The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced Wednesday that he will no longer seek the death penalty, the first in a series of reforms his office is implementing to address what he says is racial discrimination within the criminal justice system.
QUESTION: Do you think Contra Costa County should follow in the footsteps of Santa Clara County, and decide to no longer seek the death penalty?
Talk about it….
Hang them high !
“This is the reason why there are problems in our society.”
Right. The problems have nothing to do with those committing violent crimes. Got it.
well the DA says she will plead down criminals
so not necessary when the DA is pro crime and no time
but i bet you knew that allready
Can’t plan for the future based on her politics. She will probably be a one and done politician.
Any county that racially discriminates in seeking the death penalty should clean up their act. If Contra Costa doesn’t discriminate then nothing should change.
No. Death penalty is one reason the rest of the civilized world views the US as barbaric. L8fe imprisonment without possibility of parole – consistenty enforced – is sufficient.
Until they let them out for the Chinese Flu………
Who said the death penalty is one reason the rest of the civilized world views the US as barbaric?
If your statement is true, then why do so many foreigners want to come to the United States?
Through all of it’s faults, the United States is the best country in world.
I think I could live with being called a barbarian by the rest of the civilized world.
You cannot count on life imprisonment without parole as long as you have politicians who like criminals more than law-abiding citizens.
Sure, but gential mutilation is a-ok?
Barbaric to the rest of the world? The door is open for you to go live in another country where you’ll be happier.
Everyone has the choice to not commit a crime if they don’t like the punishment.
Taxes are high enough without paying for criminals to have a nice life behind bars.
No in other countries they throw gay people off the roof of buildings that is far more barbaric than a murderer paying the price, yeah super barbaric…
@tandom There’s a big difference between making a racist comment and murdering someone. That “one mistake” took someone’s life. Let the punishment fit the crime.
REALLY ANONYMOUS??
Once you get your head out of the sand, take a good look at how other countries handle the worst cases of homicide. You’ll find that most handle it in a very definitive way.
Yes. We should continue it, as the majority of Californians have voted! It’s only this idiot Governor and his minions that have chosen to go against the will of the voting public!
Am I missing something here…how is seeking a dearth penalty racial discriminating? I guess it’s pointless as the first thing the Governor did was put a stop to what the people voted for.
California death row population is 36% African American while the population of African Americans in California is just 6%. Many of who had insufficient defense and other forms of institutional racism, not to mention implicit bias on the part of juries.
Wipe you mean they didn’t have a good enough lawyer to beat the charge. Too bad. You don’t see White people going around shooting up the town every Friday night do you. If you did they should also get gassed or the needle.
@wipe:
The California death row population is 97.2% male while the population of males in California is just 49.6%. Where, oh where shall we find the root cause of such inequity?
No. If criminals don’t like it, quit committing crimes.
If they are going to use it then the law should be kept and utilized. If they are not going to use it then the law should be abolished.
No ultimate price to pay for ever how bad of a thing these criminals do. They hold no one responsible for there actions anymore. And I don’t care what anybody says, of the death penalty was used consistently for crimes that rise to that level I am sure some would rethink what they are doing knowing it could cost them there own life. A long time ago it use to be use a gun go to jail. That hasn’t been enforced very hard at all. Look how many times some criminal has been caught and the media says they had a long history of weapon charges. As soon as they started gong light on those laws gun violence went up and it is pretty common now for a criminal to have one. No fear. Keep the death penalty put some fear back into there lives knowing they could get executed for there crimes. The people voted for it, the people wanted it and the people’s choice has been ignored
The Death Penalty is not a deterrent and has been proven so over and over. All living victims of the criminals who received the death penalty, have repeated the same mantra: they got absolutely no resolution out of watching the accused die.
Guido. BS. When some one knows there is a heavy price to pay they rethink if it’s really worth it. And if they do the crime then it there neck. I have never and will never by that crap that it is not a deterrent.
Properly implemented, the death penalty does tend to cut down on the recidivism.
