Richardson: 'My Conscience Feels Good, But I Am Still Troubled'
Balancing the interests of the state, victims' families and a flawed criminal justice system, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed a bill today that repealed the state's death penalty. He describes the journey that brought him to his decision:
SANTA FE — The Bill Richardson who announced a repeal of the death penalty in New Mexico on Wednesday was not the same Bill Richardson who usually shows up for face time with the news media.
The Richardson who usually hosts the media goes out of his way to convince you of the rightness of his decision. He is confident, bigger than life and even becomes jocular at times; he is a master of the room.
The Richardson who sat before a phalanx of news media Wednesday was anything but. At moments he appeared still to be working out the issue in his head and doubt occasionally crept in to darken his face.
Are there people who deserve the death penalty? Is it right for the state to execute a killer? What about the flaws in the system? And what of the United States’ general approval of the death penalty when compared to most Western democracies?
Richardson struggled to balance all those competing interests, but appeared unable to arrive at an absolutely satisfactory answer.
“I believe it’s the right decision. My conscience feels good, but I am still troubled,” Richardson said, by way of explaining his decision to repeal the death penalty.
He paused.
“I still wonder if… I know we did the right thing, but I am not totally, totally convinced that every argument that I have just said to you is accurate,” he said.
It was a surprising moment for Richardson, who made the admission before a bevy of repeal supporters. Just moments earlier, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of the Diocese of Las Cruces had praised Richardson for his action.
“We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing those who kill,” Ramirez said.
Richardson had begun his news conference Wednesday by alluding to a six-year evolution he had experienced regarding the death penalty.
Richardson for years had supported the death penalty, and apparently still does for certain cases, including for Michael Paul Astorga. Astorga is charged with killing Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputy James McGrane Jr.
But Richardson had come to the conclusion that the system was flawed.
“The sad truth is the wrong person can still be convicted in this day and age, and in cases where that conviction carries with the ultimate sanction, we must have ultimate confidence – I would say certitude – that the system is without flaw or prejudice,” he said.
About 130 people in 26 states have been exonerated since the early 1970s, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That number includes four people from New Mexico.
The governor added, “And it bothers me greatly that minorities are over-represented in the prison population and on death row.”
I've come to this conclusion as well. As long as there is any possible chance of an innocent person being put to death, then the death penalty is wrong. Sure, there are some people who deseerve to die, but it's more important to make sure innocent people aren't executed.
to prove that murder is wrong....
No one deserves to die at the hands of the state. The Death Penalty is the definition of malice aforethought, depraved indifference, and all the other bells and whistles that make Murder in the first or second degree just that.
me-oww!
Here, in Canada, the largest injustices we can consider is when we IMPRISON or CONVICT the innocent. From our experience it has happened at least twice in the last 25 years. I'm sure it has happened more, but those two experiences are a huge blow to us as Canadians who struggle to do the right and noble thing by our fellow man. David Milligard was one such person who served years for a crime he did not commit.
This is why the Arar torture scandal was so big to us. We sent a man to get tortured who was innocent. This is just a reminder that our system is wrong and we allowed ourselves to corrupted by very influential parties who do not have the best interests of the population at heart.
We tortured a man with circumstantial evidence at best, and without a trial. This is appalling to most of us.
The more power you give to the government the more abuses of power we see. This goes from corruption of our food supplies by non-organic frankenfoods causing diseases, to total food domination that the US is nearing to signing into law. Soon Americans cannot grow food in the backyard. That's going to change everything about who you are.
Just stop them, please.
'The devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th, the New World Order was born on Sept 11th.' - Immortal Technique
I had heard there were three Canadians wrongly convicted and spent long periods in prison.
As quick search shows there have been a lot more, and most would have been killed if Canada had had the "death penalty", or state-sanctioned murder, as it's better known.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/wrongfullyc...
One innocent person being murdered by the state would be too many. The real number is far higher counting only those which can be verified, and not counting those where the courts prevent the re-investigation of questionable state-murder after the person has been killed, nor counting the number of lynchings and other travesties falsely perpetrated on blacks through specious accusations.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-poss...
