[Diogenes]

The only "shame" I see here is it took this long to carry out.

I oppose the death penalty, though.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

I oppose the death penalty, though.

Ah. I don't oppose it, particularly for repeat offenders and those that commit crimes while incarcerated. In the later case, my thinking is, Jail and prison didn't work as a deterrent, maybe offing (killing) you will stop your criminal activities...

 

[Diogenes]

Ah. I don't oppose it, particularly for repeat offenders and those that commit crimes while incarcerated. In the later case, my thinking is, Jail and prison didn't work as a deterrent, maybe offing (killing) you will stop your criminal activities...

Everyone makes mistakes.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Everyone makes mistakes.

Making the same ones over and over is a reason for the rest of us to stop letting you make them.

 

[Diogenes]

Making the same ones over and over is a reason for the rest of us to stop letting you make them.

Police make mistakes, too.

 

[Lionfish]

Easier solution at a fraction of the cost

Salvadoran President Offers to House U.S. Inmates from Any Nation, For a Fee​

 

[Diogenes]

Easier solution at a fraction of the cost

Salvadoran President Offers to House U.S. Inmates from Any Nation, For a Fee​

Who'd like to see Fauci, the Bidens, and Obama in here?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Police make mistakes, too.

It takes more than a police mistake or two in a capital crime case these days.

 

[Diogenes]

It takes more than a police mistake or two in a capital crime case these days.

Does it?

Prosecutors make mistakes. Defense attorneys make mistakes. Juries make mistakes. Judges make mistakes.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Does it?

Prosecutors make mistakes. Defense attorneys make mistakes. Juries make mistakes. Judges make mistakes.

But do they all make those mistakes compounding one and other in the same case today? No. Sure, 50 years ago with inferior techniques and technology, that sort of mistake occurred. 75 to 100 years ago and beyond it was also easily possible for cases to be rigged against a defendant.

Now, in the case where a defendant is found guilty of a capital crime, goes to prison, then commits another capital crime, the evidence at that point is pretty much 100% damning that that person is guilty of a capital crime. Same goes if they commit one, get released, commit another. Those are the cases where I'm advocating for a death penalty. You committed a capital crime. We gave you a chance at redemption. You blew it by doing that sort of crime again.

 

[Diogenes]

No.

Yes.

• The most reliable data we have comes from exonerations, which are instances where a conviction has been officially overturned. However, not all wrongful convictions result in exoneration, meaning many cases of wrongful conviction might remain undetected or unreported.
• According to the National Registry of Exonerations, by August 2024, there were 3,582 exonerations in the United States, with a significant portion related to serious crimes like murder where the death penalty could have been applied.
• More specifically, since 1973, at least 200 people who were sentenced to death have been exonerated.
• Studies suggest that between 2% to 10% of convicted individuals in US prisons might be innocent. For capital crimes, a 2014 study estimated a wrongful conviction rate of about 4% for those sentenced to death.

@Grok

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Yes.

• The most reliable data we have comes from exonerations, which are instances where a conviction has been officially overturned. However, not all wrongful convictions result in exoneration, meaning many cases of wrongful conviction might remain undetected or unreported.
• According to the National Registry of Exonerations, by August 2024, there were 3,582 exonerations in the United States, with a significant portion related to serious crimes like murder where the death penalty could have been applied.
• More specifically, since 1973, at least 200 people who were sentenced to death have been exonerated.
• Studies suggest that between 2% to 10% of convicted individuals in US prisons might be innocent. For capital crimes, a 2014 study estimated a wrongful conviction rate of about 4% for those sentenced to death.

@Grok

Ask "Grok" who is often presenting incomplete or erroneous information this:

When were those overturned convictions initially made, list by year.
How many people since 1973 have been sentenced to life without parole or to a death penalty?
Same question for exonerations. Give the ratio of exonerations to convictions.
How many people with multiple convictions, not a single conviction, for capital crimes like murder and rape, have had their sentence(s) overturned? That is, someone who committed murder and or rape more than one time.

Then you are dealing with apples to apples with what I argued should be the basis for a death penalty. Maybe not the complete basis, but the starting point at least.

 

[Diogenes]

Ask "Grok" who is often presenting incomplete or erroneous information this:

If you believe that Grok is often presenting incomplete or erroneous information, please specify precisely what is incomplete or erroneous information Grok presented.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

If you believe that Grok is often presenting incomplete or erroneous information, please specify precisely what is incomplete or erroneous information Grok presented.

Go back to my questions.

The first two work together to give the rate exonerations and overturned convictions with respect to time. Is that rate going up, down, or remaining constant? Without knowing that the number of exonerations or overturned convictions is nearly meaningless on its own.

The ratio of exonerations to convictions shows how often as a percentage mistakes are made. Dividing this percentage into cases where a single conviction for a single crime versus multiple convictions for multiple crimes is also important. If exonerations are primarily or entirely for single instances of a capital crime, versus multiple instances, that shows that where someone committed multiple instances is rarely, or never exonerated, then the later approaches or is at 100% correct convictions.

My criteria for application of the death penalty was, and is, you committed multiple capital crimes. Prison as a punishment has proven ineffective in stopping that. Given your history, you will commit more capital crimes if given the chance and prison is not an effective deterrent to that. Therefore, to stop you from committing more capital crimes we're going to kill you and be done with it.

 

[Diogenes]

Go back to my questions.

Why?

If one person is wrongly convicted and executed, that's enough to convince me that the death penalty should be off the table.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Why?

If one person is wrongly convicted and executed, that's enough to convince me that the death penalty should be off the table.

Not me. I am solidly in the camp that expecting 100% accuracy in results for almost anything is a futile gesture and mistake. We should do the best we can to avoid such mistakes, but if they occasionally happen, sobeit.

 

[Diogenes]

Not me. I am solidly in the camp that expecting 100% accuracy in results for almost anything is a futile gesture and mistake. We should do the best we can to avoid such mistakes, but if they occasionally happen, sobeit.

I disagree. So be it.