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The Death Penalty

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fletch

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The Police apparently have their man in the case of the missing hiker, Meredith Emerson.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4109946

According to the article 'drifter' Gary Michael Hilton "led authorities to Emerson's body Monday evening in an agreement that prosecutors not seek the death penalty against him, according to Union County's district attorney, Stan Gunter." Even though this monster will not be facing the death penalty for this crime, it was the possibility of facing the death penalty that brought about Hilton's confession. I cant help but wonder whether Hilton would have been so cooperative if he faced only life in prison. I kind of doubt it.

This is not the first time I have heard of a criminal confessing to avoid death row, which is an added benefit to the overriding cause of justice that the death penalty serves, but my question is why do these murderers fear it so? Almost without exception, people on death row seek every legal maneuver possible to avoid or delay their date with the noose (or the needle). A man like Hilton, who by any objective standard has led a valueless, pointless, parasitic existence and is now a suspect in several other similar crimes, has absolutely no regard for human life...except when it comes to his own survival. Is Hilton the ultimate altruist, sacrificing others to himself, or does the explanation lie elsewhere?

Another oddity, in my mind, is Hilton's age. He's 61. The average wait on death row is close to 20 years. That would make him near 80 by the time the sentence would ultimately be carried out. Chances are he will die of old age first, yet he is so fearful of execution that he will admit his guilt to avoid facing it. That strikes me as strange. But if killers so fear societies vengeance when it takes the form of the death penalty, then that is reason enough to keep it.

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I'm missing parts of the argument. Are you arguing in support of the death penalty because it causes murderers to confess on the condition that they avoid the death penalty? I didn't see evidence that the death penalty was behind his confession; they really don't discuss what prompted the confession. A lot of people confess; in this case, we don't know why.

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He agreed to take them to the woman's body, something, presumably only the killer would know, if they agreed not to pursue the death penalty against him. I take that to mean that he was influenced by the possibility of facing death if his guilt was proven at trial. That fear, apparently, was too much for him. About two weeks ago I saw a case on one of those cable TV investigative shows with a similar story. The police knew they had the right guy in custody, but weren't sure they had enough evidence to convict him. The suspect, however, was so worried about being convicted and sentenced to death that he confessed rather than face trial. The point is, were it not for the existence of the death penalty, that suspect would have taken his chances at trial and may be walking the streets today. That is the added benefit of the death penalty I am talking about.

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Here's the problem that I see. A truly remorseful man would confess whether or not there is a death penalty. An insane may confess whether or not he did it. So the only people we need to consider are innocent men, and guilty non-remorseful men. Why would anyone confess? We have to presume that he had a good reason to think that he would be convicted, and that he hoped his confession would secure a lesser punishment. That means that the police had to have given him the impression that they had evidence, and that it was strong enough that would lead to his conviction. And so he carries them the last 10% in exchange for a lesser penalty.

Fine for the guilty man, but what about the innocent man who is wrongly accused? The fear of being executed, when faced with claims by the police that they have strong evidence that will lead to a conviction, can cause an innocent person to falsely confess because he is faced with the alternative of death. And that would be an intolerable injustice. This is why it is not allowed to extract a confession by death threats. The benefit that you find in encouraging the guilty to confess is negated by the evil of equally forcing an innocent man to confess to something that he didn't do.

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I don't think there is a particularly high risk of a man wrongly accused of murder leading police to the decapitated body of the victim. I get the impression that you are opposed to the death penalty in general, David. If so, that is a different issue. My question is why this guy, and so many others like him, who are obviously and clearly guilty of murder so fear the death penalty? Why men like him who have no regard for human life scratch and claw to preserve their own? And, in the ultimate insult, after committing crimes of such barbarity and unmitigated evil then sue to halt lethal injections as "cruel and inhuman treatment." The cruel and the inhuman are on death row, and the treatment they get, they deserve.

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I don't think there is a particularly high risk of a man wrongly accused of murder leading police to the decapitated body of the victim.
No, I think that's pretty unlikely. But you were suggesting that having the death penalty would lead guilty men to confess; I'm pointing out that this will also lead innocent men to falsely confess. A confession is a confession -- you don't have to lead the police to the body, you just have to say that you did it.
I get the impression that you are opposed to the death penalty in general, David.
Not per se, but I would support it only if there is no possibility of convicting an innocent man. There is no question at all that Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald. There is a doubt who killed Laci Peterson. A man can be pardoned after years of a wrongfully imposed prison sentence, but there is no pardon from a wrongful execution.
My question is why this guy, and so many others like him, who are obviously and clearly guilty of murder so fear the death penalty?
For the same reason that any man fears execution, even innocent men. Because it's the end of your life. What else is fear for?
Why men like him who have no regard for human life scratch and claw to preserve their own?
For the same reason innocent men scratch and claw to preserve their lives.

There are some psychopaths who don't fear their own death -- they of course are the most dangerous. But then the death penalty does not deter them at all.

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