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Bill: Death Penalty Bill
Details
Submitted by[?]: Beach Party
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: February 2100
Description[?]:
| I propose the reintroduction of the death penalty for certain criminals. a) Serial murderer. b) Serial rapist. c) Level 3 sex offender. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Government policy with respect to the death penalty.
Old value:: not recorded
Current: The death penalty is illegal and is never to be applied.
Proposed: The death penalty is applied for capital crimes.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 21:27:38, August 15, 2005 CET | From |  Mouvement des Conservateurs | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | A lifetime imprisonment is much worse then the death penalty. By killing criminals we would just lower ourselfs to their standards. It is not up to us to choose death for another human being. |
| Date | 21:36:57, August 15, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | A lifetime imprisonment costs the taxpayers a lot of money; such people are not worthy of life. |
| Date | 23:43:05, August 15, 2005 CET | From | CCP | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | We are against the item in its current form. |
| Date | 17:30:39, August 16, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | It is puzzling that you would be against this item CCP, after all does your bible not say an eye for and eye? |
| Date | 19:35:10, August 16, 2005 CET | From | Mouvement des Conservateurs | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | BP: no no, that is the Jewish bible. The christian bible says "if someone slaps you on one cheek, present him the other" |
| Date | 19:36:21, August 16, 2005 CET | From | Mouvement des Conservateurs | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | perhaps maybe in the old testament... |
| Date | 22:20:50, August 16, 2005 CET | From | CCP | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Indeed it does, but healthy faith cannot be built on the viccissitudes and base fears of men. We have all fallen far short of grace, and in this way, the authors of the Bible were no different. |
| Date | 23:14:42, August 16, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Maybe if you had spoken to the victims of these "people" you would change your mind. |
| Date | 00:53:43, August 17, 2005 CET | From | Mouvement des Conservateurs | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | You're turning the death penalty into a people's action of revenge. |
| Date | 02:07:04, August 17, 2005 CET | From | CCP | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | It may be possible that we are not approaching the subject in the rigorous and conscientious manner it deserves. It may be useful to consider a few general questions. Given a functional and well-managed prison system, does it threaten our wellbeing to keep violent criminals alive? If the threat is negligible, what would it cost the People to maintain a prison system capable of containing violent criminals? And if the cost is negligible and yet we persist in our application of the death penalty, how will the application of the death penalty affect the character and self-image of the Nation? I'll research the costs of maintaining an affective prison system for a Nation of about Rildanor's size and report back. If our Honorable Colleagues within the Beach Party would indulge me, and if there are no objections, I'd like to move that the debate of this item be extended to allow sufficient time for submittal and review of our report. |
| Date | 06:48:56, August 17, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Agreed. |
| Date | 21:09:39, August 18, 2005 CET | From | Parti Monarchiste Catholique | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | If execution is going to be legal, it would seem that the only crime that warrants execution would be premeditated murder. The inclusion of the possibility of execution for other crimes in this bill means that this party cannot support it. |
| Date | 04:27:23, August 19, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Sex crimes rob people just as much, if not more, than murder. The emotional scarring may never go away. Maybe if you talk to some of your constituents that have first hand experience you'd realize this. |
| Date | 11:38:21, August 19, 2005 CET | From | CCP | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Sorry about the delay guys. Here's what I found at deathpenaltyinfo.org. HOW MUCH DOES THE DEATH PENALTY COST? The major cost studies on the death penalty all indicate that it is much more expensive than a system where the most severe sentence is life in prison: The most comprehensive study conducted in this country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execution over the costs of a non-death penalty system imposing a maximum sentence of imprisonment for life.5 As I mentioned earlier, these findings are sensitive to the number of executions the state carries out. However, the authors noted that even if the death penalty was 100% efficient, i.e., if every death sentence resulted in an execution, the extra costs to the taxpayers would still be $216,000 per execution. Some years ago, the Miami Herald estimated that the costs of the death penalty in Florida were $3.2 million per execution, based on the rate of executions at that time.6 Florida's death penalty system has bogged down for a number of reasons, including a controversy over the electric chair. As a result, a more recent estimate of the costs in Florida by the Palm Beach Post found a much higher cost per execution: Florida spends $51 million a year above and beyond what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole. Based on the 44 executions Florida had carried out from 1976 to 2000, that amounts to a cost of $24 million for each execution.7 In Texas, the Dallas Morning News concluded that a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years.8 