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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Re: Death Penalty Input to Del. Victor Ramirez

I agree with Mr. Turner!

Society needs to be protected from killers. It is time to stop making excuses for them--time to stop treating the criminals as victims--time to start protecting the real victims.

Over and over again, I see where our public officials publicly condemn the government's use of the death penalty.

But when the killers use the death penalty against the rest of us, our offcials are almost always silent.

Over the long haul, 2 or 3 people a week are murdered in Prince George's County. I never see our public officials fighting to save the victims put to death by the killers.

Why are these people so much more protective of criminals that of the rest of us who are the victims?



On Feb 6, 2008 11:32 AM, ArthurTurner <arthurturner@verizon.net> wrote:


Peace & Blessings,
I strongly believe that we should keep the death penalty---and we should use it. We should not have this law on the books, sentence someone to die, then allow the perpetrator to stay on death row for 30 years. We should give a murderer; rapist; pedophile; car-jacker; or one who shoots, kills, or attempts to kill law enforcement personell the punishment of death. They should have a fair trial and the judgement should be swift---within 30 days. At that point, the electric chair, lethal injection, or firing squad should be brought to the town square and the punishment must take place--publically. At that point, justice would have been dispensed and society would have purged itself of someone who no longer wanted to be a part of the brotherhood of man. And, since this dispensation of justice would have been public, this would serve as a very strong visual deterrent for those wannabe gangsters.

I am as liberal, if not more liberal than most. But, we all are tired of the crime---aren't we? What we are doing now is not working. The murder rate goes up each year. Each year we have more rapes, incidents with peophiles, law enforcement killed or wounded, and utter mayhem. Our quality of life diminishes with the turn of each page of the calendar. We can, must, and shall do something to protect our society and this uncivilized culture from the extreme acceptance of inappropriate behavior.

Now, the young glorify the life of gangsters or gangstas. They have adopted prison attire as fashion. They wear prison-style jeans, jean jackets, and blue prision-style shirts and work boots which have become the in-fashion thing. Soom even have prison numbers stenciled on them. They too wear their pants hanging down low into what they refer to as "saggin." You may not know that this fashion is something that people wear mocking what happens in prison as prisoners are not allowed to wear belts and as such, their pants sag. Another prison style is the wearing of shoes without shoe laces. Prisoners are not allowed to have shoe strings. And the "do rags" which look like underwear that the guys wear on the street is also what is worn in prison. The young refer to themselves as gangsters or gangstas, pimps, hustlers, and thugs. The rappers make a lot of money glorifying thuggish behavior . Even female rappers and hip-hop artists glorify thuggishness by their proclamations that they want a "ruff neck" or a guy who is thuggish , horny, and tough enough to survive the cruel world of prison. These women also sing about the fact that it is OK for the ruffneck to even get physically abusive with them. :-( By looking at the TV show MTV Cribs, one will see that one of the requisite pieces of artwork displayed in thehouses of pop culture stars is a super-large picture of Al Pacino from the movie, Scarface.

We need to be protected from this insanity and the degradation of our society. Our quality of life continues to be eroded, our fears increased, and our stress level grows day by day. Why are we so willing to allow this antisocial behavior to continue?

People say that the death penalty is not a deterrent. You are right, it is not because it is not being used. We are not executing people for their transgressions. People who are sentenced to the death penalty spend 20, 25, 30 or more years locked up. So there is no deterrent when the death penalty is not carried out. But, what is happening now is not working. If we continue to do the same things that we have been doing, then sadly, we will continue to get the same results of high crime---and worse

Have you considered the growing number of infectious diseases that are incubated in prison? So-called straight men engage in sex with other men while in prison. These man-to-man encounters are rampant and continue while these guys are in prison. But, they do not consider themselves to be gay. They just consider this act as nature's way of them taking the edge off. After they are released, they then go into society as "straight" men and engage in sex with women. They have now infected women with a disease that they had gotten from having sex with men. Now, a man marries this woman and engages in sexual relations with this woman and he gets infected with what could become a deadly disease. They have now contaminated society.

Some may contend that sentencing Marylanders to die for their crimes is expensive. But, what is more expensive than life and the loss of life by repeat offenders? Is it not expensive to house, guard, feed, and provide medical care for prisoners for many years. Of course, the prisoners get GED training; free college; free healthcare; free cable TV; free eye glasses; free dental care; free gym membership that includes all the weights that one can lift; free AC in the summer; free heat in the winter; and free nutritionally balanced meals. So, many actually live better while incarcerated than they did while free to roam the streets and wreak havoc on and against you and me! Wouln't it be cheaper to cut the cord and eliminate these thugs from our finacncial burden? Would it not be better for them to face their Maker for their sins?

As a Black man, I am not buying into the argument that we should not have the death penalty because it is racially biased especially against African Americans. In truth, that is a reality. Judges have historically sentenced Blacks to death while sentencing Whites to life in prison. But, I believe that if you do the crime, you must pay the ultimate price for your transgression---Black or White. We need to see that the sentencing is fair. But, ritght now, I live in Prince George's County--- suburban Washington, DC. The perpetrators are majority Black. As such, these Black men must pay the price. They must be forced to pay for what they do unto us all. The same is true in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, LA, Philly, Miami, and other urban areas. I feel confident that by bringing back the death penalty and actually using it, we will see a dramatic reduction in violent crimes. And, the minor crimes will be reduced too because people will change their behaviors and mindset.

I am fed up and I will be glad when we all get fed up about crime and stop coddling and patting the criminals on the back. It appears that people are more concerned about the criminals than they are about law-abiding citizens. When people commit violent crimes, they have forfeited their right to be live in a so-called civilized world. If they want to live like animals, put them in cages like animals--- until they are euthanized.

Del. Ramirez, speaking as a concerned citizen and community leader and activist, I respectfully ask that you not seek to repeal the death penalty. We are tired of crime and need to see that a strong deterrent is already on the books, but it needs to be enforced.

Here is my two cents worth. What say ye?

Peace & Blessings,
Arthur Turner

PLEASE SEE:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/prisons/
http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/prisons/atlas.html
http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2006/06/cost_of_incarce.html

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