Dukakis: "Mitt Romney's priorities (death penalty) totally out of whack."

[Bluebear]

A primer for those who haven't followed Romney: He is the governor of Massachusetts who couldn't be interested less in governing. He has been campaigning in Massachusetts locations such as South Carolina and Utah to reinstate the death penalty and overturn the law of Massachusetts permitting gay marriage. He beings down the house in those red states, telling his GOP audiences that being a Republican in Massachusetts is like being a "cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention." HAHAHAHAHA! (Asshole.)

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BOSTON — Governor Romney says his bill to restore capital punishment to Massachusetts would give the state "as foolproof a death penalty as exists." The Republican governor testified in favor of his bill before the Judiciary Committee, saying there would be no executions of people falsely convicted.

The legislation would allow the death penalty for people convicted of terrorism, multiple murders and killing law enforcement officers. It would require conclusive scientific evidence to ensure only the guilty are executed.

Among those testifying against restoration of the death penalty was former Governor Mike Dukakis, who said the current governor's priorities were "totally out of whack." Dukakis said Romney should focus on community policing and reforming the state correction system to keep convicts from returning to crime.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick called the death penalty "immoral, impractical, emotional and fundamentally political."

http://www.wrgb.com/news/regional/regional.asp?selection=article_37004

[edbermac]

1. Well Mitt, you're about as welcome in Massachusetts...

As a turd in a swimming pool...HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Bluebear]

2. I like it! n/t

[progressiveboston]

3. Rock on...

turd in a swimming pool... I'll be borrowing that regularly..

[Ian David]

4. Interesting crime statistic I heard last night

In my city of Brockton, Massachusetts we have 6,000 crimes reported per year in a city of about 95,000.
http://www.ci.brockton.ma.us/Section_About/QuickFacts.cfm

There are 1,000 streets in our city.

That makes 6 crimes per street per year.

And only 65 people are committing 20% of all the crimes in the city.

I heard that last night in a speech by Jass Stewart, who is running for Mayor of Brockton this year.
http://www.jassstewart.com/5-PointPlan/4.htm

So, by keeping those 65 known individuals off the street, we would theoretically reduce crime in the city by 20% over night.


Edited to provide reference and corrected statistics:

Four Questions For Jass Stewart
By Keith Boykin
March 23, 2005 12:11 AM
in politics
<snip>

Crime: Crime is another example where Brockton is outpacing the state average. We experienced over 6,000 cases of reported crime last year. This figure doesn’t include incidents that are not reported. In a city of fewer than 95,000 people, you’re talking about six acts of crime on every street of Brockton in a single year. This is totally unacceptable.

The current administration has not been serious enough about being tough on crime. For example, City Hall is aware that there are 65 people who are committing 20 percent of the crime in Brockton. My question is, “Why are these people still doing on our streets?” As mayor, I will do four things to fight crime and win the peace on our streets.

First, concerning those 65 individuals, I will immediately track them down, lock them up, and keep them locked up if they continue to threaten our way of life. This one act will reduce our crime rate by 20 percent, right away.

Second, I will invest in proven re-entry programs. The fact of the matter is, 90 percent of the criminals who we send to jail, once released, will make their way back to the streets of Brockton. We have to make certain that these ex-offenders are prepared to return to Brockton, and we have to make certain our neighborhoods are prepared to receive them.

More:
http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/001340.html