Did I hear that right?
(What people say concerning the death penalty
and the questions we are left to ask ourselves)
"I am against abortion. No one person has the right to take another persons life. It must be done collectively. That is why I support the death penalty!" (A comedian)
Question:You were just joking weren't you?

"An innocent person who is executed should be considered a crime victim." (William Rusty Hubbarth of the pro-death penalty organization Justice For All speaking before the Texas State Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to a bill calling for a moratorium.)
Question:Then who's the perpetrator?

"Jesus didn't come to pull the switch. He came to seek and save the lost .." Minister of the Church of Christ, Ron Mosby said "... the next time he comes. He'll pull the switch."
Question:Will he start with you?

"One of you is going to fry for this. Since you're the nigger, you're elected."
(A local Texas law enforcement officer told Clarence Bradley who spent 9 1/2 years on death row before he was finally exonerated.)
Question:Who elected you?

"Texas doesn't execute the insane or mentally incompetent ..." Houston attorney Cathleen C. Herashimchuk wrote in a Texas newspaper defending Governor Bush as he was running for presidency "... Indigent defendants have competent counsel!"
Question:Are you court appointed often?

"The Constitution doesn't say the lawyer has to be awake."
(Harris County Judge Doug Shaver said in defense of an attorney who he allowed to sleep in his courtroom rather than represent his client.)
Question:Hmmmm...?

"Who among you dares to call me an embarrassment to this court? I suppose it is not an embarrassment when we appoint inexperienced lawyers to handle death penalty writs and then refuse to pay them for the work they perform, or when we engage in intellectual game playing in order to uphold wrongfully obtained death penalties. None of you are embarrassed when we put someone to death or uphold same severe sentence because of a missed deadline, or when we pretend that a lawyer is not ineffective just because he slept through trial. Yet I get caught scalping a few lousy football tickets and suddenly, I am the embarrassment. In case after case, you strip people of their freedom and liberty and ensure that the laws are used as the governments weapons against the people, rather than the people's protection against the government ... You wrestle the Goddess of liberty to the ground and ram her sword through her just heart while citizens of the state watch in horror. And then you call me an embarrassment because I was trying to make a few extra bucks on Thanksgiving Day."
(Texas Republican, Criminal Court of Appeals Judge Stephen W. Mansfield, wrote scalding the State Judicial Commission in a letter for publicly reprimanding him when it was discovered he failed to pay over $10,000 in child support; had a complaint filed against him by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for locking his two Pameranian dogs in his car while he was at court; and lied about his background, experience and record; after he was arrested for scalping complimentary college football tickets that were given to all the judges.)
Question:Who do you mean by we?

"Let's say you have a videotape which conclusively shows the suspect is innocent. Is it a Federal Constitutional violation to execute that person ?"
(United States Court Justice Anthony Kennedy asked Texas Assistant Attorney General Margaret Griffey as she argued the case of Texas death row prisoner Lionell Herrera shortly before he was executed.) "No! It would not be violative of the Constitution!" she stearnly replied.
Question:If murdering innocent people doesn't violate the constitution ... what does?

"I believe it is wrong to execute individuals with mental retardation ... and we do not allow for the execution of the mentally retarded today in Texas." (Texas Governor Rick Perry days before vetoing a bill banning the execution of the mentally retarted.)
Question:Did you just mean -- for that day?