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
David Milgaard 23 yrs
Guy Paul Morin 11 yrs
james Driscoll 12 yrs
Donald Marshall 19 yrs
Stephen Truscott Went to prison at age 14 finally paroled after 20 years. Federal justice minister has asked the court of appeal to look into exonerating him.
Rodney Cain 20 yrs, conviction overturned when the justice minister reviewed his case and determined it was self-defence.
Robert Baltovich Spent 12 years in prison for murdering his girlfriend although her body was never found. He is now out on bail pending a federal review of his case. Evidence now points of convicted serial killer Paul Bernardo as the actual murderer.
Kyle Unger Still in prison after 19 years, although recent tests showed that hair samples tendered as evidence in trial did not belong to him.
This is just a sample of the more headline grabbing cases, but hardly comprehensive.
thank you.
Fake christians take note: true Pro life activity, right here.
me-oww!
I recently left Texas (can't seem to get my screen name changed though) and am SOOOOO glad to be away from the multitudes of self-proclaimed "good christians" who favor the death penalty, want to do away with Welfare and Medicare/Medicaid, and don't believe in birth control. But getting fabulously rich (especially if it means screwing someone else)is OK.
In countless instances, "Christian" could be substituted for "hypocrite."
[If you want your screen name changed, drop us a line at the Sitemonitor1 email addy. We'll see what we can do for you-Sitemonitor]
Hooray! I'll do that. Thanks.
These same people will probably lambaste Governor Richardson for his "immoral" decision.
I respect Gov. Richardson on his decision and can understand his little bit of doubt, but if pre-meditated murder is a crime, then so should the death penalty be as it's the same thing. And, I so agree with you, miss_kitty that it's hypocritical of ANYONE, Christian or otherwise, to say abortion is wrong, but capital punishment is right. Contradiction!!
now it's funny, because I totally nail my winger bro on this, but his wife -- bless her. A True Christian. Against abortion, against the death penalty.
For the fakes, I point out that they are not Pro Life, just Anti Choicers who think the gov't should meddle in the lives of women.
me-oww!
...and those Anti Choicers are almost always "Screw You Once You've Had The Kid" types as well.
If you don't have moral problems with the death penalty, it's economically stupid at the very least.
I've seen several articles recently stating that several states are considering discarding the death penalty because, with all the appeals etc, it costs more than life imprisonment.
That's been true for decades, but with the current economic squeeze it adds impetus to their consciences.
Interesting that a so-called Christian nation is one of the few that hasn't figured out "Thou Shalt Not Kill" quite yet ..
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
As a native new mexican (albeit a gringo), I am proud our governor stood up to the bloody-minded thugs and gunsels couciling murderous revenge.
I once favored capital punishment. But when I learned how often it had been wrongly executed, and the racial disparities associated with its execution, and regarding the irreversibility of it, I came to change my mind over time...about 15 years, from my youth into early middle age. I have opposed it for the last 25 year--though I make a certain, occasional, ironic exception, for the ruinously egregious thieves like ernie Madoff or that Stanford creep, whereby I want to test the deterrence theory the right trumpets to preserve it on folks whose deterrence would be most socially useful...
And incredibly racist.
And I'll say it again.
The only way that I support the death penalty is when child rape and murder are involved. Both of them simultaneously. Acts of extreme violence against children I cannot tolerate. The accused would also have to be either caught in the act or confess to it.
There would have to be irrefutable evidence to sentence them to death.
I'm talking beyond any question of their guilt. And even then, do another investigation to double , triple check to make sure.
Other than that, I say build a giant prison in Northern Alaska.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
to live long dull boring lives, Decades behind bars, knowing that's as good as it will ever get.
me-oww!
Except child rapists/murderers. They don't deserve to be fed or housed.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
What you describe is horrible for anyone and their survivors. Kids aren't any more special than grandmas. jmho
You also give them something exciting to do-fight their sentence. If it's no parole forever in jail, they are just there.
me-oww!
differentiating between the two. But I have to draw the line somewhere here. Violence against women is another issue that I have no qualms about. But I draw the line in between adults and children.
People who abuse other human beings of any gender shouldn't be allowed in public. Self defense is another issue altogether.
Northern Alaska for them. Even if they only get 15-20 years.
