Victim to Panel: No to Death Penalty, No to Revenge

[21iunie]

the argument about death doesn't solve anything is stupid...the point is to prevent and not to solve

[loligsein]

scheiß englisch hausaufgaben :P

[tripleJ1955]

Capital punishment will stop when murders stops, until that happens the only way to guarantee that a murderer will not kill again is execution period.

[jasonrtaylor]

Life in prison is an alternative to the death penalty.

[aqinthe]

@jasonrtaylor For many prisioners being in prision isn't a punishment. They watch TV, play cards get and write letter or fan mail. Some people do not need to exist after the crimes they have commited..

[Sereiphiel]

The problem is not in the death penalty...it is in the LEGAL SYSTEM. The RIDICULOUS amount of loop holes available to those who can afford good lawyers is just that, ridiculous. I'll go a step further and rightfully say that the problem is how society functions as well.

[Sereiphiel]

I don't believe in the death penalty because I is smartz.

Serial killers or murderers that have killed more than 10 people do not deserve the death penalty, they is mentally illz and need help and a prison that treats them wells.

I hatez stupidz peoplez whoz believez in da deatf penalty 2 servez justise to monstas that deserve deaf 4 there violant crimez.

[abobadilla10]

@Sereiphiel If you're smart, why is your grammar wrong? That's a stupid thing to do. But I like your message though

[hoodielin]

American idiots...its somethings in that!! A society that goes to church every Sunday...And then they sen d people to death. Not so much better than middle east. At least you dont execute in the name of religion. Its barbaric and very medieval. Look at Europe (exept from Belarus). We dont execute anymore. And still we have less crimes Something strange in that isn´t it? Is it about revenge?? eye for an eye mentality??If there is a Jesus Christ he bends his head in shame for you!

[HOUSEOFFOURDOORS]

Capital punishment for conviction of a capital crime..

[HOUSEOFFOURDOORS]

Vernon Smith was executed 1/7/2010 for murder. He robbed shot and left to die a minority, later saying "he didn't belong in this neighborhood"..

Absolute Guarantee is in place..

[jethromayham]

Geeze, would you like a killer to live in your house?

[tinotrivino]

What do you expect from a Nation like USA, your whole culture is revenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nothing more!!!!!!!!

[GiraffesZebras]

California should reinstate the Death Penalty and Huchkaby definitely deserves to face it. GO TEXAS smart people . Texas Death Machine :D

[joshatkins94]

California has the death penalty. It has the largest death row in the country. There has been a court-ordered moratorium since 2006 due to botched executions and subsequent study of the lethal injection procedures.

[adelaidemarie]

my son was murdered in 2001. when i c words like yours giraffes my heart weeps. When does the killing stop? When does murder in the hearts of americans stop?

[mikeyrobins022585]

@GiraffesZebras Yeah TexASS Death Machine. Stupid state.

[joshatkins94]

bit . ly / oopsietexas

"A child prodigy [...] he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cambridge University [...] Later, he worked as the chief scientist on secret weapons programs [...] designing rockets and deadly fire bombs [...] Hurst concluded that there was no evidence of arson, and that a man who had already lost his three children and spent twelve years in jail was about to be executed based on junk science. Hurst wrote his report in such a rush that he didnt pause to fix the typos."

[joshatkins94]

"There is a chance, however, that Texas could become the first state to acknowledge officially that, since the advent of the modern judicial system, it had carried out the execution of a legally and factually innocent person." - "Cameron Todd Willingham, Texas, and the death penalty" - The New Yorker, September 7 2009 edition.

[joshatkins94]

In the most recent edition of The New Yorker, a 17-page, 16,000 word investigation shows that TX executed an innocent person, backed up by state-funded post-execution (real helpful!) arson reinvestigation, which determined that the investigation methods which assumed arson and sent a man to his death, were, in fact, to quote Craig Beyler, noted fire scientist hired by TX to investigate, "characteristic of mystics or psychics".

[MrCreepsniper]

Justice is not revenge. Get a grip and rid yourselves of domestic terrorists.

[kingrobin7]

its not expensive to kill them. just inject them with air. it cost alot more to keep them alive and its meant as a deterrent to keep others from killing. thats why they need to start killing these people and putting it on tv for everyone to see. it sucks to kill people, but the purpose of government is to protect the weak from the strong, and the best way to do it is by making the strong afaid to mess with the weak.

[R9forever]

how could anyone support the death penalty its sick and barbaric.

[marianella83]

removing the scum off the face of the earth????

These people are mentaly deranged!

Life imprisonment ok, but NEVER kill a human being! if you do so, you are not only not any better, you are even worse, because then you kill without being deranged!

we are not GOD!

