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Those who read here regularly know that we do not favor the death penalty in 99.99% of murder cases. We have mentioned before that we do support it when the crime is especially heinous and the admitted murderer would live a better life in prison than he would have on the outside. This was the case with Valentino Miranda who murdered Jennifer Hampton of Waterloo.
We also support the death penalty in such cases as Tommy Arthur. Why? Arthur has openly admitted to one killing. He has been convicted by three juries of a second killing. He shot a jailer to escape. He kidnapped a woman and held her hostage for a short time during his brief freedom. He also stole two cars during this short lived freedom, but considering his other crimes, that seems small potatoes.
So if Arthur's sentence should be commuted to Life Without? Why would this man hesitate to kill a guard or fellow prisoner? We don't think he would. He would have nothing to lose and has proved in the past that he's capable of killing. It's a horrible analogy, but he's like a rabid dog. A merciful end is best for society.
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Spring Housecleaning: Due to several recent high profile cases, we've picked up many new readers. We thank you for reading and appreciate your comments. Feel free to agree or disagree as long as it's done without profane or libelous language. We don't usually feel the need to defend our beliefs or practices, but we do choose to defend ourselves against outright lies when they are openly propagated by certain individuals.
Why do we mention names of family of the accused/admitted ne'er-do-wells (assuming they are not involved in the incident)? We can think of only four instances in almost 1,300 blogs that this has been done. We have not done an actual count, so feel free to correct us if necessary. In one case it was done in explanation of why certain judges recused themselves in a case as well as being necessary to explain other aspects of the events leading up to the arrest. In two other instances it was done simply in using a short excerpt from an online biography, one that had appeared in three or four online sites previously. In the fourth and latest instance it was done to distinguish an arrestee from a person in a similar occupation with the same name. If a similar event should arise in the future, you can expect us again to do so. It's not right that an innocent person should suffer simply because they have the same name as a sexual predator.
More tomorrow...
Shoalanda
So if I am to understand you on the death penality. 99.99% of the time you are aganist it. Who is to decide then that .01% of those you think should die for their crime. What makes the crime just over the line? Would it be they stabbed the person 13 times instead of 12 or maybe they killed 6 people instead of 5? I myself have trouble with supporting the death penality due to the fact that I believe it is handed out at will by judges, who in my opinion have too much power. All of that said to say this, the death penality is final and if a mistake is made there is no fixing the error but you can let someone out of prison. I find you either believe in right of the state to take someones life or not.
ReplyDeleteAs we understand the law currently in place in Alabama, one who stabbed someone 13 times, but committed no other crime in connection with the murder, whose victim was not a police officer or under 14, who had not murdered before, would NOT be eligible for the death penalty. There are a few other loopholes there, but we didn't bother to copy the entire list. The main thrust of the law is that murder itself is not a crime punishable by death. Such a crime is considered Felony Murder and not Capital Murder.
DeleteWe think many misunderstood our statement of opinion that Ronald Weems committed Capital Murder. Our opinion was the authorities would also try to add a charge of attempted rape. For whatever reason, they didn't...