That much time in the frozen tundra would make them think twice about doing it again.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
For those child murderers/rapists, I say shorten the appeals process. They get 5 years to appeal it In a Special court that only handles these kind of cases.
I suppose they could always be dropped off on one of the islands in the Bering Sea.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
I just totally disagree with the concept of the state murdering anyone.
me-oww!
We can agree to disagree.
Cuase ain't nuthin that can convince me otherwise on this particular subject.
I respect you and your opinion.
The set of circumstances I have described above are the only exception I make in being against the death penalty.
Have a nice day miss_kitty. I'm off to do some errands.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
In the case of an incestuous rape of a child by a father would you burden the child with the knowledge that their testimony led to that father's execution. I wouldn't.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Child rape/murder simultaneously. Both crimes ending in one result.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
What if they are innocent? I believe there was a movie about a big black retarded man getting electrocuted for a crime that a white guy committed. Hmmmmm.
Just because it was more convenient than the truth. Then you killed an innocent man again, and you are back to square one.
It was a written by Stephen King, do you think a horror writer wrote it cause of the jolly feel good feelings it gave you? No. Because the horror was within the system which was killing a known innocent and gentle person.
'The devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th, the New World Order was born on Sept 11th.' - Immortal Technique
I'd have to guess "Green Mile"
Obviously you're a hormone driven teenager who gets off on violence. Either that, or you're emotionally immature.
If you were a clear-headed, well-read and mature adult, you'd be fully aware of the "satanic ritual abuse" case of the 1980s where innocent people were falsely convicted of child molesting. Their names were dragged through the mud, reputations, marriages and careers ruined, and several were falsely convicted and spent years in prison because overzealous prosecutors coached children into believing the had "repressed memories".
The only way that I support the death penalty is when child rape and murder are involved. Both of them simultaneously. Acts of extreme violence against children I cannot tolerate. The accused would also have to be either caught in the act or confess to it"
Now, who's acting immature?
Just because I said something you disagree with, it doesn't warrant childish comments.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
For Chopvic
I went to jr. and high school with one of them.
It's a dangerous game to play when saying it's OK for this series of crimes but not another. I understand what you're saying but look at it from the side of the victims: How do you explain to someone that's child was "just" murdered that their child didn't suffer enough to warrant such punishment for the crime? Either you're against the death penalty or you're not. There's really no middle ground.
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
but, how is the crime any less problematic when someone rapes and kills an elderly woman? I love kids, have two and would probably murder anyone that hurt them, but I'm always troubled by the need to differentiate crimes based on age. It really less troubling when someone kills an adult?
For the record, I have an objection to the death penalty based on the fact that the whole process is subject to such unbearable uncertainty. There was a case here in Las Vegas where they had a man on video camera shooting people, which left no doubt, but that is a rarity. The consequences are far too dire to have even a shred of doubt.
They're still naive. They're still learning the ways of the world.
Throw in a sex crime. That's just plain old vile and evil.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
which case the perpetrator would almost certainly kill the only witness. Nope. That doesn't work for me either.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Americans should be better than the criminals they put on trial. We should not execute as they have executed. We should be better than the warriors we fight. We should not torture as they have tortured. We should not imprison them without charges as they have imprisoned Americans without charges.
Pro-life is supposed to be on a continuum, from cradle to grave. Being against abortion but in favor of the death penalty is contradictory and IS NOT PRO-LIFE.
When the shooter invaded an Amish school and killed schoolchildren, the Amish forgave the shooter's family and cared for his survivors. They gave a true example of what really civilized people should do in the face of evil. Not execution, not torture and not imprisonment without charges.
But aren't.
Look how we treat other nations. We are outraged when an American is mistreated abroad and yet we've blatantly disregarded the Geneva Conventions. We retaliate for the death of 3000 of our own be inflicting the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan people who had nothing to do with the attack.
We truly are a Christian Nation, claim the moral high ground on Sunday and act like total *ssholes the rest of the week.
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
"We truly are a Christian Nation, claim the moral high ground on Sunday and act like total *ssholes the rest of the week."
