CountryGirl81626 has chosen to keep her LifePath private.

Message 2464 of 6176

The Death Penalty

Virginia will be executing the DC sniper tonight. All appeals have been exhausted with the US Supreme Court rejecting his appeal yesterday. His last chance is Gov. Tim Kaine (also DNC chairman).

I was not living in the DC area at the time, but came here shortly after his rampage to attend my niece's wedding. Fortunately, he was captured before the family arrived, but there was a lot of concern. The execution is for his conviction for murder of one of ten that were killed by him and his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo. Malvo was underage and is serving a life term.

Just curious for those who are against the death penalty, just how many people does one have to kill to warrant it, or is it just totally against your beliefs? view link

posted by TestofF8th

Replies 1 - 10 of 83

1 2 3 ... 9 Next »

This guy deserves to burn there are exceptions to my discomfort with the death penalty

posted by yichel
over 2 years ago

I have changed from being pro death penalty to against the death penalty for 3 reasons. 1) Over 200 death row inmates have been found to have been wrongly convicted with the advances in DNA evidence 2) Faulty science may have lead to an innocent man being executed in Texas and 3) I view life without parole in a cramped jail cell a greater punishment that the death penalty as death brings escape. Not to mention it's cheaper in the long run.

I'm not going to lose sleep over this guy, though, as there is no doubt about his guilt - he glories in it.

posted by mshadow22
over 2 years ago

"I view life without parole in a cramped jail cell a greater punishment that the death penalty as death brings escape."

I don't hear many convicted murderers begging for death over life in prison.

The person to ask, Test, is Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H*). He always shows up on talk shows defending horrid people whose time has come. Interestingly, he never starts his defense of murderers when the crime is fresh. I always wonder about that attitude among anti-death penalty people. You know, the ones who show up at the candlelight vigils outside the Gray Bar Hotel, but never attended the funeral of a victim.

posted by PicaRosa
over 2 years ago

I'm very much in favor of the death penalty, I think its use should be significantly expanded and it should be on TV...

posted by Mrmikey
over 2 years ago

Don't like death, but cases like this one that please insanity or mental health issues just make me mad. Here is my question - if somebody commits a horrible crime and kills other people, then claims mental health issues or insanity, does that negate the crime? I say no and the right to execute is there. We are so busy negating the crimes committed because of some insanity, we forget about the victims and their rights. Or do any of us have any rights at all?

I say his time has come because of his transgressions earlier in life, mental health issues or not!

We still have consequences in this country, don't we??? Just saying.

posted by softball53girl
over 2 years ago

I never read that this guy claimed insanity or wharever. but id you ae able to plan out a crime like he did . the rifle sight line in th trunk of the car. is moving to diffrent aeas to minimize his pattern(except 2 or 3 shot at gas stations.) this guy is able to stand trial. again i did not think that ws an issue here.

posted by yichel
over 2 years ago

The death penalty removes any further threats to society by the guilty party; age, sex, gender, race, mental health or lack of it should have no influence what so ever. We should stop wasting our money on supporting criminals in jail and just remove the threat from society forever.

posted by SMAWG
over 2 years ago

Just hope they didn't waste a swine flu shot on him - someone else could use it.

posted by mejk
over 2 years ago

For the most part, the automatic appeals process for capital crimes affords a great deal of protection for the accused. I have no problem with life in prison if there is any semblance of doubt, but in cases where there is no doubt, the death penalty is warranted...and at $42,000 per year for incarceration, I think it's a good deal cheaper than an injection.

posted by JSant277
over 2 years ago

I've always been opposed to the death penalty, and the arguments for and against are too lengthy to go into here. I also lived in Richmond at the time of Muhammed's terror reign. In fact, I was in the immediate area of one of his "hits" with my daughter, 30 minutes before it happened. I hated that time, and we were terrorized by him. The Richmond TV all day today has been nothing but coverage of this execution, and I've listened to none of it. My feelings right now are quite mixed.