@Guido:
Can you name just one inmate executed by any state in the country that went on to re-offend? If we have to deter the scumbags one at at time, so be it.
Being that it costs more to keep a prisoner on death row than warehouse him in prison there is no reason not to move them to the general population, perhaps with fewer or no privileges. What also has to change is to shorten the endless appeals process which only served to line lawyers’ pockets at taxpayers’ expense.
+1
Even more money could be saved if they were just executed in a timely manner like they were supposed to be.
The anti-death penalty movement has done everything they can to make capital punishment much more expensive and much harder to implement. For many years, they were successful in challenging every drug combination as inhumane. SCOTUS finally seems weary of all these challenges and is willing to let executions go forward.
You better believe it.It was passed by the voters until our useless Governor put a stop to it.Its not by the people for the people anymore.This Country is going to hell in a hand basket.
No one person (or in this case county) should have the power to reject the voices of the California voter.
My question is, why does the Left always place the blame on race and not reality? According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Blacks, who make up only 13% of the population of the United States, committed 52% of the homicides between 1980 and 2008.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, as of January 1, 2020, there are 725 inmates on California’s death row.
Black: 261
White: 239
Hispanic:188
Native American: 9
Asian: 28
And eight death row inmates have died at San Quentin… Covid 19. The last one to die was a child killer. Good riddance.
Didn’t you know that facts are apparently racist?
Back in 2008 there was Prop 8 on the ballot. It was the Gay Marriage initiative. Right or wrong, the people voted against it. There was one guy who didn’t like the results, so he went ahead and opened up marriage licenses to gay couples who wanted to get marrired. There was a flood of people who took advantage of that opening before it was too late. That guy then said on TV, “What are they going to do about it? It’s too late!” That guy who didn’t follow the will of the people back then, is the same jackass that is now our Governor. Why would anyone think he’d do what we the people told him to? He has a history of being a renegade and doing whatever is most profitable for him.
Then again, what would you expect from a Pelosi
Executing someone who has committed a capital crime seriously reduces the chances that some idiot governor will later release them and inflict them back on society.
Up to 50% maybe 60% of the time.
Pay-per-view executions with proceeds to victims families. Nothing fancy. No torture just clean off into the 🧺
YES!!!!!
I agree with earlier Comments, we already defacto
outlawed it with the DA we have. I just someone who’s not on a Social Justice agenda runs against her
It seems pointless to seek the death penalty since it is automatically appealed here in California. The whole system needs revamping to say the least.
@Cowellian … with the emphasis on IDIOT governor!
Yes.
Those convicted and sentenced give up their privilege of living among the free society.
Well obviously the people have not noticed that democrats have been strategically placed through out the justice system as well as schools and media
The war is over you lost the occupation has begun
You rely and relied on a dem media for your information
Which gave you none
20 years ago people were warning you
No one to blame but yourselves
Now pick a side and hope your right
You say the world thinks we’re barbarians
Lol they look at this state like it’s a joke
Full of illegals and criminals
While the voters keep voting to keep it that way
Again the blame is self inflicted
You made great sheep for the political agenda
They barely broke a sweat manipulating you
Just ask de slacker you made him a rep and he fed you lies along with a cocktail
Crime is not punished in this state ….has not for over 20 years
Lol theft is legal and your discussing a death penalty
Wow so out of touch
Can’t even see your the punchline
Let’s just keep it in Contra Costa for now and see if all of our murderers go to Santa Clara to commit their crimes.
They need to die.
Question 1) “The Water Cooler – Should Contra Costa County Continue To Seek The Death Penalty?” “YES”
Question 2) ” QUESTION: Do you think Contra Costa County should follow in the footsteps of Santa Clara County, and decide to no longer seek the death penalty?” “NO”
😉
I’m not sure the prospect of any punishment stops crime because criminals don’t expect to get caught. Many people live in the moment – there is no yesterday and no tomorrow.
