Not really. Per capita, there are less murders in the US than you might think. If you look at this list, and compare the overall populations the nations who have higher per-capita murder rates, we are not doing so bad for a nation with 400 million people.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap

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lambaste me not

DNA left on the murder weapon or on the victim’s body says a little more than if they were “just there.”

Wow, we’re number 24 on Murders per capita and were suppose to be the most industrialized nation. Don’t I feel better?!

edit: Not to mention the US currently incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.

Says you. It doesn't prove anything beyond all doubt although it does make a good case. Beyond all doubt should be the standard. Until perfection is achieved in the system (which will never happen) the death penalty should be abolished.

You're right, when I walk out the door every day all I see is murder murder murder! .04 murders for every thousand people. Run for the hills!!!!!!

Most of them are for drug related offenses and many of them for offenses involving pot. Not necessarily the picture of an apocalyptic society.

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lambaste me not

Actually, DNA profiling has helped convict suspects in many of the most violent crimes, including rape and murder…you know, those people I'm talking about?

What about those who confessed they did the crime and there’s evidence including DNA that proves their story? Wouldn’t that prove he or she is guilty beyond all doubt? That's happened before...

All you need to do is look in our over crowded prisons to see tons of those murderers. Their numbers keep getting greater as we fill our prisons up. I’m tired of paying for food and board for convicted rapists and murderers.

Well I don’t think pro death penalty people are for putting pot smokers on death row so don’t worry your little head. We still have a prison population problem however.

Of course it has happened before. That would be enough to prove beyond all doubt for me, provided it was a taped confession.

It may interest you to realize that most of them are not in for murder. The money we spend on prisoners in this society is not spent keeping murderers alive.

"Nearly two-thirds of the 7,373 "three strikes" inmates serving 25-year-to- life sentences as of March this year were convicted for nonviolent offenses"
SF Gate

"In terms of the type of violation for which they are presently incarcerated, slightly less than half (46%) is serving time for violent offenses…predominately robbery (Beck, 1996). Most are in prison for property crimes (24%) or drug offenses (23%). This appears to support research cited previously indicating that very few new admissions are being incarcerated for crimes that could be rated "serious." There will always be some differences between looking at new inmates and those already serving time."
CollegeCourse.com

Don't delude yourself into thinking that those who commit murder are the ones taking up all the space in our prisons.

I never suggested pro-death penalty people were for putting pot smokers on death row. But I have found that most pro-death penalty supporters are uninformed about prison populations altogether and where the true problem lies: minor drug related offenses.

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lambaste me not

Are you saying those who are committing crimes that aren’t considered serious are filling our maximum security prisons? People in maximum security prisons are usually incarcerated for murder or crimes of that nature. These huge and well guarded prisons cost a lot to keep murderers alive.

You would think huh? Listen I am not saying that people who are in our prisons do not belong there, or have not committed serious enough crimes. I am talking about the amount of prisoners convicted of murder in our prisons is not as high as you think. They are in the minority. The money we pay for keeping prisoners alive and fed is not spent on murderers by enlarge. It is spent on throwing drug offenders and robbers in prison. Our prisons are not packed with people convicted of murder as you are making it sound.

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lambaste me not

no one has uncovered an instance of anyone put to death who was innocent. I'd say the system we have in place does put to death only those guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. I fully support the death penalty. The fact that other countries who have different cultures and moral values do not does not bother me in the slightest. Tax payers should not be forced to feed and house and entertain brutal murderers for a lifetime.

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JMS gets another English lesson:

Quote:

there is no "mostly unique;" thats like saying "sometimes always," its an oxymoron - its either one or the other.

The result:

Quote:

By the mid-19th century unique had developed a wider meaning, “not typical, unusual,” and it is in this wider sense that it is compared. The comparison of so-called absolutes in senses that are not absolute is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.

But there have been plenty of cases of people on death row who were later found innocent because of DNA testing. So much so that George Ryan the Governor of Illinois - a former staunch supporter of the practice - put a moratorium on it. Obviously for someone, who supported the death penalty before, to do a 180 it would take a crisis.

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lambaste me not

Those were suspicions. I can't remember the details of that, but I don't think anyone was actually found innocent. But in any event, that would just show how valuable DNA evidence can be in determining the death penalty.

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JMS gets another English lesson:

Quote:

there is no "mostly unique;" thats like saying "sometimes always," its an oxymoron - its either one or the other.

The result:

Quote:

By the mid-19th century unique had developed a wider meaning, “not typical, unusual,” and it is in this wider sense that it is compared. The comparison of so-called absolutes in senses that are not absolute is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.