The Sacramento Bee found that death penalty costs California $90 million annually beyond the ordinary costs of the justice system - $78 million of that total is incurred at the trial level. Since California has averaged much less than one execution per year, the costs per execution are astronomical.9 A variety of other studies in New York, Kansas, Nebraska and on the federal level also found high expenses associated with the death penalty, though none of these calculated the costs throughout the whole process. In a report from the Judicial Conference of the United States on the costs of the federal death penalty, it was reported that defense costs were about 4 times higher in cases where death was sought than in comparable cases where death was not sought. Moreover, the prosecution costs in death cases were 67% higher than the defense costs, even before including the investigative costs of law enforcement agencies.10 A recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted that in states where counties are chiefly responsible for prosecuting capital cases, the expenses can put an extraordinary burden on local budgets, comparable to that caused by a natural disaster.11 Katherine Baicker at Dartmouth published a study concerning the "Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions" and concluded that the capital cases have a "large negative shock" on county budgets, often requiring an increase in taxes. She estimated the extra expenses to be $1.6 billion over a 15-year period.12 The net effect of this burden on counties is a widely disparate and somewhat arbitrary use of the death penalty. "Rich" counties that can afford the high costs of the death penalty may seek this punishment often, while poorer counties may never seek it at all, settling for life sentences instead. In some areas, this geographical disparity can have racial effects, as well, depending on the geographical location of racial minorities within the state. Even counties that do pursue capital cases have found that they have had to cut back on other services such as libraries, ambulances, or even patrol cars for the police. Some counties have approached the brink of bankruptcy because of one death penalty case that has to be done over a second or third time.13 Many of the costs of the death penalty are inescapable and are likely to increase in the near future, as the demands for a more reliable and fairer system are heard. The majority of the costs occur at the trial level, and cannot easily be streamlined or reduced. There was, however, one significant recommendation from the recent report of the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment which will not cost more money. Instead, it could radically reduce the cost of the death penalty. The greatest waste and inefficiency of the death penalty occurs when cases are not done correctly during the "main event" -- the trial. And states and counties that tend to use the death penalty disproportionately more often than other places, tend to have the most errors -- and hence the most added costs. The Illinois Commission recommended that Illinois reduce the number of qualifying crimes from the present 20 down to 5.14 This would focus the death penalty on the "worst of the worst" offenders, and in these kinds of cases, fewer mistakes are made. This not only saves the state money because the death penalty is sought less frequently -- it also eliminates from the system the borderline cases which are most likely to be overturned. With pressure off the courts, the prosecution, and the defense community because of a smaller caseload, cases can be completed with the utmost care, and not result in overturned convictions and sentences. I think this alternative deserves serious consideration. |
| Date | 12:03:35, August 19, 2005 CET | From | CCP | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | "The cost of skyrocketing jail populations to counties," From http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/teaching_info/ Counties are threatened by the possibility of bankruptcy as a result of the "unfunded mandate" of absorbing soaring jail costs. A study by the Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association shows that jails will cost the counties across the Commonwealth approximately $200 million during the 2005 fiscal year. More than $100 million of that cost will come directly from the counties' general funds. That is money that would otherwise be spent to enhance the quality of life of county residents on things that residents have the right to expect and demand from their county governments such as roads, bridges, parks, waterlines, sewers, emergency medical services and senior centers. In short, with some counties spending more than 50 percent of their total general fund budget on their jails, skyrocketing jail expenses are lowering the quality of life for county residents. For example, Union County, which has a total general fund budget of $1.5 million this year, expects to spend approximately $1 million of those funds on its jail. Just think of the services that Union County could provide to its residents if it were not forced to shoulder the burden of absorbing this cost. |
| Date | 16:18:13, August 19, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | So death penalty trials cost a lot more than normal ones, some kind of cap on the cost of a trial? A cheaper way to execute would also be preferable. |
| Date | 08:32:28, August 22, 2005 CET | From | Beach Party | To | Debating the Death Penalty Bill |
| Message | Seeing as voting on bills matters to make the parties different, and not fully caring if this passes. I move to Vote! |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||
| yes |
Total Seats: 0 | |||
| no | Total Seats: 66 | |||
| abstain | Total Seats: 5 |
| Random fact: In general, role-play requires the consent of all players. |
| Random quote: "When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick.'" - Mikhail Bakunin |