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MC Hammer

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This November: It's SAFE California Time

Posted: 06/14/2012 2:41 pm

My name is MC Hammer. I am a proud endorser of the SAFE California ballot initiative to replace the death penalty with a maximum sentence of life without parole. I support SAFE California because our death penalty system is broken, it's costly and worst of all, it takes time and attention away from solving rape and murder cases. That's because we've spent $4 billion since 1978 on 13 executions, trials and appeals. That's more than $300 million per convicted inmate.

I was even more shocked when I learned that 46% -- nearly half! -- of all murders in California remain unsolved. More than half -- 56% -- of reported rapes are never solved. And murders with African-American and Latino victims are even more likely to remain unsolved, putting all our families and communities at risk.

That's not justice. That's insanity at a time when we're closing down schools and laying off teachers.

I'm doing all I can to let California voters know that it's time to replace the death penalty. Our focus should be on finding murders and rapists and bringing them to justice. Period.

I hope you'll join me and support the SAFE California Act.

 

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09:54 AM on 07/05/2012
I also work in corrections and pose the same answer in this post that I did to a doctor that also works in the same system that I do, first these people that end up dead got that way by someones hands and they have to pay, second you CANNOT say for sure that they will never commit murder again! look at how many inmates have murdered more than once. Who out there wants to take that chance with the ones that they love? do the research, work in a prison like I do before you say there is hope for ALL people because I can assure you there is not. When a man can rape and murder a mother then go in another room and rape and kill a 10 year old girl and set fire to the house with an infant inside you are dealing with a monster that cannot ever be allowed to do that again!!! people escape for prison but no one comes back from the grave. Do the research, work in that environment, we have to keep people safe, and we cannot risk peoples lives, what if a person that did the things that I just spoke of escapes and harms a love one of yours? saying your "sorry" to a grave is saying I waited too late.
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Richard Lyon
08:08 PM on 06/19/2012
As a California voter I am always ready to vote to abolish capital punishment.
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shrlnb
01:53 AM on 06/19/2012
Wow all these anti-system, tough guy rappers turn out to be for teachers and for other public union workers like the police. You were never against any system but are protected by it and always have been.
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10:57 PM on 06/18/2012
David Blaze you seem to have your facts mixed up in regards to my husband, if anyone with any common sense or the ability to read can read the court transcripts online and see David is not stating true facts about the crime my husband sits on death row for -this is not a site to air your HATE and ABUSE people who cant defend themselves-the topic is the Death Penalty not "Mark Christopher Crew", my husband actually thinks its funny after 30 years your using the internet to try to abuse him. Im al for keeping the death penalty-that means my husband gets a private cell, cable TV, and drinks cappucinos with biscotti and spends his time enjoying all his hobbies without having to be harassed by society and there HATE AND ABUSE. I SAY KEEP THE DEATH PENALTY- it only means more romance for me and my husband since the state hasn't executed him in 30 years we probally have at least 8 more years of true romance.
06:20 PM on 06/19/2012
Ma'am, with all due respect, I have the transcripts in several boxes at my house, and I have read every single page. I wish no ill will toward you or your children, I don't hate and I'm not abusing your husband in any way. I want peace. I encourage everyone here to take your advice, and go read the transcripts, make your own decision, then come back and comment. Having said that... There is one person that can give peace to the family and friends of his victim, and that is your husband. He alone knows where her remains are.
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12:02 AM on 06/20/2012
David if you'd care to express your feelings about Nancy i suggest grief therapy to help you move on- this isn't the place to personally attack "Mark Christopher Crew" Thats sad that you have no peace 30 years later, unable to move on , that you can't emotionally heal and let go of her ghost. Being spiritually and emotionally stuck in the past is something Mark nor I could ever understand because the past is behind us and something we don't look back on because we chose to put our energy into our future. Mark was convicted on testamony alone by an individual who was going to go to prison yet cut a deal and got freedom in exchange for lies,The body was never found , nobody can say if shes actually dead or just missing. As for Mark, he says he could care less what people say about him and he has absolutly no remorse what so ever because though he was inprisoned for her murder he says alot of good came out of being put on death row : he fell in love and was able to make a family -he says me and our 2 little babies was worth the 30 years oin prison and he wants you and everyone else to know he's very happy. I hope one day you can find happiness .I ask that you lay this topic to rest and stop disrespecting my husband and my childrens father publically on this site.
02:20 AM on 06/16/2012
Safe California time? I'm a retired corrections officer. I worked at a maximum security prison here in Northern California. What is both amusing and sad is that you anti-death folks have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about. The legal system is badly flawed and thus the due process of law is as lathargic as it's ever been in our state. However, this has nothing to with justice for those who have suffered at the hands of vicious criminals who rape, rob, and murder, men, women and children. Who do you think keeps these animals inside the prison? We do! And inmates kill staff on a regular basis around the state and all over this country. My friend and fellow CO was killed on the job by a lifer with nothing to lose. They don't stop killing because their in prison! How about you go work for awhile at any maximum security prison and see just how quickly your attitude changes.
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9thWonder
I hate all people equally!
08:06 AM on 06/16/2012
F & F
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
HotelDrama
01:03 AM on 06/17/2012
So you agree that our criminal justice system is badly flawed, but you agree that this same badly flawed system should be able to execute people. Sounds like you just want revenge. And I think its quite funny that you try to claim that eh anti-death folks have no idea of what we are talking about.
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kerao
11:05 PM on 06/18/2012
In this case YES. If this guy actually killed a CO. Then absolutely without a doubt, I wouldn't pay for another sandwich to put in this monsters mouth and you are?
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FTracy3
My micro-bio is as empty as the rest of my life.
08:35 AM on 06/15/2012
"Our focus should be on finding murders and rapists and bringing them to justice".....Couldn't agree more. And in some cases, execution IS justice.
09:40 PM on 06/14/2012
Hammer,

