death penalty post.

NEW VOICES: Former Prosecutors Call for Repeal of Kentucky's Death Penalty

In a recent op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal, three former Kentucky prosecutors advocated for repeal of the death penalty. Citing the findings of a study by the American Bar Association on Kentucky's law, Joseph P. Gutmann (pictured), Stephen Ryan, and J. Stewart Schneider said, "[T]he death penalty is broken beyond repair in Kentucky." Among the report's findings were a reversal rate of 60% in death penalty cases, a lack of standards for eyewitness identification and interrogations, and public defender caseloads that far exceed the national average, despite pay that is 31% lower than surrounding states. A poll taken around the time of the report found 62% of Kentucky voters in support of a moratorium on executions. The former prosecutors recommended repeal: "Without question, this is a difficult issue, and efforts to 'fix' the death penalty in Kentucky will be costly and time-consuming. But there is one approach that is simpler and less expensive: Abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without parole for convicted offenders....Replacing [the death penalty] with life without parole is the best approach for our state — removing the possibility that an innocent person will be executed, saving limited tax dollars, protecting public safety and providing certainty and justice to the families of victims." Read the op-ed below.

End Death Penalty

Three years ago, a report was released by the American Bar Association revealing serious problems related to fairness and accuracy in the use of the death penalty in Kentucky.
The report followed an exhaustive two-year review of every case in which the death penalty had been imposed in the commonwealth since 1976; the review was conducted by an assessment team of Kentucky attorneys, former Kentucky Supreme Court justices and law school professors. The findings were numerous and troubling. Among them:
•Of the last 78 people sentenced to death in Kentucky, 50 have had a death sentence overturned on appeal by Kentucky or federal courts — an error rate of more than 60 percent.
•At least 10 of the 78 people sentenced to death were represented by defense attorneys who were subsequently disbarred.
•There is no requirement that evidence in criminal cases be retained as long as a defendant remains incarcerated, and the problem of lost evidence significantly diminishes the effectiveness of a state law that allows post-conviction DNA testing prior to execution.
•There are no uniform standards on eyewitness identifications and interrogations, and many of Kentucky's largest law enforcement agencies do not fully adhere to best practices to guard against false eyewitness identifications and false confessions.
•Kentucky public defenders handling capital cases have caseloads that far exceed national averages and salaries that are 31 percent below those of similarly experienced attorneys in surrounding states.
•There are no statewide standards governing the qualifications and training of attorneys appointed to handle capital cases.
•Kentucky does not have adequate protections to ensure that death sentences are not imposed or carried out on a defendant with mental disabilities.
•There is a lack of data-keeping throughout the administration of the death penalty in Kentucky, making it impossible to guarantee that the system is operating fairly, effectively and efficiently.
These findings were so disturbing that the assessment team recommended that Kentucky suspend all executions until the issues are adequately addressed. A poll taken when the report was released found 62 percent of likely Kentucky voters statewide supported a temporary halt to executions. The support for a suspension was consistent across the state regardless of gender, geography or party registration.
Unfortunately, there has been no significant change in Kentucky's death penalty law since this sobering report was released, although legislation has been proposed to address some of the problems it identified. Judicial action temporarily stopping executions in Kentucky has been related to concerns about the method of executions and drugs used, not the findings of the ABA team.
Without question, this is a difficult issue, and efforts to "fix" the death penalty in Kentucky will be costly and time-consuming.
But there is one approach that is simpler and less expensive: Abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without parole for convicted offenders.
Studies have shown the cost of numerous legal appeals prompted by death sentences is far greater than the cost of locking up offenders for the rest of their lives. The death penalty also traps the families of victims in a decades-long cycle of uncertainty, court hearings and waiting for an execution that may never come.
The ABA review suggests that the death penalty is broken beyond repair in Kentucky. Replacing it with life without parole is the best approach for our state — removing the possibility that an innocent person will be executed, saving limited tax dollars, protecting public safety and providing certainty and justice to the families of victims.
Joseph P. Gutmann is a former Jefferson County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney. Stephen Ryan is a retired circuit court judge and former prosecutor, defense attorney and probation and parole officer. J. Stewart Schneider is stated supply speaker of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte and former Commonwealth's Attorney for the 32nd Judicial Circuit in Boyd County.

