OK, I know that sounds like a totally ludicrous question, but if you read the article in the Lancaster New Era, of August 8, 2007, you would understand why the question is being asked in the first place.
According to Pennsylvania's Death Penalty Law, an inmate who is sentenced to death is automatically granted an appeal to the State Supreme Court, and in my never to be humble opinion, if that appeal is denied, this is where the process should end--but everybody know that it doesn't. The process drags on for years, with the taxpayer footing the bill. But, just for sake of discussion, let's look at a few specifics.
First, since 1978 only three "death row" inmates have been executed in Pennsylvania.
Second, presently there are a total of 226 inmates in prisons across the Commonwealth who are awaiting execution, but whose sentences have been stayed for one reason or another.
Third, Pennsylvania's "death row" population is the fourth largest in the country, behind California with 660, Florida with 397 and Texas with 393 inmates awaiting execution.
And before all you bleeding heart liberals out there start clamoring for a moratorium on executions, understand this--there already is a defacto moratorium on capital punishment in Pennsylvania, simply because it has not been used--so save your breath.
The conclusion here, at least from where I sit is obvious--if you're not going to execute criminals who commit the most henious of crimes known to our society, then be prepared to abolish capital punishment completely, and then get ready to deal with the consequences of that decision.
The death penalty represents the ultimate form of punishment for the most serious of crimes committed in our so-called society. Granted it's not pretty, and it's not the ideal solution to crime in Pennsylvania or the United States, but then this is not an ideal society. But quite frankly, the alternatives are just too frightening to contemplate!
According to Pennsylvania's Death Penalty Law, an inmate who is sentenced to death is automatically granted an appeal to the State Supreme Court, and in my never to be humble opinion, if that appeal is denied, this is where the process should end--but everybody know that it doesn't. The process drags on for years, with the taxpayer footing the bill. But, just for sake of discussion, let's look at a few specifics.
First, since 1978 only three "death row" inmates have been executed in Pennsylvania.
Second, presently there are a total of 226 inmates in prisons across the Commonwealth who are awaiting execution, but whose sentences have been stayed for one reason or another.
Third, Pennsylvania's "death row" population is the fourth largest in the country, behind California with 660, Florida with 397 and Texas with 393 inmates awaiting execution.
And before all you bleeding heart liberals out there start clamoring for a moratorium on executions, understand this--there already is a defacto moratorium on capital punishment in Pennsylvania, simply because it has not been used--so save your breath.
The conclusion here, at least from where I sit is obvious--if you're not going to execute criminals who commit the most henious of crimes known to our society, then be prepared to abolish capital punishment completely, and then get ready to deal with the consequences of that decision.
The death penalty represents the ultimate form of punishment for the most serious of crimes committed in our so-called society. Granted it's not pretty, and it's not the ideal solution to crime in Pennsylvania or the United States, but then this is not an ideal society. But quite frankly, the alternatives are just too frightening to contemplate!
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