In class writing

Well considering the fact the the man was accused and sentenced for committing an act of rape that he never committed is surely supports my view of the death penalty. I believe that he was wrongly killed. Many innocent people were dying because of no DNA testing. Now that we have the DNA testing it's easier to catch the correct criminal. But that also brings up problems because we can now review old cases of death row inmates and find there deaths in vein.

How does this excerpt support or challenge your views on the death penalty?

As you can see a weak legal system causes the release of very dangerous people because too many innocent reconstructing the legal system and capital punishment should be a top priority.

This exerpt challenges the death penalty completely. "DNA provided the first tangible evidence that the criminal justice system was seriously flawed." Innocent people were convicted and sentenced to death so many times. Appeals are supposed to give those who have been wrongly convicted a chance to prove their innocence or the faultiness of their trial. These appeal courts are often so biased that there is never really any real chance of an overturn.

Interesting Link

This link has all sorts of facts about the death penalty. One particular interesting thing I picked up was majority of the executions seem to be occurring in the south.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf

Our Views On What is Right and Wrong?

I feel like our morals are shaped by our societies, and the time we were raised in. Societies are what we grow up in. Societies shape our views and influence us more than we know. Different areas in the world have different views. Morals do change over time. The code of hammurabi was strict code that we would hardly find now a days. In that matter, most punishments that the code gave evolved with time. If that same society lived in this time, would they have embraced the same code today?

Death penalty

This article refers to the statistics of death penalty done on the innocent :

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5228854

Death penalty

Here's a link that refers to religion and the death penalty : 

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php%3Fdid%3D2249

The death of innocents

I find it weird how Supreme Court Judge Scalia is Catholic but has such views about the death penalty. You would expect someone who is religious to have more compassion and not be so cold hearted. 

Debate on 12/02

We'll have one more class, 11/30, to prepare for the debate. I realized that I forgot to upload directions for the debate to Blackboard. That problem has been rectified. I'll also have handouts in class. In addition to discussion Prejean, you may use this space to discuss strategies or questions you may have about the debate. Although I won't give you a letter grade for the debate, I will add your participation on this project into you in-class participation final grade. I'll also allow you to comment on the debate, and about the stand-out contributions from your classmates here on the blog.

Tomorrow's Class

Hi all:

For those of you who weren’t in class yesterday: I’ve canceled tomorrow’s class (11/25) since it’s so close to Thanksgiving. I’ll be here nonetheless if you want to turn in Assignment #4 in my office, H428. (I’ll be here until about 2:30.) If you prefer, you may turn in your assignment to me via email. Although you may turn in Assignment #4 up until 12/14, you must turn Assignment #4 in tomorrow if you want a chance to rewrite.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Best,

jt

Legal Murder of Innocent Lives

Let us say that somebody gets sentenced to state execution and then later on, they were proven innocent. Would a legal case be sown up accusing the government of murder? What would be the repercussions if someone related were to somehow purse a legal case accusing the government of murder? Who would face the consequences? What would be the consequences?

Cases of Extreme Gravity

In The Death of Innocents, Sister Helen goes on at some length about how the Catholic church dropped the words from the Catechism "not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, the death penalty" (129-130). She argues that since the Catholic church has dropped that qualifier that they're essentially saying that governments shouldn't make exceptions for executions, not for killers of police officers, children, a room full of people (or a concert hall, i.e. Paris last Friday), or terrorists such as Osama bin Laden (who was still alive when this book was published). What do you think about this argument? Why is it not okay to make exceptions for particularly heinous murders?

Use the blog this week to get caught up. It seems like a lot of you hadn't read the chapter on Joseph O'Dell. Please do so. I have been haunted by this chapter. Look at the very end, the email from the "jailhouse snitch" Steven Watson who confessed that he lied about O'Dell's confession (and about how he said that he was threatened w/ 10 years of jail for contempt of course if he recanted his original testimony). Or the fact that the state of VA destroyed the evidence before the defense could get it DNA tested. What is your reaction to this sad story?

Cost of death penalty

I was so so curious so i searched this up.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

Death penalty

http://news.yahoo.com/u-death-penalties-executions-slow-capital-punishment-squeezed-140212521.html

I will also be getting those rewrites in

I want to thank you again professor for bringing us to the writing center again it has really helped me with my paper seeing how this is so helpful we should go as a class weekly

Topic

I have decided to do Essay #4: Public and private based on abortion. Do you guys think this is a good topic? how do you guys feel about this? are you a supporter or opponent of abortion?. Write a few comments please, this would help me with ideas on my paper.
- Thank you

Death penalty

I'm against death penalty. I think people put on death row are there obviously because they have done a terrible crime. I feel they should not be on death row because from there they die at one shot. Making them stay in jail the rest of their lives would be the best thing so they can learn to suffer just like the people they did the crime on.  Victims of these crimes are humans as well. They might have died either for a reason or no reason at all, like for example; rape and getting killed for "no proof". Every human deserves to live, thats why we were born. But these people comitting crimes should learn their lesson in jail for the rest of their lives, beacuse even though they are put for a life sentence, they know they are not coming out for the rest of their lives, so they might want to die. The government shouldn't allow this.

Death of innocents

I'm reading the first 53 pages over agin to re fresh my memory and I really do feel bad for Williams. It's sad that he's not giving a fair  jury. It's sad that his life is being chosen by a room full of whites when it should be filled with some of his peers. It's sad that even though there's very little evidence that it could be him he's still getting blamed maybe because of his race. 