[VampiresBiteHard666]

Amen

[BonemanHA]

very brave of her to make a statement of this nature, and her understanding of costs is fairly well done, too. The average costs, including a barrage of lawyer generated tactics through the court system are staggering compared to a person being kept in a cell for life.

Since both get the same result, in that the person is not put into society without an absolute change of heart, then, life is preferable.

[mst3k4evur]

This woman is wwrong, abolishing the death penalty will NOT save money. A UPI study showed that states with the death penalty have a higher rate of defendants pleading guilty to sentences of from 20 years to LWOP. They attribute this to the fear of facing the death penalty at trial. The savings from not having to go to trial for so many defendants is far greater than what is spent on the average state's death row.

[joshatkins94]

Nonsense.

A study by the State of Indiana, which houses both its own state's and the federal government's death camps, showed that on average, death penalty cases cost 35% more than non-death penalty cases. In California, they cost ~$250 million per execution. No kidding. A quarter of a billion dollars.

If you'd like to suggest we abolish due process, please go ahead. It would be unconstitutional.

[mst3k4evur]

1. They don't include the savings from the increased number of guilty pleas in the studies that say life is cheaper.

2. One execution does NOT cost 250 million. What they are doing is adding in the cost of all death sentences since reinstatement together, including the 700 still on death row, and then dividing it by the 13 executions. Stating the cost that way is pretty dishonest.

3. When did I say get rid of due process?

[joshatkins94]

1. Less murders in non-death penalty states (see my other comment).

2. The averaged cost of each execution since reinstatement in CA did cost 250 million. A larger number of executions would amortize the cost, but a drastic increase in executions (to make it even reach the price of LWOP), is not possible due to the procedural requirements that call for federal and state appeals, and allow habeas petitions..

3. If you want to drastically increase executions, that's what you'd be advocating.

[mst3k4evur]

1. HAVING the death penalty is not the point, USING it is. States with a higher number of executions percapita tend to have fewer murders. Check the homicide rates in the nation's leading execution states (Oklahoma, Texas and Delaware) versus their neighbors.

2. Once again your taking the total cost of all death sentences and dividing by the number of executions. Also, if states adopt Virginia's model it'll be faster and cost just $2-3 mil.

[joshatkins94]

1. Delaware is not a leading execution state. It ranks 15th of the 38 DP states. "HAVING the death penalty is not the point, USING it is." Exactly. TX has a murder rate slightly above national average, VA slightly below, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th DP states, OK, FL, and MO, have murder rates well above national average. Non DP states often have rates well below average.

2. Yes, because that's what CA spent on its DP system post-Furman. $250 m is when you divide the total money by # of killings.

[mst3k4evur]

1. The number of executions per capita puts Delaware at number 3. Compare their homicide rate (just 4.9) to neighbor Maryland, 9.7. Maryland is ranked number 24 in executions per capita. Compare numbers 1 and 2 (OK and TX) with homicide rates of 5.8 and 5.9 respectively to their neighbors with lower rates of execution. Ark: 7.3 Tenn:6.8 and Miss: 7.7. NM (no death penalty) has a rate of 8.2.

2. So then more executions would lower the cost? Looks like you talked your self into a corner.

2.

[joshatkins94]

2. Yes, more executions would lower cost. "Looks like you talked your self into a corner." No. Amortization of cost is a simple fact. The possibility of a dramatic increase in executions is unlikely. To increase execution rates dramatically, you'd have to speed up the appeals process. That may be able to be done, or maybe not. It could well result in diminishing due process. With the 135 DR exonerations post-Gregg, it's becoming painfully obvious post-conviction due process is a must.

[mst3k4evur]

1. The appeals process can be sped up considerably without compromising the appeals process. Look at the measures to shorten the process in Ohio, Virginia and Texas.

2. Also, you need only look at the case of Timothy Hennis to see the difference between exoneration and innocence.

[joshatkins94]

1. Look at Texas's murder rate. Look at Houston's murder rate, which successfully convicts far more capital cases than Dallas, yet has a lower murder rate. If Texas has the best DP system in the nation (and judging by the exonerations there, Cameron Todd Willingham etc., it's not), it's not very effective.

2. There is absolutely a difference between exoneration and innocence. However, prosecutors don't decide to drop charges rashly. And American juries don't acquit convicted murderers rashly.

[mst3k4evur]

1. It seems more effective if you look at the low numbers of homicides and high number of capital convictions and compare it to the numbers in Baltimore and New Orleans.

2. Yes but exoneration is rarely the result of actual innocence. Most win freedom by attacking the witnesses, DA's, jurors and jury instructions to overturn their convictions. By that point the case may be decades old and near impossible to retry. In other cases the DA is procedurally barred from retrying.