One of the best statements I've heard in quite some time!
but only in extreme cases.
you put a sick dog down. you put a rabid dog down. because there's no hope to repair them. the dog is hurting, the dog's family is hurting. its certainly no cause for celebration, even if the dog hurt someone else in the family.
by extension, some very sick people deserve the mercy of being put down, as does the society in which they live. its certainly no cause for celebration.
an angry gangster firing bullets at cops and "accidentally" killing one of them - does not deserve the death penalty. he deserves life in prison.
people like Charles Manson though - deserve to be put down.
I think thats whats most wrong with our death penalty. we force the truly sick criminals to maintain their obviously-pained life ... to the point where their attorneys advocate against death even when the criminal yearns for it ... but we execute people with no significant psychological afflictions, out of some weird sense of revenge. and we further complicate and destroy the original intent by inviting the public to watch the executions, and stay up-to-the-minute with news of the executions.
I think there should be mercy killings, for cases where a sick mind yearns to walk away from the pain. (people such as Jeffrey Dahmer). and I think those cases should be very quietly and discreetly handled, with rigid censorship comparable to the censorship we reserve for things like birth certificates, medical records, etc.
I'll probably get flamed for that, but thats how I feel. so at the end of the day, I suppose I still applaud Mr. Richardson's decision here - because - at the end of the day, the existing system surrounding his state's death penalty (as with all states' death penalties) is a system focused on an orgy of public hate, rather than quiet, somber disposal of irreparably sick individuals.
whats truly unfortunate is that - eventually - give it 5, maybe 10 years - eventually, some incredibly sick individual in New Mexico is going to commit a horrific series of crimes involving murder and rape, and will openly beg to be executed ... and some Republican politician will use that case as a reason for New Mexico to re-instate the death penalty...
... and New Mexico will fall back into the same old pattern where Native Americans and Blacks and Mexican dope peddlers who shot a spouse or a cop in anger, will be publicly executed, while FOX incites the trailer trash to jerk off to the hate ..... and in the meantime, the truly sick, the truly rare individuals who should probably be executed, will continue to rot away in misery in their prison cells while reputation-hungry defense attorneys spill their every detail while advocating for a life that those rare individuals don't really want to have anyway.
our nation's death penalty "system" is a fucking mess. =\
There are people who deserve to die for what they have done, but until we can be absolutley sure we get it right every time the death sentence is wrong.
At the very least, there should be a moratorium on the death penalty, until the way we go about it is improved.
My feelings about the death penalty are similar to abortion. I personally hate abortion, but I know it's important to leave that option open to women. I have no right to tell another woman what do about her pregnancy because I can't truly appreciate her circumstances. With the death penalty, I hate it too, but sometimes a part of me feels it should be on the table in very rare circumstances that are especially egregious.
With child rape issues, as a survivor, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have heard people say that if pedophiles know that they will be put to death anyway, they will have no incentive to let the child live. I don't know.
I do remember what I felt like when Saddam Hussein was executed. Surely the man was evil, but I felt eerie and just wrong that night. I remember CNN showed some stock footage before the execution of handcuffed, hooded men about to be put to death, and the eerie/wrong feeling was so thick you could cut it with a knife. And I had to avoid the TV for days afterward because of the clips of Saddam being hanged...
I've never seen change without a fire
When Saddam was executed and also Timothy McVeigh. Oddly enough, even though these 2 guys had been vilified to the extreme by the media, learning about their executions didn't make me feel better or more secure. Now that I think about it, it made me sick.
I'm in Mexico and at this moment there is a feeling sweeping the country that the death penalty is necessary to protect the lives of the innocent from kidnappers and narcoterrorists. I've had some bitter arguments about this insane reasoning with some of my relatives and friends, and I'm apalled that they would support such an extreme measure.
Hopefully, the initiative will be defeated in no small part because of some of Mexico's international treaties and obligations, which forbid it from legislating capital punishment. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
....aren't on death row, Capital punishment indeed should be abolished in America.
and have been for as long as I can remember.
It's interesting that countries who have experienced centuries of war and violence have for the most part,eliminated the DP.The European Union (EU)opposes the death penalty in all cases.
