this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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United States | News & Politics

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[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)
  • The US federal government has the authority to, at any time, outlaw state-sanctioned murder across the country ~~either~~ via Supreme Court ruling ~~or via constitutional amendment~~ and tell states to kick rocks. It chooses not to do this. ~~I don't care that an amendment is "hard";~~ if it's possible to do but it fails to do this, then it's the federal government's fault. The votes of ~~about 355 legislators and the signature of Joe Biden~~ 5 SCOTUS justices could end this today; it's the stroke of a pen, and they simply don't do it.
  • This case went before the SCOTUS requesting an emergency block, where it was voted against 6–3. The SCOTUS had the power to trivially prevent this and decided not to.
  • The majority of US states (27) as well as the federal government have state-sanctioned murder on the books as a legal criminal punishment. 12 states and the federal government have carried it out in the last 10 years.
  • This is incidental to your overall point, but the current US population is ~337 million; "almost" 400 million is doing so much lifting there.

Edit: I accidentally became so sleep-deprived that I forgot a constitutional amendment has a separate proposal and ratification process. The SCOTUS method would 100% work, though, and it hasn't yet been banned at the federal level which is a simple majority of Congress and a presidential signature, so they do overall endorse it.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You think the federal government can, with enough votes, create a Constitutional amendment? Back to government class with you:

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artV-1/ALDE_00000507/

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Ah, yep, I was too sleep-deprived to remember that proposal and ratification are separate processes. Still objectively represents a failure of the United States that they can't push this through. And of course that Congress could actually at any time ban it at the federal level with just a majority vote and haven't done so. Or that the SCOTUS could actually ban it unilaterally. Or that even just a successfully proposed constitutional amendment would represent taking a stand against it, but they haven't even done that.

[–] TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip 1 points 1 month ago

Roe v. Wade worked, until it didn't. Legalizing something via SCOTUS has lately proven to be as permanent as the political views of a majority of the justices on that bench.

The only correct way to fix this problem is via a Constitutional amendment, and that's never going to happen because Republicans have rage boners for state-sponsored killing, or in this case, murder.

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

The votes of about 355 legislators and the signature of Joe Biden could end this today; it’s the stroke of a pen, and they simply don’t do it.

And 269 of those legislators are Republicans, most of which are uncaring sociopathic individuals who were voted in by a party of spiteful, hateful, racist voters.

The best way to change that situation is to vote. Don't bitch about it. Vote.

This case went before the SCOTUS requesting an emergency block, where it was voted against 6–3. The SCOTUS had the power to trivially prevent this and decided not to.

Wow... 6-3, I wonder where I've heard that split before? Oh, right, it's the same SCOTUS split that has been going on ever since Trump put three immoral and corruptible judges unto the Supreme Court, voted in by Republicans in the Senate, who were in turn, voted in by Republicans.

The best way to change that situation is to vote. Don't bitch about it. Vote.

The majority of US states (27) as well as the federal government have state-sanctioned murder on the books as a legal criminal punishment. 12 states and the federal government have carried it out in the last 10 years.

And most of those states are red states... you know, the states filled to the brim with Republicans.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

And 269 of those legislators are Republicans

I 100% agree with you that they're vermin. My point is that they nonetheless are members of the federal government which could otherwise ban this.

Don't bitch about it. Vote.

I'm quite content to do both actually, thank you very much.

I wonder where I've heard that split before?

Yes, and I've mentioned that split elsewhere in this thread; doesn't mean that these traitorous fucks don't have control over the entire US through essentially unchecked authority and that that is – say it with me – inherently the fault of the United States.

Most of those states are red states.

Nobody's disputing that. See the first portion of this response.

I think you think what I'm saying is some kind of weird both-sidesism (it's not; the world would be a markedly better place if every Republican were replaced by a Democrat counterpart), but the fact is that a ban on capital punishment can't happen because the US is backward enough to have too many of these Republicans representing it.

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Why will voting change it? Democrats had majorities before and didn't do squat

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's not about voting for Obama that one time in 2008, and crying that he didn't single-handedly fix all of your problems with his powers as a king.

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well don't worry, I haven't voted since

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And this is why you fail, and you fail the rest of us.

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Haha yes I am the failure and not the people who keep getting elected

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

People get elected based on your vote, or your lack of vote. That's how representative democracies work.