Jeff Landry signs bills to expand Louisiana death penalty, eliminate parole

Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 155 points –
nola.com

Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law Tuesday a bill allowing executions by nitrogen gas and electrocution, opening the door for Louisiana to revive capital punishment 14 years after it last used its death chamber.

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Remember: the cruelty is the point. No amount of logical argument about the uselessness of executions for deterring crime, or about how often innocent people are convicted of serious crimes or especially appeals to basic human mercy will sway a dedicated conservative from their desire to inflict suffering on those they deem lesser than themselves.

FYI: Louisiana's electric chair is/was named "Gruesome Gertie.". I believe it is in a museum at the state penitentiary at Angola.

I love how that woman trots out her son's photo like victims of crime should have any input whatsoever as to what justice is dispensed.

Law is supposed to be reason, free of passion.

How is a victim going to help with that?

As always, the GOP goes with what works, get votes. While the Democrats clutch pearls and wring their wrists, "Whatever shall we do?!"

Y'all ever been to Mississippi? How about Louisiana, AKA, "At least we're not Mississippi! We're #2!"

Such beautiful states, such beautiful people. Guess most of you won't believe that. Easier to believe they're all hate filled, racist rednecks (Despite the shitloads of black people living there.) Fits the memes around here, fits the zeitgeist. Gets upvotes, and the same one-liner comments.

These people are in desperate straits. Lashing out, listening to anyone who promises to heal their pain. And their pain is real, and their pain is a liberal punching bag. But hey! Perfectly safe to trash those people! They're subhuman and it's all their own fault! (Do not bag on any other group of poor people on this globe. Those people are victims, not their fault.)

I don't know how we break them free from animals like this governor. They've been caught in a downward spiral since the Civil War. I drive through and see the wealth disparity. I talk to people I meet in the lonely backwoods gas stations. I see the love and community, and yes, community between blacks and whites. (I could go on about that last bit, but you won't believe me.) The suffering I see breaks my fucking heart.

I cried my eyes out when Katrina hit. Cried and wept and raged for my neighbors. (I had just got through Hurricane Ivan.) Did you know southern MS took it in the teeth and New Orleans was merely collateral damage? I cried for all of them. Fuck me, I'm weepy now.

If you give a shit about America's poorest, and how they feel, where they're at:

https://www.youtube.com/@PeterSantenello

Give it a spin. I warn you, his videos are not cutesy little clips. He goes there, he asks hard questions, he talks to the sorts of people most of you have never met. Takes some time to intake.

Or, just make some more snide comments about us dumbass Southerners, feel righteous and superior, and go about your day.

Ask yourself why bringing back state-sanctioned murder "gets votes" for the GOP and all that shit-talk will make a lot more sense. Y'all literally vote yourselves to death.

I already answered that. People are suffering and lashing out for solutions. "Law and order" sounds mighty fucking good when you're balls deep in poverty and crime. "God" sounds mighty good when you're suffering and the rest of the country makes fun of your faith, wants to take it from you. (I'm a staunch atheist BTW.)

Why don't you give those videos a spin? You might be at risk of understanding a thing or three.

Takes a couple of hours to get a few of those videos under your belt. I really like the guy! He asks hard questions, yet doesn't lead people to what he wants to hear. He asks and shuts the fuck up, listens. He makes them talk.

Warning: Those videos are full of poor black, white and Latino people. Might not suit your tastes. Doesn't make for cute sound bites and internet one-liners.

Just watched this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F7JCXpw0Ko

I've walked those streets, driven those roads, talked to those people. Have you? No? Then spare me your simplistic, "Y'all vote against yourselves!" bullshit.

You did mean to include all the blacks down here when you said that? Ya know, those people voting against themselves? Or were you under the impression that it's just us evil whites down here?

Have you ever tried not constantly belittling and disparaging the people you're trying to debate? Like, I literally don't give a shit what you have you to say about anything if your going to say it like that, you can't get through one single sentence without making the most inflammatory assumptions you can think of. It doesn't invite a very open dialogue. Unless your just a troll, then I guess it invites the perfect dialogue...

Most of you people never argue in good faith and are just looking to farm upvotes.

Calling it "state-sanctioned murder" immediately wrote you off as unreasonable and irrational.

Then what the fuck is it? It's not justice. You have to be alive to receive state justice for crimes committed.

It's the death penalty.

"Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder

You should really brush up on your vocabulary and reading comprehension before thinking you have a point and swearing at me.

Most of you people never argue in good faith and are just looking to farm upvotes.

Thanks for proving my point.

unlawful killing of another human

thanks for proving my point

unlawful

Keep improving your vocabulary.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unlawful

unlawful adjective un·​law·​ful ˌən-ˈlȯ-fəl Synonyms of unlawful 1 : not lawful : illegal 2

not morally right or conventional

Morals vary from person to person.

illegal

This is more applicable, which is why every definition includes it while you had to cherry-pick for one that doesn't.

Keep doubling-down on being wrong, lol.

This is you:

Most of you people never argue in good faith

This is also you:

Calling it "state-sanctioned murder" immediately wrote you off as unreasonable and irrational.

Don't talk to me about good faith arguments and then literally immediately try to poison the well, hahaha, nice try troll

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Seems like a good idea to me.

Punishing criminals does not need to be as expensive as it is.

Death penalties cost more in lawyers and appeals than regular incarceration does.

It doesn't need to.

But it already IS and DOES so take your fantasy and go fuck yourself with it.

Calm down. I already said "punishing criminals does not need to be as expensive as it is."

It's possible to do it for cheaper, even if we choose not to. You really should take a break.

This bears repeating. It's only cheaper if you're a fascist unconcerned with due process. So you should really just stop lying or take your Nazi rhetoric elsewhere.

Not really. It can be cheaper while maintaining due process.

I don't think you're capable of understanding this, though.

How?

Mitigate the amount of appeals convicts are allowed to have so they can't abuse the system for decades hoping to find a loophole.

Criminals appealing the death penalty don't typically do so because they're innocent, although I don't expect you to understand or acknowledge this.

How many appeals do they get currently? How many should they get? You said they typically don't appeal because they are innocent, so what about the atypical cases where they are innocent?

Stop feeding the troll. He has no answers, he's just here to piss people off.

It is not possible to do it cheaper without murdering even more innocent people. That should be unacceptable for anyone with halfway decent morals.

even more innocent people.

How many innocent people get the death penalty in the US?

Since the 70s, 1584 people have been executed, of which at least 197 have later been exonerated. So a cool 10%. How high would you like it to go to save money?

Thanks for those statistics.

It'd be better if those people died in prison. We shouldn't remove imprisonment just because some people are going to be wrongfully-convicted.

Don't tell me what to do, dickcheese. Take the L and go be wrong.

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You're right, but how expensive is it to make sure that the people you are punishing actually are criminals, and how expensive should it be to make sure that the punishment is proportional to the severity of the crime?

Also, is prison about punishment, or is it about reform? (Trick question)

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