Death penalty costs a few million per case. It doesn’t deter crime. Something I learned as a child “Thou shalt not kill”. The folks who have to do the killing in the prisons can be deeply affected by this act.
Time to stop prosecuting death penalties and change it to life without possibility of parole.
I don’t believe that. Executioners are simply are doing a job, like solders in a firefight, or a drive by shooting.
What does bother me are botched executions, I just don’t see how that could happen. Perhaps it has to do with the complex drug “cocktail” used. Why couldn’t it be something like a simple morphine drip and the prisoner quietly goes to sleep, and beyond.
@ anon~
Would that be Susan Rosenberg?
If a felon on Death Row was convicted by means of DNA, eye-witness, and lie detector exam…. in other words a ROCK SOLID conviction…. then he/she should be euthanized vis lethal injection and without fanfare.
(And I do not consider “mental incompetence” or age to be an excuse for mercy.)
So blacks commit a disproportionately high amount of grievous crimes such as murder which merit execution, therefore blacks face execution at higher rates when they commit these crimes, therefore this is racist? What kind of insane logic is this? If you look up the FBI crime statistics then the harsh reality is that crimes like violent battery, rape and murder are grossly over represented in the black community and a higher rate of severe punishment among any race which conducts themselves as such is inevitable, not a sign of racism.
Love your answer. I agree.
There hasn’t been an execution in CA since 2006, so basically there isn’t a death penalty. However, COVID has reinstated that times eight. Karma will get you in the end!
Yes. I would, however, be open to the idea of strengthening the criteria (strength of case) required to seek the death penalty.
I care to the extent that law abiding people have to pay for their room, board, and healthcare. Further, I care to the extent that our Governor ignored the will of the voters who elected him.
If the Coronavirus sweeps death row; I suppose we could refer to that as God’s broom……..
What did they do? I mean sure! As long as the person is without a doubt guilty and they just sit there appealing, appealing, appealing!
I would settle for life in prision but you cannot trust judges, politicians or lawyers. I was 11 years old in 1966 living in Pinole when Dennis Stanworth raped and killed Susan Box and Caree Collison, both 15 years old. This crime occured after he had raped at least 3 other young women. He was give the death penalty twice but in 1974 a judge ruled he should get life withour parole. In 1990 he was released from jail and in 2013 killed his 90 year old mother. Everybody would have been better off if had been put to death.There are a lot of people who just cannot live in normal society, Dennis Stanworth is one of them.
for anyone who seeks to destroy the past in a foolish attempt to fix what isn’t broken
I mean, we have a lying cheater for a DA who is more interested in freeing the convicted, I don’t think we have to worry about it.
I can’t even remember how I voted on this, but I’m really pushed out of shape by the fact that the voters mandated to continue the death penalty and the Governor, and this prosecutor a d others, have defied the will of the people. Voting goes to the heart of self-determination, a concept which is foundational as a principle of a free society. Newsom’s and others actions are very dangerous in this regard.
Well said. See Assemblyman Kevin Kiley’s latest piece on the extent of Newsom’s activity. He has now changed over 400 laws, unchallenged. This autocrat needs to be recalled.
100% no – the death penalty is massively expensive and does nothing to deter crime.
Let them rot in prison for decades and save the hard working taxpayers money.
If you have to pay the huge cost of the death penalty hold a cake sale to raise the money.
No. You do the crime you deserve the fullest repercussions the law allows.
That is why society is falling apart. You can’t do what you want and hurt others. Hang them high.
This kind of crap needs to be voted on by everybody. I’ve had enough of our politicians taking it upon themselves to decide what is right and wrong for their constituents. Who has the time to write to their representatives in this day and age, especially since they probably turn a blind eye to us.
By mapping the residential addresses of every inmate in various prison systems, the center has made vividly clear a concept it calls “million-dollar blocks” — areas where more than $1 million is being spent annually to incarcerate the residents of a single census block.Oct 2, 2012
Yes. There should also be a limit on delays and appeals. The voters have spoken. I side with the victims and their families. Justice should be served.