Democrats think death penalty is too harsh, bill to repeal filed

@SoDakCampaigns

From Wikipedia, on the death of Chester Poage:

On the evening of March 12, 2000, Page, Piper, and Hoadley met with Poage at his family home in Spearfish. The four of them were acquainted and met to play video games together. Poage’s mother and sister were in Florida on vacation at the time, meaning that the house was empty. Later on, the four of them left the house and drove in Poage’s Chevrolet Blazer to the house where Page, Piper, and Hoadley were staying. Once inside, Page produced a .22 caliber pistol, which he had stolen from Poage’s home, and ordered Poage to get on the floor. The three men planned to rob Poage’s family home and did not want a witness to the crime.[4] As Poage lay on the floor, he was kicked repeatedly by Piper until he was unconscious. He was then tied up with a cord and placed in a chair. Piper put a tire iron across Poage’s feet to prevent him from moving. When Poage regained consciousness, he pleaded with his attackers to let him go, but they refused. Instead, he was forced to drink beer containing crushed pills and hydrochloric acid. His ATM card was then taken from him by Page. The perpetrators then discussed their plan to murder Poage while they stood in front of him.[5][6]

Poage was forced into his own vehicle and was driven approximately seven miles to Higgins Gulch, a remote wooded area in the Black Hills. He was ordered out of the vehicle and pushed into thick snow. He was stripped naked, apart from his undershirt, shoes, and socks. Poage was then escorted downhill toward a small icy creek. During the walk, he was beaten repeatedly until he was forced to lie down in the creek, where he was attacked again. As Poage lay in the creek, he was stabbed in the neck by Page with a knife. The three men then decided it was time to kill him. Poage requested to be let into his vehicle so he could warm himself up. He said he preferred to bleed to death in the warmth, rather than freezing to death in the cold. Piper agreed to the request if he washed blood off his body first. As Poage washed himself, Piper changed his mind, and Poage was violently dragged back into the creek by the three men as they attempted to drown him. Poage was then finally killed by having rocks thrown at his head. Page later stated that he and Hoadley ended Poage’s life by dropping several large rocks on his head. Piper’s brief contends that he did not take part in the drowning attempt or stabbings. Piper argues that he had returned to Poage’s vehicle as he was being killed. According to Piper, Hoadley was the one who threw the final rock that killed Poage, but at that point in time, Piper was not there to personally witness the murder. However, Piper allegedly admitted standing on Poage’s neck to assist Hoadley in drowning him and then reportedly stabbed Poage twice. Both Page and Hoadley admitted that they both dropped heavy rocks on Poage’s head, actions which they believe are what finally killed him. Hours after the beatings first began, Poage was left for dead in the creek in the early hours of March 13. The men killed him because they did not want a witness to the robbery of his home.[5][6]

Read that here.

State Senator Jamie Smith has now filed a bill to repeal Capital Punishment, Senate Bill 119. Jamie Smith is in effect saying that what Briley Piper did is only worth life in prison.

No. Absolutely not.

The death penalty is reserved for society’s most heinous crimes, and you would be hard pressed to say that this is not in that category. It is so rarely used in South Dakota that this should not be a discussion.

The death penalty should stand as a deterrent, and should remain in place.

11 thoughts on “Democrats think death penalty is too harsh, bill to repeal filed”

        1. Thou shalt not kill.

          You know, the commandment folks want to require be posted in all school classrooms?

  2. I understand what you’re saying Pat and agree with the sentiment, but the deterrence factor does not work. The fact there was a death penalty on the books did nothing to dissuade Piper et al from killing that poor man. It’s only a reaction to what happened.

    There have been too many instances nationwide (including Thomas Egan in SD https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/south-dakota) where the wrong person has been executed. Although there are plenty on death row who deserve it, their sorry hinds aren’t worth even one innocent man dying.

  3. Maybe this is just to simplify the state education requirements in South Dakota. How would we explain the 6th commandment that will be posted in all the schools? We would have to get into the controversial discussion on Hebrew to English translations and explain how in Exodus, they meant killing that is against the law, and as long as we pass a law saying it is okay, it isn’t really the killing (a sin) that God was telling Moses about. Do we trust the lowest paid teachers in the country, with some having no formal religious background, to navigate a question like why didn’t the clarifications in Mark:10:19 and Luke 18:20, further clarify this? Why can we do that now in America? How do we ensure we are not contradicting the word of God, which in Exodus 23:7 clearly notes we shall not kill innocent people, however, we have records of doing just that in our past?

  4. Save the killers; put the victims through hell by having to defend the death penalty in the Legislative committee each year.

  5. I seem to recall Gov. Noem’s simple explanation for why we should not allow exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest: ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’.

    Too bad she (and most others in her political party) don’t see their glaring hypocrisy when it comes to the death penalty. In the case of the death penalty the end result is not only one, but two murders.

    I oppose the death penalty, but I also can comprehend how strongly the family of a heinous murder victim might feel about the perpetrator. So I accept and live with the reality that the death penalty is enforced in certain cases.

    I just wish that a similar understanding and accommodation, within reasonable limits, could be granted to victims of rape and incest who might feel victimized perpetually by being forced to carry and deliver a pregnancy resulting from another type of heinous crime.

  6. When there are more comments on the 10 commandments in schools and very few on the death penalty conversation…that is when we start finding more democrats in republican seats because people ACTUALLY care about really issues.

  7. For these governors who feel if they don’t fight abortion, it means they support the killing of babies, how do they absolve themselves of the death penalty so quickly? I am pro-death penalty, but I don’t know if I could say yes in that position to the killing. If I had a personal stake (e.g., a family member killed), I think I could do it. However, just being the final say to do it or not to do it, I’m not sure I could pull that trigger. Maybe the religious act is all BS to gain votes?

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