Philly DA Krasner wants Pennsylvania Supreme Court to strike down state's death penalty

[TexasTowelie]

In a response to a death penalty case that could have far-reaching ramifications, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to strike down the state’s death penalty and declare it unconstitutional.

“Because of the arbitrary manner in which it has been applied, the death penalty violates our state Constitution’s prohibition against cruel punishments,” District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office wrote in a motion filed with the court Monday night, a copy of which was obtained by the online news website The Appeal.

The DA’s Office was responding to a petition filed by federal public defenders representing Philadelphia death-row inmate Jermont Cox, convicted of three separate drug-related murders in 1992 and ordered to die for one of them.

The defense attorneys, who also represent a Northumberland County inmate, Kevin Marinelli, sentenced to death for a 1994 killing, have asked the high court to end capital punishment, arguing that the death penalty violates the state Constitution’s ban on cruel punishment.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-district-attorney-larry-krasner-death-penalty-response-state-supreme-court-jermont-cox-20190716.html

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I find it somewhat ironic that the DP is considered more cruel...

than life in a Supermax prison. Be that as it may, I've been actively against the death penalty for all my adult life. It fails any reasonable ethical, legal, or practical standard. And we keep trying to make it "more humane" for some reason.

Face it, if the Green River Killer got death off the table for telling them where another 40 or or so victims were buried, just what crime would call for the DP?

As far as humanely offing the bad guys, screw that. Our forebears were quite fond of drawing and quartering-- quite a show there.

The Inquisition popularized the Rack, Iron Maiden and other such goodies. The outcome was not in doubt-- just the amount of time and pain to get there. Ancient Persians had a particularly gruesome execution method called The Boats", or scaphism. The Romans would happily tie you to a wagon wheel and roll you down a hill. "Suffer and die" was a big thing back then, and Old Sparky was invented largely as a method of humane execution.

If I were to magically find myself in favor of the DP, I would probably make it some pretty gruesome stuff. Not to entertain the masses so much as to send a grim message. Entertaining the masses by killing, btw, is one of the few things I might be tempted to kill over. But I digress...

Bring back the guillotine and tie the vic..., er criminal, down face up. Pick a member of the sentencing jury to pull the lever and look the soon-to-be-departed in the eye until his head rolls down into the basket.