Originally Posted by
annekat
Alysia, as far as I know, having the death penalty or not is determined by the voters of each state. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that there was no death penalty in California for a number of years, and then it was voted back in at some point. That is why Charles Manson is still alive and I believe Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. Both of them were sentenced to their prison terms when there was no death penalty in effect. I can't say I'm in favor of the death penalty, but we are skating on thin ice to discuss it much, because it does enter into the realm of politics and religion, or we could call it ethics, but in any case, it is potentially as controversial as either of those forbidden subjects, it seems to me.