[joshatkins94]

1. MO, 5th in per capita executions, has a murder rate (2007) of 6.5. Compare with neighboring NE, with a murder rate of 3.8, yet 21st in executions. Or, neighboring IA (no executions post-Gregg - no statute), which has the 2nd-lowest murder rate in the country.

Also, NM has been without the death penalty for just over two months, and still has a death row, with the possibility of two more executions. Now is too early to question abolition is NM, since the DP system there isn't yet finished.

[joshatkins94]

I'm not claiming there isn't a deterrent effect at all - there may be. However, while you can present states high in per capia executions with lower murder rates than the surrounding states lower in executions, I can present the reverse.

A majority, but not all, studies of a potential deterrent effect, do not find evidence for it.

[joshatkins94]

per capita*

[joshatkins94]

If the death penalty does deter - and statistically, in some cases, correlations suggest it does (in other cases, correlations suggest the opposite) - it's not effective. If it was, states with high execution rates would near unanimously have low murder rates. They don't. They may, in some cases (and in other cases, not), have lower rates than their neighbors, but the DP does not in any case result in a fundamentally lower murder rate.

That requires improving education and decreasing poverty.

[mst3k4evur]

I never said it would bring about fundamental changes in crime rates, only reducing it at the margins. I would see a 5-10% drop in the homicide rate for 50-100 executions as a success.

[joshatkins94]

Many non-death penalty states (particularly the non-DP NE states) have murder rates _far_ below the national average. Clearly, the death penalty is certainly not necessary to achieve low crime rates. Attacking what allows crime to breed, poverty, poor education, gangs, etc., is better.

[VampiresBiteHard666]

Go Fuck Yourself You Faggot No -one Wants To Hear False Words and No-one Wants to Hear Your Babying Cuz U want It Your Way People are opening there eyes and seeing the truth

[joshatkins94]

She's the sister of a murder victim and a former District Attorney, who, as a prosecutor, filed capital charges against defendants. She knows what she's talking about.

States with the death penalty have, on average, murder rates 44% higher than non-death penalty states. The death penalty states therefore have to prosecute more cases, costing more money.

[maxpeezaay]

Please, execute yourself.

[maxpeezaay]

Very smart women.

[rwcarlso214]

The Death Penalty is not the solution. I am glad to hear more victims speaking out. There is no such as closure. The only way justice could be served is if the life that was lost was replaced, but that can't happen. If society as a whole want's to be protected from the criminal element, life with out parole will serve the purpose. The cost's of the death penalty versus LWOP is a considerable difference, and the money saved could be used for better things as the video did point out.

[gana51]

I agree 100% with this video.

[theCamelCase]

"...not about justice; it's about revenge." Thank you.

[EatingChannel]

Death Penalty is awesome.

Life for a life.

[DanielEkholm]

The capital penalty is the wrong way. What is it with USA and the death penalty? Is it right to increase the hate in the world?

[maxima4755]

Yes, indeed this lady is so right. To yet kill another person adds to the pain. Because this person has family and loved ones too that are just as innocent as the victim's family is. So why add to the pain. And there are so many innocent people in the prisons and some of them being accused of something they did not even do. Just abolish the death penalty. The imprisonment is enough punishment.

[mocatika]

I want an outright ban. I think I would feel the same way that she does. Killing the murderer does not heal the pain.

[dsutari]

I don't believe for a second any individual wants an outright ban of the death penalty, only a stricter process to determine what justifies receiving it.

Did Timothy Mcveigh not deserve death after the premeditated murders of 168 men, women, and children? Should war criminals simply spend life in prison after killing thousands or even millions?

[joshatkins94]

No, many people want an outright ban.

The public has a right to know they are living in a society that does not systematically brutalize those who it fails.

Timothy McVeigh was failed by American society. Accordingly, he failed America.

That doesn't make what he did right; it was disgusting.

That doesn't lump the majority of his guilt onto society. It was his choice, ultimately.

I am **simply stating** that society contributed.

[joshatkins94]

Let me put it to you this way:

McVeigh was inspired by those who died, 'martyrs' as he would call them, in the Waco siege.

They were dead, yet he was inspired.

The Virginia Tech shooter was inspired by the Columbine shooters. They were dead, yet he was inspired.

The death of a perpetrator DOES NOT end the cycle of violence.

It is ended by rehabilitation into civilization. Not necessary into society itself, but into the very essence of civility.

[sahilm90]

This is amazing. Hearing the truth is so inspiring. If someone directly affected by killing is against the death penalty, anyone and everyone should oppose it.

[buggeazy]

how do you handle serial killers

[sahilm90]

prison, rehabilitation/counseling, education, community service work...not the death penalty.