Google just modified its search engine to "think" more like a human. They stole that idea from you because you have been talking publically about the search engine that you have been designing (called WireDoo) that does that exact same thing, think like a human. Next time, don't talk publically about your projects until they are done. Otherwise, the Googles of the world will steal your ideas again.
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Thor Halvorsen
Laugh til you fart, then laugh more!
07:39 PM on 06/14/2012
Well, only that said plan will be a boon to the private prison system, guaranteeing them beds for a long time if so. I do support abolishing the death penalty, but I also think we need to focus on reducing crime, and putting efforts into community programs to reduce recivitism, get job-placement services that are directed at parolees and continued support services to continue any positive rehabilitation. These folks are enduring a double-jeopardy socially after getting out of prisons. I believe you served your time, you shouldn't be stigmatized for the rest of your life. Unfortunately the stigma, the lack of true support services, counseling, vocational rehabilitation, etc, are not emphasized because the prisons are actually hoping people wind up BACK in jail (more so the private prisons). We need to change the attitude of the prison system from punitive to rehabilitative (for those candidates whom rehabilitation is a A. desire, B. proven progress both within prison and with followups outside of prison. Only then will people get back to being a contributing member of society, not a burden to society's tax payers and boon to the private prison's corporate wallet. Change the emphasis, set more free, not eternal servitude at cheap-legal labor inside of prisons.
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freshsquash
06:41 PM on 06/14/2012
Its "Hammer time"! =) Seriously MC is absolutely right. It is time for a SAFE California and the entire USA!
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Burton Tracy
06:10 PM on 06/14/2012
It was justice let the parents go all pimps should be done away with women should not be selling their bodies for no man
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CHARLIE X
Yield to the logic of the situation.
06:03 PM on 06/14/2012
then don't keep them on death row; throw the switch, solve the problem!
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9thWonder
I hate all people equally!
08:08 AM on 06/16/2012
I agree! Let's let them sit all of 48 hrs after they get sentenced. They should have an execution bldg where they constantly execute those offenders. Like a doctors on a busy Monday. In and out.
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tnkeating
Dyslexic agnostic insomniac
05:50 PM on 06/14/2012
Only in California? The time has come for the victims to seek justice anyway they can get it.........nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
05:42 PM on 06/14/2012
In 1982, a personal friend of mine was murdered. After her killer shot her in the head and broke her neck, he cut her head off with a shovel. He then put her head in a 5-gallon bucket of cement and threw it off the Dunbarton Bridge; her body was put into a 50-gallon drum full of cement and buried somewhere in the Bay Area-- neither have ever been recovered, the family has no peace, and the killer lives a nice, comfortable life on Death Row. And before anybody argues about the "nice, comfortable life" part of my statement, I have spoken personally with several CO's that know him personally and deal with him regularly. So with all due respect, what we need is not to abolish the Death Penalty; animals like Mark Christopher Crew can never and will never be rehabilitated. Instead, what we need is a massive overhaul of the system that allows Death Row inmates to appeal their convictions over, and over, and over again.

SAFE? My friend's murderer lives a nice, comfortable, SAFE life at the expense of my tax dollars.
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JamesClark
08:04 PM on 06/14/2012
This is a horrible tragedy, and the reality is that most people on death row will die of natural causes. Its just a massively more expensive version of life without parole.

But there's no way to "fix" the death penalty... We would have to spend even more money and hire even more lawyers, and risk executing innocent lives. Let's just put them all away for life in prison with no chance of parole, and like Hammer says use the money on real public safety and law enforcement!
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I wasnt here
In their hearts... Liberals know they're wrong
02:40 AM on 06/15/2012
Not to single you out, James... but what is it with you dam liberals? You whine and say "let's just put them away for life" on the one hand, and then at the same time fight for "compassionate release," early release, slackened parole requirements, and more prisoner rights - even for the worst offenders. How can we come to any other conclusion other than that you just LIKE criminals?

The only reason that the death penalty doesn't work in California has been because the anti-death penalty forces in California have killed it. That's not what the people wanted, but then, since when have liberals ever cared about what the majority of the people want? They want their way and they will have their way because they believe they are our intellectual and moral superiors - despite all evidence to the contrary.
08:05 PM on 06/15/2012
There is a way to fix the death penalty. USE IT. Limit the number of appeals and length of time to file appeals for DR cases specifically-- give them two years to file x number of appeals, and that's it. I can't for the life of me understand why the solution that keeps coming up is "Abolish the death penalty in order to save money," with the "$4 billion to execute 13 inmates" statistic cited repeatedly.

Ask yourself this question-- how many products or services have you ever purchased-- a car or truck, groceries, landscaping service-- that you paid for, but with no intention of ever using? It would make no sense to go out and buy a new motorcycle if you do not ride and have no intention of doing so-- but might get around to it at some point later on down the road. Well, we have a motorcycle that, at a rate of $65,000,000/yr, is collecting rust from lack of use and upkeep. Time to clean it up and dust it off and make it worth what we paid for it.

And just out of curiosity, what exactly-- in your opinion (going off what Hammer said)-- would constitute "real public safety and law enforcement"?
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9thWonder
I hate all people equally!
08:11 AM on 06/16/2012
I agree and the sad part is the only reason why they want these people to stay alive is because they can make money off of them every year. What a sad story, so tragic!
04:48 PM on 06/14/2012
Never ceases to amaze me that Americans throw millions and billions of dollars at problems and yet, good results are scant. Maybe it is time to change tactics?
04:30 PM on 06/14/2012
Where you been hiding Hammer??? Nice article.