Cool C to be executed in January

[Steve]

Philly rap legend Cool C has received a date for his execution.

 

The 44-year-old rapper has been on death row for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer on January 2, 1996. C along with another legendary rapper Steady B, and another local rapper, Mark Canty, attempted a bank robbery that left Lauretha Vaird dead. Vaird represented the first Black female officer killed in the line of duty.

 

Cool C's date of execution is January 8th, AllHipHop has confirmed. Gov. Corbett signed the execution warrant on Friday.

 

The rapper, real name Christopher Roney, has always maintained his innocence in the case.

 

He had a hit record in the 80′s called "The Glamorous Life."

http://allhiphop.com/2014/11/22/philly-legend-cool-c-gets-execution-date/

[Nuno]

There's just something inherently revolting about death penalty. I know it's partially due to cultural differences, but I couldn't help feeling a bit sick reading that, it just seems so uncivilized, like something out of a dystopian novel.

[scottie(the)goonie]

This one is a tough issue. I don't like the idea of putting someone to death, but there are certain instances where it is hard to see any other option. This is one of my very few unpopular conservative views.

[Frost]

Nobody has the right to kill another person, just because it's dressed up as the 'death penalty' doesn't make it less disgusting.

[Guest Symatic]

damn i didnt know steady b was a bank robber

[Steve]

This one is a tough issue. I don't like the idea of putting someone to death, but there are certain instances where it is hard to see any other option. This is one of my very few unpopular conservative views.

I can't really think of an example where prison isn't a viable alternative.

 

I wouldn't say that your view is unpopular though. More than 50% of the people living in the UK believe that the death penalty should be reinstated, for example.

[DJ Rock Well]

I'm definitely anti death penalty too. I don't mind if life really means life and they make it bloody miserable for the worst offenders, but two wrongs don't make a right. Also, it's a non-reversible process and every country's legal system cocks up from time to time.

[Jimmy]

I'm definitely anti death penalty too. I don't mind if life really means life and they make it bloody miserable for the worst offenders, but two wrongs don't make a right. Also, it's a non-reversible process and every country's legal system cocks up from time to time.

 

im not 100% sure what i think, but just to throw this idea in the mix:

 

what about over populated prisons? also, would you rather be put to death humanely, or rot in prison for the rest of your life (what's the point in living)? Plus, say you were innocent, surely being locked up for the rest of your life for something you didnt do isnt a great alternative.

[Guest Symatic]

also, would you rather be put to death humanely, or rot in prison for the rest of your life (what's the point in living)?

I dunno if someone on trial for an offence that gets you life (or death sentance in some countries) would be extended much sympathy for which they'd rather have. but ultimately, I couldn't trust the legal/judicial system enough to kill somebody or not.

 

It seems insane for people to have a legal system where you swear on a bible that you're telling the truth, and in that bible it says thou shalt not kill, and then you can be killed by the people who made you swear on that bible. what???

 

if killing people is wrong, you have to lead by example.

[Guest petesasqwax]

if killing people is wrong, you have to lead by example.

EXACTLY!

 

It's this mentality that drives me mental about some parents I overhear at school when picking up my kids. "If you smack your brother I'll smack you." Seriously? What the actual fuck? "Smacking is bad - I'll smack you to prove it" (that's what I said to the parents as I laid them out cold )

[DJ Rock Well]

Jimmy - "would you rather be put to death humanely or rot in prison for the rest of your life?"

 

How about... after you murdered all those babies, you don't get a choice?

[Jimmy]

so you're saying being in prison is worse than death then?

[Steve]

The cost of someone going through the whole death penalty process costs more than keeping them in prison.

 

You also have to look at the state of crime and punishment in general, including what the make-up of the prison population is and why they're there. There's also the issue of private, or "for profit" prisons and whether those are a good idea.

 

As for being innocent and being jailed for life, at least you know that there is a chance you may be cleared one day and you can keep fighting. As awful as that situation is, it is surely one of the strongest arguments for why the death penalty should never be used, given that we know we have executed people who have later turned out to be innocent, and we know that we have jailed people for life who have spent decades inside before being cleared and released.

 

Even if it could be argued that you can have a perfect criminal justice system where nobody is ever wrongly convicted, which I don't think you can, I still don't like the idea of living in a country where the government can end its own citizens lives by force. I can be emotionally swayed into temporarily thinking otherwise, as can most people who read about truly horrendous crimes, but once I step back from that and think about it, my conclusion is still the same.

 

The most common rebuttals I get to my arguments are usually from right-wing American Christians who think I'm a hypocrite for being anti-death penalty but pro-choice when it comes to abortion. Ignoring the double-hypocrisy in terms of them believing the exact opposite while also accusing me of being a hypocrite, I don't believe that when a cell divides into two, it suddenly attains the same rights as a person who can independently survive outside of a woman's womb.

[DJ Rock Well]

so you're saying being in prison is worse than death then?

No. I do actually agree with the others that you can't really be anti-murder then punish people with the same crime you're trying them for. But what was saying above is that if you commit heinous crimes, then choosing your punishment isn't really on the table... this isn't 'Cake or Death' Jimmy.

[Frost]

The idea of 'for profit' prisons isn't good as it sounds a lot like slave labour. It would still be a good idea to get some sort of benefit out them and actually put people off taking the risk of going back to prison. One idea could be to force the prisoners to work on landfill sites picking out the recyclable stuff for 12 hours a day with no cushy TV set up to back to at the prison. Still a bit like slave labour though I guess.