This way, there is a chance to reform the serial killer, while they are kept away from the community, for the safety of others, and, they indirectly help the community through community service that they would perform within the prison itself. I honestly believe that serial killers and almost always mentally unbalanced, so they need help with that. The current system of counseling is failing miserably.

[buggeazy]

have you had anyone in your family murderd?

[sahilm90]

Not that I know of--nobody from my direct family. Are you asking out of curiosity or because you oppose the position I take on the matter? Has anyone in your family been murdered, God forbid?

I think if I were to have lost a dear one to murder, my stance would not change significantly. It would be much harder to separate personal sentiment from policy, but as this video shows, those two ought not necessarily have a direct connection.

[buggeazy]

well my cusin was murderd by her husban hes doing 30 yrs. and friend of mine much younger then me i dated his aunt many yrs. ago was murderd one month ago.

[sahilm90]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I wish people would just realize that killing/violence aren't solutions to any problems. They only exacerbate the issue.

I hope you are holding up OK--stay strong.

[buggeazy]

true but mabe time can hurt you if go to jail you will loose your job when you come out no one wants to hier a crimminal your forced to lean on family if there not rich there put pressure on you to get out then you resort back to a life of crime uuuum

[christianwackjob]

By not becoming serial killers in reaction.

[dwfmcneil]

Right on! Everywhere that a serious study of the cost of capital punishment has been done, the result is that it costs far more than simply imprisoning the murderer for life. Revenge costs us a lot, and accomplishes nothing good. We can use the money to really help victims' family members or to invest in proven crime prevention programs.

[Xdrakemanx]

Amen to this!

Thank you for you heroic patriotism and values, Ms. Herron!

[Elfox666]

I hope if I ever tragically found myself in a similar situation, I could find within myself this kind of compassion and understanding.

[rafimicki]

Thanks for uploading this excellent video.

[madonika]

At last California can hear the truth about the death penalty.  It sucks up scarce resources in the name of revenge.

Not in our names!

[awalters3]

California's death penalty system is out of hand. not only is it unfair and unjust, but the governor now wants to increase funding to a broken system. with the highest death row population in california, 200 wrongful convictions since the reinstatement of the death penalty, and countless victims families affirming that it doesn't heal their pain, it is time to invest in restorative justice and end a practice that has never served us.

[beth0104]

This is a powerful message, beautifully articulated. It should be broadcast widely.

[tadiggity]

Revenge is a legitimate emotion, not a legitimate basis for public policy. This is an incredibly important message for it allows us to validate the feeling of "i want to kill the person that killed my loved one" while distinguishing it from forming the basis for a broken and unfair system. It is incredibly helpful to hear from someone who is not only a victim, but also a former prosecutor on these issues. thank you.

[Diannyvonne]

This is powerful!!

Everyone should see this.

[rganschow84]

Thank you Aundre Herron for giving such powerful testimony to the Commission.

[paxnj]

Excellent! The death penalty does nothing but harm.

[zebulon147]

Death penalty is not an answer to the violence. Countries need to educate more their children and citizens. Blindness and revenge are ones of the worst answers.This video is a wise and powerful message. Thanks.

[eazAmnesty]

Justice, not vengeance. A powerful message that the state must not kill to show that killing is wrong, or hide behind the victims. The death penalty does not help the victims' families.

[dodgergirl14]

california's death penalty is broken and cannot be fixed. it needs to be ended.

[w69i69l69l69]

This video really captures a viewpoint that is often ignored in the media. bravo!

[Mariantje1]

Wirklich sehenswert!

[sydneyvalentine]

a moving statement from one who has felt the pain of loss of a loved one to a violent death. Her ability to move beyond her anger and hate and to think about what is best for society is a lesson for us all.

[stopexecutions]

welcome to youtube

[williamgazillion]

Powerful

[nminsker]

Thanks to all the survivors of murder victims speaking out against the death penalty--truly making a difference.

[SunsetYouth]

If anyone should feel the need to exact revenge, it would be this woman who is a victim of a homicide in her family. But instead, she realizes that killing another doesn't do any justice. Killing is never acceptable and it is no way to honor the dead. Execute justice, not people!

[SunsetYouth]

If anyone should feel the need to exact revenge, it would be this woman who is a victim of a homicide in her family. But instead, she realizes that killing another doesn't do any justice. Killing is never acceptable and it is no way to honor the dead. Execute justice, not people!

[sambhu1]

Very informative. Learned a lot about death penalty.

[reid0lauren]

rad.

[LiberalViewer]

Great video! I'm giving it 5 stars and adding it to my favorites!

After all, isn't it time for California to get rid of the death penalty? I mean, should California really be lagging behind NEW JERSEY?

Thanks for uploading this excellent video :-)