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PEVEI t1_j9kjmy0 wrote

It still blows my mind that the US has the death penalty, it puts them in SUCH poor company, but they never seem to fully ditch it.

The US more than any other country can afford to securely house dangerous people for an indefinite period, and we all know that "deterrence" is a myth. Just... joint he rest of us in the developed world already!

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impulsekash t1_j9kmm2a wrote

> it puts them in SUCH poor company,

We have massive wealth inequality, poor access to health care, our infrastructure is falling apart. We are an undeveloping nation.

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HurricaneAlpha t1_j9m3gnp wrote

Which is really sad. Because there was a point there where we could have absolutely crushed it. It's like watching a football team that used to be really good but never closed the deal. And now it just stinks.

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Ed_Durr t1_j9m6l3s wrote

I’m curious, when do you consider that departure point to be, and what should we have done differently?

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HurricaneAlpha t1_j9m9n17 wrote

I think the civil rights movement was a huge turning point, but if we listened to the socialist messages of those leaders and took them seriously we would be a very different country right now.

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Robo_Joe t1_j9kmeh8 wrote

Glorifying violence is kind of our thing, though.

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Matobar t1_j9lfpas wrote

It, like many other things, is determined by who is running the show.

Congress is too divided right now to pass a bill outlawing the death penalty, so it's often up to individual jurisdictions to decide what to do about it.

Before President Trump, there hadn't been a federal death penalty execution since 2003. But he carried out 13 executions during the last year or so of his term.

Other states have similar records. Technically California, one of the biggest and most liberal states, has the death penalty as an option still, but it hasn't been used in over 17 years at this point.

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WalkerBRiley t1_j9lx62x wrote

Whichever side bans the death penalty loses the right wing entirely, as the right are the biggest defenders of it.

You know, the side the proclaims they follow Christ, the guy who was explicitly against killing?

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TheOwlOnMyPorch t1_j9kqf7j wrote

I mean we also don't believe in a general standard of care for non-criminals (universal healthcare, minimum living wage, decent public schools) so it's not that crazy.

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pretender80 t1_j9malti wrote

Taxing it's citizens all across the world is also something the US does among poor company.

Death and taxes...

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Cyanopicacooki t1_j9kwaer wrote

It's one reason I'll never visit there. Over here in Britain recently an active conversation has started about restoring the death penalty, politicians are endorsing it, and some polls put support way over 50%, so we can't try and claim the moral high ground.

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landof10000cakes t1_j9kxu0u wrote

Not all of America has the death penalty.

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Cyanopicacooki t1_j9ky2sn wrote

The United States still has the Federal death penalty, I think that the last time it was used was Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma bombing. It's rare, but it is still on their statute book.

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Sabatorius t1_j9llptv wrote

You're right about there being a federal death penalty, but there have been 15 federal executions after McVeigh. Incidentally, 13 of those were under the Trump administration, more than any other administration in over 120 years, and breaking a 17-year period of no federal executions.

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EvlMinion t1_j9lr8jr wrote

I was thinking that happened all at once, and I was right. Wikipedia says all of those occurred between July 14, 2020 and January 16, 2021.

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stircrazyathome t1_j9m2hw2 wrote

Yes, there is still a federal death penalty. Trump made a point to get executions going and removed a moratorium. Thirteen federal inmates were executed during a sixth month period under Trump. Prior to the first execution in July 2020, the U.S. hadn’t executed anyone since 2003. As of July 2021, the moratorium was reinstated.

Considering the fact that 1 in 46 federal death penalty inmates have been exonerated, I’m glad we have the moratorium. It sickens me that our “justice” system allows innocent men and women to be kept in prison on technicalities. 1 in 46 we’re proven innocent. Think of how many are just as innocent but shit outta luck.

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HurricaneAlpha t1_j9m4e8m wrote

And honestly, he deserved it.

I'm generally against the death penalty, but if you are 100% guilty of a heinous crime like that, it doesn't bother me on a moral level. Honestly, I wish he got life in prison in solitary. That would be cruel and unusual, though. Which emotionally I'm ok with, but morally I'm not. So morally, the death penalty is the better option.

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