However I think Liberals need to be more passionate in speaking out for victims of extreme violence,which is an area in which we have been criticized.I have also experienced a profound change in my attitude toward Abortion.I still believe it is a woman's right to do with her body what she will,but I would like to see far fewer Abortions over all.I can't bare the idea of life(at any stage)being extinguished.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
Is sex ed starting in kindergarten. Age appropriate of course. The Netherlands has been proving for decades that if kids know was sex is, what it does and what it's for, and know that protection and prevention exist and can be easily obtained, and if those caught out know they won't be ostracised, unwanted pregnancies drop way way off.
me-oww!
You make an important point.
At the root of all of these problems lie social inequity,lack of awareness and the proper tools to move society forward.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
Civilized countries do not have the "death penalty", a/k/a state-sanctioned murder.
Corollary: Countries that have the "death penalty" are not civilized.
This is really great news. I'm just sorry it took him so long to come around to this conclusion. I think a lot of politicians feel they must support the death penalty in order to get into office, and that is really unfortunate.
The death penalty doesn't make sense on any level. It's NOT an eye for an eye. It's NOT a crime deterrent. It's NOT equally applied, and it's NOT making us a better, more moral, or more just society.
I remember being in Sunday school in the 7th grade. Our teacher (who was UBER conservative) told us that abortion was wrong, but the death penalty was okay. Our class challenged him on it. If a room full of 12 year olds can see the hypocrisy in that position, why can't everyone else? By the way, this happened when I was growing up in Texas.
"We truly are a Christian Nation, claim the moral high ground on Sunday and act like total *ssholes the rest of the week."
One of the best statements I've heard in quite some time!
****************************
Pray on your knees Sunday, prey on your neighbors Monday
prison system and who is profiting from it. My jaw is on the GROUND. We are a sick, sick country. This is so incredible I can't get over it.
Prisons, Profits and the Banality of Evil
thanks for posting the link...its an interesting article. the corruption in our prison system is quite disturbing. it amazes me how "we the people" allow this kind of crap to happen. what happened to the good old "stamping license plates days", you know, something for the good of the people.
Wow, what a "journey"... lawl
It's a bit amazing to me that Richardson acts like it really hurts him that his state won't be killing anyone as an act of vengeance anymore. What a tough decision:
Pros:
-We get to kill people legally.
-Sometimes family members of the victims say they feel better afterward.
Cons:
-It costs the taxpayer a whole lot more than keeping the person in prison for life.
-We apparently quite often convict the wrong person. So we're actually ADDING to the original murder by murdering someone innocent who got caught up in it.
-The family members of all involved quite often don't want to see anyone else die.
-There is no rehabilitation.
-We are justifying killing as a means to correct a problem.
-It's somewhat barbaric... seeing as we're one of the few 1st world places left to use it as a form of punishment.
Yeah, it must be painful for Richardson... such a tough decision.
Oh yeah, and if you believe in God (which I think a lot of people who support the death penalty do) then it's even more ridiculous. Wouldn't God take care of it himself/herself?
I am happy that he did sign this legislation. I myself have gone through periods when I have thought about the feasibility of the death penalty-I have thought of it in a personal sense-having a young son, and wondering if someone was to murder him, (or my wife, mother, etc etc) what I would feel. I still feel that I would of course, want to do to that person what they would have done to my family. I don't think there is anyone who is human who would not feel this way. I just don't think that the State should be in charge of exacting justice though. Our legal sytem (the one that NM righties are now defending against Richardson's comments) has been wrong before, and could be wrong in a death sentence case. Life in prison is punishment for (1st degree) murder with no chance of parole.
Richardson made a brave decision in my view-especially in our state, where there are a lot of people who are very much for the death penalty (and some families who have suffered from a murdered loved one)have come to personally speak with Richardson. It was the right decision.
Just so you all know where I stand; I agree with Richardson. Especially the uncertainty and the way it is applied unequally. There are plenty of people I would shoot on the spot if I saw them committing certain types of crimes but if there was/is one person who can be killed in error then there should be nobody killed by the state. Also, unequal justice is no justice.
"The crimes of ideology are always so much worse than the crimes of the rest of humanity." -- South African anti-apartheid protest song
For war crimes and dismantling domestic human rights protections, retain it.
Assuming, of course, that America can't comprehend what a _real_ Truth and Reconciliation Commission would achieve.
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