[Jimmy]

 

so you're saying being in prison is worse than death then?

No. I do actually agree with the others that you can't really be anti-murder then punish people with the same crime you're trying them for. But what was saying above is that if you commit heinous crimes, then choosing your punishment isn't really on the table... this isn't 'Cake or Death' Jimmy.

 

 

i understand that, but if you say you're against using the death penalty, but then saying they shouldnt get to chose death, then it implies living in jail is worse?

 

i generally agree with everyone by the way, im just more curious of the argument.

[Steve]

The idea of 'for profit' prisons isn't good as it sounds a lot like slave labour. It would still be a good idea to get some sort of benefit out them and actually put people off taking the risk of going back to prison. One idea could be to force the prisoners to work on landfill sites picking out the recyclable stuff for 12 hours a day with no cushy TV set up to back to at the prison. Still a bit like slave labour though I guess.

I dunno if "slave labour" is the real issue there. I'll give you one example of why they're an issue: -

 

The company that owns the prison has a contract with the state/government. That contract can - and often does - include a minimum occupancy clause, so that if the prison isn't, say, at least 96% full, the state or government has to pay the prison because of the lack of prisoners it's housing. Of course, that money comes from the taxpayers of the state/country involved. So, you could easily make the argument that if a state or government needs to keep these prisons as close to full as they can, that that affects public policy and sentencing. A guy who might normally have been let off and warned may find himself inside just to help meet targets.

[DJ Rock Well]

No, it implies the worst punishment I'm prepared to endorse is life in prison. It's not about which is worse because I've already said I'm anti death penalty so that can't enter the equation. I've not laid my hat on either option as worse, I'm only prepared to entertain one of them.

[goldielocksnthethreebrares]

The death penalty is wrong imho. But national service isn't, send all those thieving stabbing cunts to the front line, dress them up in fancy dress and hand them spud guns.

I dont think smacking children is wrong either, I was smacked, yeah I'm a cunt, but I dont go round stabbing people for thier mobile phones etc. there is nothing wromng with dicipline.
Perhaps if parents were stricter England wouldn't be such the dive it is now. Its people thinking like that that has fucked the next generation up.

[scottie(the)goonie]

 

This one is a tough issue. I don't like the idea of putting someone to death, but there are certain instances where it is hard to see any other option. This is one of my very few unpopular conservative views.

I can't really think of an example where prison isn't a viable alternative.

 

I wouldn't say that your view is unpopular though. More than 50% of the people living in the UK believe that the death penalty should be reinstated, for example.

 

 

One example is the Boston Bomber. Those who kill masses of people with the intent on killing themselves when it's all over, but end up getting get caught alive. Examples where there is no shred of doubt.

 

Perhaps examples where a convicted killer confesses and would rather not live with the guilt and shame? What if we brought hemlock back?

 

There are exceptions to almost every rule.

[Steve]

Why wouldn't prison be a viable alternative in those cases?

[scottie(the)goonie]

Of course being locked up is an alternative, but does the punishment fit the crime?

 

I guess one could argue that a quick death is the easy way out, and that being locked up = a lifetime of suffering which might be punishment enough - but regular citizens are the ones who end up paying the bills for that.

 

99% of the time I am against execution for the simple reason that it comes down to biased judgement ie. (a black man and a white women who commit the same crime but get different sentences) - but I do not believe in absolutes either.

[Steve]

It costs more to execute a prisoner than it does to keep them in prison for life. Also, studies have shown that people who can't afford a good lawyer are more than twice as likely to receive the death penalty: -

 

Defendants with less than $320,000 in terms of representation costs (the bottom 1/3 of federal capital trials) had a 44% chance of receiving a death sentence at trial. On the other hand, those defendants whose representation costs were higher than $320,000 (the remaining 2/3 of federal capital trials) had only a 19% chance of being sentenced to death. Thus, the study concluded that defendants with low representation costs were more than twice as likely to receive a death sentence.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

 

I do not believe in absolutes either.

Neither do I, which is why I'm against the death penalty.

[scottie(the)goonie]

It costs more to execute a prisoner than it does to keep them in prison for life. Also, studies have shown that people who can't afford a good lawyer are more than twice as likely to receive the death penalty: -

 

Defendants with less than $320,000 in terms of representation costs (the bottom 1/3 of federal capital trials) had a 44% chance of receiving a death sentence at trial. On the other hand, those defendants whose representation costs were higher than $320,000 (the remaining 2/3 of federal capital trials) had only a 19% chance of being sentenced to death. Thus, the study concluded that defendants with low representation costs were more than twice as likely to receive a death sentence.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

 

I do not believe in absolutes either.

Neither do I, which is why I'm against the death penalty.

 

 

I see what you did there.

 

You're right that the law is not applied fairly, and death should not be on the table for nearly all of those who are accused of it.

 

Cool C was indited more than a decade ago, and the outcome might have been different in courts today. I'm not talking about his case.

 

I'm only talking about the rare exceptions with mass murders, bombers, and those who kill end up killing 25 schools kids - that type of stuff. Very emotional topic I guess.

 

I guess I seem heartless but I have don't have a problem if my tax dollars go to make sure that they never breathe again.

[doppelkorn]

What is the benefit to society in killing someone who, say, murdered 25 schoolchildren? If you're worried about punishments filling crimes, would people who killed one person be killed once, while people who killed 10 people be killed...10 times?

 

Should thieves have some of their stuff stolen? Should arsonists have their houses burnt down?

 

It satisfies a fairly base desire on the part of some people for revenge, but it offers no justice.