Ahh yes the cruel and unusual punishment phrase of the Eighth Amendment. You say that the death penatly does not serve as a deterrent, well the Eighth Amendment is the reason why.

Lets look back at the manner in which the Death Penalty has been applied in this country...

Hanging. The prisoner shall be hung from his neck until he is dead. Standing there on the platform with a hood over your head, feeling the noose being placed over your head and then adjusted, and then waiting for the executioner to pull the lever dropping the floor board, and suddenly you feel yourself falling only to be snapped back upward by the neck. Hopefully if done properly the neck breaks immediately and you are out of your misery, if not, then you slowly twitch and kick as your body is deprived of oxygen, your heart racing and then all consciousness leaves your body. Ahh but this is cruel and unusual so we can no longer use this method.

Firing Squad. Being placed in a chair bound by your arms and legs while a blindfold or a hood is placed over your head, feeling as the guard places the target board around your neck and over your heart. Hearing the words of the warden as he gives the orders Ready, Aim, Fire. Feeling the hot lead tearing into your flesh, your heart sputtering as the bullets tear through the muscle and hopefully the aorta as you are killed. But again this is cruel and unusual.

Gas Chamber. Being led into a room and strapped into a chair, hearing as the guards slam close the air tight doors, slowly hearing as the gas begins to be pumped into the chamber, at first you try to hold your breath, but you cannot last long, your heart starts to race as you suddenly have to breath in the deadly fumes. You feel your chest constricting and you begin to cough as your body's supply of precious oxygen is replaced with a deadly poison, and suddenly you are no longer breathing and then you are dead. But again, this is too cruel and unusual.

Electric Chair. Slowly being led into a room and strapped into a chair, feeling as the wet sponge is placed over you head and the skull cap is strapped unto your head. Your arms and legs are strapped with metal to the chair. Hearing the generator firing up and the sound of it is deafening. Then the switch is pulled and tens of thousands of volts of electricity soar through your body, as the skin slowly begins to burn and that awful smell feels the room, your body begins to shudder violently and the electricity overwhelms your system stopping your heart. Yes, once more this is cruel and unusual.

So today you are taken into a room and strapped to a gurney. An IV is inserted into your arm by a trained medical professional, slowly drugs are administered and you lose consciousness, nice, quiet peacefully, never to wake again. That's the ticket, nothing cruel or unusual, it perhaps the most humane way to die, and no it does not serve as a deterrent.

Perhaps if we executed our prisoners in the same manner that they killed their victims it might serve to be a better detterent. I can just see it, in the case of Simmons, ah yes, the young 17 year old who with two accomplices beat a woman, bound and gagged her and then threw her off a bridge where she drowned, all the while bragging that the state won't execute him because he is a minor. Why not execute him in the same manner, have three guards beat him until he is unconscious, bound and gag him and then stuff his body into a bag and then throw him off a bridge into the river until he drowns, all the while the guards can joke how they are able to do this because it is sanctioned by the state. Perhaps a few more juveniles will then think twice before wanting to kill someone, knowing that if they are caught they will be executed by the state in the same manner in which they committed their crime.

Or what about good old Tookie. Why didn't we execute him in the same manner he killed one of his victims. Forcing him to lie face down on the ground, and then hearing the pump of the shot gun as the first round is chambered, only to have that round shot into the back of his head, followed by a second round to the back of the head, with two more to his body just for good measure. Perhaps knowing that if you kill someone, your life will be terminated in exactly the same manner as you terminated theirs, a little light will go off and a few less people will try to get away with murder.

As far as those who still commit the crimes, all society would be doing is putting to death those who have respect for another's rights in the first place.

And that noble position you quoted from Atkins:

The Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society," And thus, it really is up to the humanity of the American people to determine exactly whether or not the death penalty should be legal.

Well, the state had the death penalty so it would seem that the people had made their decision. But despite what they wrote, ulitmately it was 9 who decided. So much for the noble idea of it being up to the American people. No the changing standards of decency have been decided by nine and not the people. Words have meanings, and the justice have clearly justified their actions by ignoring or better lying about the meaning.

As far as for ManofTrueTruth, well, if the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent as Katczinsky has stated and which the studies support, then it cannot be the contribute to the culture of violence in this country.

dmk