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By DENA POTTER
RICHMOND
A key Senate committee has passed bills allowing the death penalty for those who kill fire marshals and auxiliary police officers.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 9-6 on both bills today.
The committee is often seen as the last roadblock to death penalty expansion bills. The bills, which already have passed the House, head to the full Senate for a vote this week.
Supporters argue that both groups are uniformed officers who represent the commonwealth, often putting their lives at risk. Opponents argue Virginia should not continue expanding the list of crimes that can qualify for the death penalty.
Virginia executes more prisoners than any state other than Texas.
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Every study I have seen
indicates that it costs a whole lot more to kill a person than to give them life without parole. I have seen studies which show millions of dollars a year more. Why are we so focused on expanding the death penalty, which costs taxpayers money and if somehow an error was made (I know human beings rarely make errors, but nonetheless)there is no recourse to correct the error?
Why not simply expand the list of crimes which can carry life without parole and help out the budget. The person is behind bars for life and taxpayer money isn't being squandered through the legal system. And there is the added benefit that if an error has been made, like the guy in Virginia Beach who just spent almost a year in jail and was innocent, there is the potential to correct the mistake at a later date. Death is pretty final.
Our culture trully is based on violence, we can always find the money and we are always willing to spend millions even billions to kill people, whether they deserve it or not (death penalty/ wars), but never seem to be able to find the money for education, health care, and other services which help people and lift them up.
Keeping more people in prison?!
If you were to expand the offenses that cover life without parole our already overcrowded prisons would become even worse... Do you want to live next door to a prison?
Agree with Death Penalty
I agree with the death penalty expansion, however it should include any murder that is not justifiable homicide. Meaning you taking the life of a person trying to kill you or your family. It should be really expanded to cover our children it has become open season against our children and any man that takes a sexual interest in a child/infant especially one 10 or younger even a teenager. Any adult that hurts a child kidnaps, molest, rapes or murder a child needs to be put to death. That is an individual that is beyond rehabilitation that is a person that is sick and twisted. Child porn sellers and buyers need to be put to death. there wouldn'tbe aproblem if some sick, twisted individual wasn't purchasing it. women that hand over their children to be molested should be put them to death too. I don't understand how any one who call herself a mother could have self esteem so low she would give her child up to some man to have sex with so he would stay with her. Two pinheads, put them both to death. We need to protect our children and elderly. Makes me wonder since no one in the legislature has moved for tougher punishment for sex offenders how many of them has sick twisted fantasie
Easy people, dont get your
Easy people, dont get your panties in a bind. All they are doing is closing a loophole in the law. Killing a police officer will get you the death penalty, but appearantly it wasnt worded properly a long time ago and it didnt include auxilliary police officers and fire marshals, both of whom are police officers. So this was passed to close that loophole.
What?!
I understand wanting to expand the death penalty, but why only fire marshalls and law enforcement officers? What about everyone else? Why is it only a select amount of people murdered that the death penalty applies to?
Coming in on the tail end of the conversation...
So let me get this straight, a fire marshal’s life is more important than my daughter or wife? Someone kills a fire marshal they get the needle, they kill my wife, daughter, next door neighbor they get life? Isn't 1st degree murder 1st degree murder no matter who you kill?
Make Virginia Number One
And crossing guards and teachers and taxi drivers and security guards, heck, fornicators and blasphemers too after all, nothing those "pro-life" evangelics running our state love like killin'!
That's right!
I want Texas to look at Virginia and say "Dang! Them Virginians' mean business!"
Expand it further...
to include rapists and child molesters too!