The lock down prison

One think we learned about correction system in American for the video is while you're out there you have your freedom don't abuse it don't make bad decision, and don't get lock up because once you do everything you have known as freedom will be gone, no choice of picking what you want to eat, you eat what they gave you, you do what they tell you, you might get rape in there, violated  got up etc.

And I think living in these conditions isn't fair to the prison because their food really sticks and there's nothing they can do about it but eat it, but at least they try to feed them that's al that matters
I don't know it's the consequences of their action that they are living.


 The name correction seems alright to me it's basically what's happening in the prison you mad a mistake they cant leave you out there, they put you in a place where you're to be thinking wait what am I doing here and you going to realize what you did  and hopefully after you done with you sentence you don't come back again.


I will go ahead and say the system works, because the police are in there protecting them, and it looks really secure  they stopping thins from happening , no sexually contact in there  they make sure you don't get abuse by other cellmate well from what I saw the system works pretty well.

The Police Station reflection

This fieldtrip was awesome once I got in there it felt like I was not going to go out again.
It was pretty cool being in there seeing all this stuff and the station is awesome and all the thing they have in there, it makes it look like a real prison the cells and everything but I was not expecting the cells to smell that bad. The girl's part don't  smell, looks like the guys peed on the walls and stuff,
the juvenile cells doesn't smell either, the two best part of the fieldtrip is the Gun range it looks awesome I wanted to try it but to bad, and the room with all the camera I was so shocked learning how these things works and how they have camera all over the place and looking at the street and stuff, this is pretty awesome . One last thing I don't know for others but the station was pretty confusing to me like I would spend a whole day to find my way out if I was in there by myself .

Charles stuart

Wow this is crazy, I was watching the Video and then I actually believed that they were being rubbed and been shot , when in reality it's a whole different story.How could you possibly do something like that your wife like that's madness.
At first I believed him but as I watching the video they made realize that he actually shot his wife, then shot himself to make it seems believable when they asked him question he basically lied saying that they were being shot by a "black tall guy" which is a completely lie, just try to get the police off his back, since he shoot himself there's no way you were to think that he did it. Like would you shot themselves well not me then his brother knew what was going on, because he was acting strange or something, the thing that convinced me that he did it, and by killing himself and write a note or something he just couldn't live with it This is very sad.

Murder on a Sunday morning

Brenton Butler was a really interesting case, this guys weren't doing their jobs  like how you going to arrest somebody without asking them questions, assuming that he did the crime, lying, making statements for the young boy, and that detective beat him up, making him sign something that says he confess, these detectives should be suspected for not doing their jobs right, they should take their licenses for putting out their a false statement that was being writing by them. seeing that's he admitted them, especially the one that beat him up he should get suspected and have everything taking away from him and make him pay a fee.

This got me so mad like why would you do something like, you beat him up just to make him lie and sign something that he wasn't agree to sign that's abuse tho. they should put him in jail I don't care. thanks God they won the case. and Good luck to these detectives hope they get what they deserves.

president speaks on the immigration

The speech wasn't bad all like I think it might be a good idea, to give those immigrant a chance to a citizen but a lot of people disagree with the idea which they said like 4 million  people like they country will never get better and stuff, when you look at it that way like their a lot of families that are being deported back to wherever they from leaving their kids and other family member here along
like why can't we give them a chance to live with their kid without worrying that they might get deported and stuff, give them hope. That what I think someone else might see it in a different why and have their own reason why they disagree but I think its not that bad of an idea.

I kind of feel like the president have the right to make decision like that.

Dateline reflection

First impression of this story, it got me so mad like killing a young lady for no specific reason, like it's heart broken, she had a bright future in front of her looks like she wasn't doing that bad.
She had her own apt and stuff, this whole boy think got me confused making a false confession like why, and I realize that they manipulated him like the detective made confess for a crime he didn't committed telling him they going to get him a deal, and stuff and everything is going to be okay.

I do not think that he killed her, because they tricked him and made him make a false confession and stuff and second none of the blood DNA matches him.

Well innocent people confess for a crime they didn't commit, sometimes people are trying to get away from a higher sentence, when they know they have no chance to prove their selves innocent so they plea guilty