r/politics • u/seanosul • 13h ago

Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors’ push to overturn conviction

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/24/missouri-executes-marcellus-williams
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u/WhyCantIStopReddit Missouri 13h ago

But no forensic evidence linked Williams to the murder weapon or crime scene, and as local prosecutors have renounced his conviction, the victim’s family and several trial jurors also said they opposed his execution.

This is so unbelievably fucked up.

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u/Technical_Bid990 13h ago

There should be no doubt when something as final as death is involved. This man seemed to have found some level of mental health in prison, turning to God and poetry. I can’t say if he was a good or bad person, but if I lived in Missouri, I’d want to be certain that if the state could legally execute me, I was 100% guilty. 

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u/WhyCantIStopReddit Missouri 13h ago

And this is why the death penalty should be abolished.

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u/SpaceTimeinFlux 12h ago

It is utterly motivated by bronze age bullshit. Evangelicals love the "Retribution" part but conveniently forget the rest.

Another casualty of American Jesus.

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u/Original_Contact_579 11h ago

People love retribution cause they truly don’t understand the horrors of it. They also dont understand how quickly they could be in a situation this. They dont know how easy you can lose your life unconvicted in a place like rikers jail. They also think that our justice system provides them safety, it would, if it was not a permanent boot to the neck of every felon that is released, they can never break free and return to crime. Also the simple fact that jail or prison bankrupts people

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u/bruhhrrito 11h ago

People love retribution cause they truly don’t understand the horrors of it.

Then, you meet the people who cherry pick. "Well, I believe in it for some." While that's a higher moral ground it's not practical in these real life situations. You're either with it for all, or you're not.

Does it suck knowing there are horrible, disgusting people who "deserve" to die that are still alive? Absolutely. But it shouldn't be up to us to systemically pick and choose when or how someone dies, regardless of what crimes they've committed.

"I don't want my taxes to go towards someone in prison for life." Life in prison may not satisfy some people but it's actually less expensive than executions. Drugs used for execution are far more expensive to manufacture and prisons + pharma go hand in hand. Keep giving them people to kill, they'll keep making the drugs to kill them.

I'm speaking towards the US, not as global generalizations.

Because look where we are. The prison system and Supreme Court decided to end this man's life even after the people prosecuting him tried to save him. The SC was more than comfortable sending an innocent man to die.

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u/TheLazyD0G 11h ago

Death penalty cases should be so clear cut, there is no room for any appeal. They should be cheaper than life in prison. Last I checked, a rifle round is less than a dollar.

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u/Luciusvenator American Expat 10h ago

This isn't how reality works. There is no way to guarantee any of this. Just keep them in prison for life. No chance of executing an innocent and it changes nothing for the public, as the criminal is not free and can't harm anyone. There is truly absolutely no benefit to the death penalty. It achieves nothing that can't be achieved other ways without the risk of executing innocents and the state having the power to murder its citizens legally.

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u/TheLazyD0G 10h ago

There are certain cases there is no doubt. I think Patricia Allatorre case is one:

A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured Patricia, who was initially reported missing, getting into a white pickup late July 1, 2020. Conversations were later found on her Instagram account between her and a man insisting she meet him.

That man, identified as Cruz, was detained days later at his Inglewood home and described in detail how he killed the teen, according to court documents. He directed investigators to where he left her cellphone and the construction site where he dumped her body and set it on fire.