Research paper

For our last assignment I decided to do death with dignity. Which is when a person who is terminally ill has the decision to end their own life. How do you guys feel about this topic ? Do you think someone should have this option why or why not ? 

Ironic Legal System

I remember in Death of Innocence, Sister Prejean said that the court cared a lot about protocol. I think it was O'Dell who got rejected because he did wrote Notice instead of another word that was similar and his document was rejected. But the DA had violated protocol throughout the case and they were excused.They even lost the tape, and the idea of protocol had gone down the drain.

Professor are you against death penalty or not?

Did you guys know that the death penalty costs A LOT because of the legal process

In death of innocents I just kept thinking the husband killed his wife throughout everything yet these people were so racist that they couldn't let themselves think that maybe Dobie didn't do it or maybe they just wanted to cover it up so badly

I've noticed that police brutality is a big topic in our writing assignments

I really hope I get an A so I've decided to post on blogger every single second of my life, while I eat, while I sleep, while I walk, while I shower.. I'm determined.

Legal System

The legal system is supposed to bring justice into situations where a party was wronged. In chapter one of Death of Innocence, Sister Prejean says that the system cared more about protocol than they did about justice. And throughout chapter one, Sister Prejean shows how seeking justice was disrespected by the prosecutor. I feel like that idea is not inclusive to only the book.

Dead Man Walking

I felt that in The Dead Man Walking, Matthew, deserved what he got. He was proud that he killed and raped someone and he was too proud to let himself break. Eventually he broke at the face of death he broke his pride thanks to Sister Helen.

Dead Man Walking

This film made me feel different emotions throughout the entire length. It first began with the sister Helen and Matthew first meeting and already he had a bad impression on me. After learning about what he was guilty for I then agreed that prison is the right place for him to be for the rest of his life at most. But he is in fact on death row (p.s. I am completely against the death penalty). As time passes between the two interacting, I started to feel that maybe Matthew is completely guily. I mean that in a sense that he isn't guilty for the murders or rape, just for being an accomplice. I started hoping that somehow, he would be found innocent of the accused crime and be removed from death row. I felt really emotional when Helen began singing to Matthew because it was already too late for him. But then the most shocking scene for me was him admitting to killing the boy and raping the girl...I was just shattered knowing that he infact did commit a murder and rape the poor girl..he sure had me fooled....... Just thought that this aspect of the movie was very powerful for me.
(Still doesn't change the fact that I was against the death penalty on him)
(It's as if the government stoops down to his level and commits a murder themselves)

The Death of Innocents

We won't be able to discuss DOI this week since we're meeting in the library, but I'd like us to start discussing it here. Let's talk about Dobie Gillis Williams' case as Sister Helen describes it. Do you see any flaws in the way justice was carried out in this case? Sister Helen clearly does, but maybe you don't agree w/ her on some points. Here is a good place to start these conversations.

A big issue in this first chapter is the fact that many black defendants (like Dobie)--esp. those who are indigent (don't have the $ to afford a good lawyer)--are not tried by a jury of their peers (i.e. the entire jury is white). Coincidentally, there are two editorials in today's NY Times about this very issue. Check them out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/opinion/excluding-blacks-from-juries.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/opinion/how-america-tolerates-racism-in-jury-selection.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Dead Man Walking

Also, I knew that nuns are not allowed to be married or intimate with a man. It was insightful to see the kickoff scene where all the nuns were in their white dresses. This was them marrying God and committing to be of service to Him for life? Right? Correct me if I'm wrong. That's how I saw it.

Dead Man Walking

I find it Sister Helen to be a very interesting character in this film. It was strange to me that she found herself becoming so close to this man. This man who raped and murdered. In a way, he is everything she is not. He is racist, and cold-hearted at most times. He couldn't even admit what he had done until the day of his execution. He repeatedly said things like "I ain't gonna beg" and "I ain't gonna kiss nobody's ass." But pretty much does the opposite when he's in court and trying to get out of the death penalty. He also says things like "we both live with the poor" and he talked about his father giving him beer from age 12 and it's hard not to feel the least bit bad for him. But then he goes back talking about being a nazi and can't decide if it's niggers or lazy people he hates more. I think it's just interesting to watch the bond grow between sister helen and the man, because the relationship is just so wrong from the beginning.

Dead Man Walking

Me and sister Helens views are quite different. If I was in her position, I definitely wouldn't have helped Matthew and stood with him through out the whole time of his trial. He committed crime and rape and I felt like he deserved to stay in jail. However, I do understand that she was attempting to see the good in him, that of which he did have, but it still doesn't change the fact that he did what he did. I did like the way she tried to find the good in him because seeing her do that I was trying to do the same thing while watching the movie. The movie was beyond entertaining and interesting in my opinion and I really enjoyed it. 

Dead Man Walking

I personally think that the death penalty shouldn't be allowed in any state no matter what crime they committed. I think that instead of them being placed into the death penalty, they should just be in jail for life. My point of view is, let's say someone is placed on the death penalty for committing murder. It makes no sense for the state to commit the same exact crime the murderer did and kill them. Instead they should face their consequences for life in jail instead of having to escape the pain by getting killed. If they're in jail for life then they deal with the consequences and feel the actual pain of being in jail for the rest of their lives.