Keith Devens .com

Umm, first, it';s the Salem Witch trials. Second, I would like to know how someone who has been certified insane could even possibly held responsible for her actions? As Bill Press said on CNN's Crossfire "If this woman is not insane, then who is?". I mean I am all for accountability, but if you did not know what you were doing then how can you be killed for it? I will not get into a debate over the death penalty again, as you and I just plain disagree Keith, but I think the death penalty is wrong overall, and especially so in this case. she should not be in a prison cell, she should be in a loony bin!

Hey, the jury heard the case and judged that she wasn't insane at the time of the murder. The decision was unanimous, and two members of the jury were psychologists! From everything I've heard (what she said, how she planned it and then afterward said "I finally did it", etc.), she knew exactly what she was doing. She should be put to death.

....and a jury never got anything wrong, right? Juries are all perfect bodies that know all and can make perfect decisions that will forever be upheld?

she killed 5 innocent children, one after another, with PLENTY of time to realize what she was doing. there has to be a line drawn as to where accountability actually starts. nevermind juries and everything else. this person killed 5 people, no matter if she is insane or not, someone that is capable of these actions should be apart from the rest of the world. she took away these lives, therefore hers should be taken away as well. she gave up all her rights when she SYSTEMATICALLY took away theirs, in succession, one after another, CHASING the oldest one down to finish her sick deed. if i had my way i'd set up a firing squad. you know, if you're going to do it, do it RIGHT...

"someone that is capable of these actions should be apart from the rest of the world" You think she wouldn't be apart from the rest of the world n a loony bin??? Ok, I don't see you denying she was insane, and no one with more then two firing brain cells could deny that she is, but what kind of people would we be, how humane could we truly be if we killed the obviously mentally ill instead of help them, which it is obvious the medical community failed at the first time around? I'll tell you, we would be no better then monsters, no better then sick, calculated killers. At least we know what we are doing. Anyone who claims to know, think or feel that she had time to realize that what she was doing was wrong, has never dealt with the truly mentally ill, nor been there themselves.

I have to agree with Geek here. and as for your (Keith) later post about taxpayers supporting criminals in prison, that's a bunch of shit. Do you know how much it costs the state to kill people? the court fees are outrageous. things may be different in Texas, but I know in Pennsylvania it's actually cheaper to keep an inmate in prison than to execute them. Wouldn't our anger be better directed at arms dealers? That's where the largest portion of tax dollars go to. Or we could blame wealthy corporations for not paying the share they used to. Should we blame the poor for being poor?

Huh? You're going to incur court fees no matter what penalty is decided on, so that's irrelevant. Are there significant special extra court fees only incurred if the death penalty is decided on? And I don't believe you that it is more expensive to kill someone once than to pay for all of a person's living expenses for 40+ years. I'd like to see you produce some data on that.

The second half of your comment has nothing to do with the death penalty. "Should we blame the poor for being poor" - what are you talking about?

Also, just for context, here's the other post you referred to:
http://www.keithdevens.com/weblog/?id1655

Huh? You're going to incur court fees no matter what penalty is decided on, so that's irrelevant. Are there significant special extra court fees only incurred if the death penalty is decided on? And I don't believe you that it is more expensive to kill someone once than to pay for all of a person's living expenses for 40+ years. I'd like to see you produce some data on that.

The second half of your comment has nothing to do with the death penalty. "Should we blame the poor for being poor" - what are you talking about?

Also, just for context, here's the other post you referred to:
http://www.keithdevens.com/weblog/?id1655

Well, it is obvious that when someone is about to die they make a lot more trouble in the courts then someone who is stuck in prison for 40 years. I know I would sure as hell fight a lot stronger if I knew my death was certain without the fight.