Jimmy Carter calls for fresh moratorium on death penalty

[Redfairen]

Source: The Guardian

Former US president Jimmy Carter has called for a new nationwide moratorium on the death penalty, arguing that it is applied so unfairly across the 32 states that still have the death sentence that it amounts to a form of cruel and unusual punishment prohibited under the US constitution.

In an interview with the Guardian, Carter calls on the US supreme court to reintroduce the ban on capital punishment that it imposed between 1972 and 1976. The death penalty today, he said, was every bit as arbitrary as it was when the nine justices suspended it on grounds of inconsistency in the case of Furman v Georgia 41 years ago.

“It’s time for the supreme court to look at the totality of the death penalty once again,” Carter said. “My preference would be for the court to rule that it is cruel and unusual punishment, which would make it prohibitive under the US constitution.”

Carter’s appeal for a new moratorium falls at a time of mounting unease about the huge disparities in the use of capital punishment in America. Recent research has shown that most of the 1,352 executions that have taken place since the supreme court allowed them to recommence in 1976 have emanated from just 2% of the counties in the nation.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/jimmy-carter-supreme-court-death-penalty

[Ranchemp.]

1. How about an outright ban?

I like the idea of a moratorium, but I love the idea of an outright ban.

[Scootaloo]

2. I'd rather pay for an inmate's grilled cheese and tater tots for life

Than one innocent man be killed.

And several innocent men have been killed.

The death penalty is nothing but a paroxysm of revenge. It has no merit, its cost is enormous - beyond the monetary concerns as well - and its maintenance is a hallmark of a barbarous society.

[warrant46]

11. But according to some its Christian

The old eye for an eye.

Just hang out in a dive bar in a state that has the DP and start a conversation about any murder and ask what they think should happen to the defendant.

And if you can get them to admit they are a christian ----most will volunteer to throw the first stone, flip the switch or fire the gun.

[Scootaloo]

12. One of the perks of being an atheist...

Is that I'm allowed to have a sense of ethics, rather than getting stuck with a litany of moral decrees written by upper neolithic sociopaths.

[warrant46]

13. True ethics trump centuries of Mumbo Jumbo

Although to me its amazing how that Mumbo Jumbo seems to be running the world into an apocalypse

[Scootaloo]

14. The conclusion I've come to...

Everyone has ethics. it's a species thing, we've evolved as a social being since the days when we had tails, so chances are exceptionally good that we are born knowing - or at least with a strong propensity towards - the basic rules of ethics. and in fact this is bolstered by the fact that every culture, everywhere, has the same basic suite of ethics that basically amounts to "don't hurt other people and help them out if you can." We are naturally empathic and, while altruism is probably as much learned as inherent, we're still more altruistic than many other animals.

But then you have morality. and it's not necessarily a feature of religion,though superstition and fear make it a lot easier to sell. Morality is an ethical asterisk. "Don't hurt people unless they...," "help people out, except when...." This leads to everything from tribal revenge killings in West papua, to the barflies you were just talking about, morality is the notion that you should be a good person except when.

[warrant46]

15. Rulers ----no matter what cut of cloth

They themselves or their immediate handlers always seem to rely on their ability to invoke superstition and fear to move the masses.

The movement designed to legitimize the rule and dynasty of the Queen/King

Thanks for your insight on morality I never thought of it that way before.

[MoreGOPoop]

3. K & R

It's also time for We Masses to reclaim our right to determine
who the criminals really are. I would be content to have some
war criminals receive Life in Gitmo vice guillotine.

[Psephos]

4. hear, hear! n/t

[nobodyspecial]

5. We need more Christians like this

I'm an atheist, but one's own beliefs are their own. However, he epitomizes what a Christian should be based on the teachings of Jesus.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Redfairen.

[last1standing]

7. This post should be topping the Greatest Threads list.

K&R

[Dollface]

8. He's right again and probably still 30 years ahead of the country.

[silvershadow]

9. I agree with President Carter. nt

[marble falls]

10. K and R