Thou Shalt Not Kill?

Is He Christian? (0.00 / 0)

Looks like he is just another george bush. Kill 'em, that way they can't appeal anymore.

Shame on him. The sad part is he will have sweet dreams knowing he killed another human. Very disgusting person.  

Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy.
Edmund Burke

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by: blue bronc @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 00:15:22 AM UTC

Appeals (0.00 / 0)

So far all of the appeals process has been carried out so this isn't a "hurry up and kill 'em" so they can't appeal and trying that argument is almost laughable. Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, which they may considering her attorneys are arguing essentially a "margin of error" regarding her IQ.  I doubt they will but if they do that could be the reason they will hear an argument on it.

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 00:46:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

So Notre Dame Grad McDonnell is a cafeteria Catholic, just like every other Catholic including Scalia and Alito (0.00 / 0)

Will the Richmond Bishop be issuing a letter to the parishes of his diocese directing that he be denied the sacrements?!

No?!

Is the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC? Bet your sweet ass.

I'm so damn tired of the blatant hypocrisy of the losers who lead my church. They're almost as bad as Rahm, Ben Nelson, Geitner and Summers.

God grant Ms. Lewis an easy passage and peace to the family and friends of her victims.  

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by: martinlomasney @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 00:17:49 AM UTC

I disagree. . . (0.00 / 0)

. . .with you, Ben, and the Gov.

I'm against this execution for the reasons I mentioned in my comment here:
http://www.bluevirginia.us/dia...

But to say that McDonnell is cowardly because his staff didn't send you and the rest of the media a press release until 7:01 is pushing it.  Maybe he knew this would draw the most attention, regardless of the time of day/night, and he didn't want attention taken off of the rest of the days events, like the funeral service for the fallen police officer.  It would seem pretty callous to me to come back from a line-of-duty funeral and immediately sign a death warrant. . .

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by: pragmatic_repub @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 00:26:10 AM UTC

It's not because he didn't "send us a press release" (0.00 / 0)

It's because of his contempt for the public and fear that his decision would be criticized, thus trying to hide it from the public.

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by: lowkell @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 01:42:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bad timing (0.00 / 0)

This case has garnered too much attention for the announcement to be published like this. I screams politics as usual and it shouldn't. The heinous facts of this case really don't need any hiding from.

I would hope that no one is surprised by McDonnell's decision. He has national office visions and this was definitely not going to be his "poster case" as one granting clemency for a mastermind of such a heinous and deplorable criminal act.

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 00:51:34 AM UTC

No State Killing (0.00 / 0)

There is no reason for the state killing people.  The guilty ones, and there are many not guilty, are caged and not out in public to cause harm.  There is no justification for killing people who are in the prison system.

Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy.
Edmund Burke

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by: blue bronc @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 03:44:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes there is (0.00 / 0)

Our laws specify why and how our government should execute those criminals who are guilty of capital offenses. It is the responsibility of government to carry out these sentences also to protect our society.  Your comment about "there are not many guilty" is a little strange and shows you are a little out of touch with our criminal justice system.  There are innocent people in our jails but not many of them.  

If there were no justification, (and there is) for the killing people in our criminal justice system then we wouldn't have the death penalty.  Our laws and society has demonstrated that. It's not necessarily a deterrent factor as much as it serves to incapacitate the criminal fully.  Remember, and I speak from experience just because they are behind bars does not mean they are any less of a threat.  They are now just a threat to their fellow prisoners and the guards who deal with them everyday.

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 03:54:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Innocent people in prison (0.00 / 0)

For what it's worth, DanielK, I went to a panel discussion this week on innocence and the death penalty.  During the discussion, John Grisham, one of the panelists and a big supporter of innocence projects, stated that conservative and reasonable (who knew they could be the same thing ;-) ) assessments approximate somewhere around 100,000 people are in prison right now for crimes they didn't commit.  That's certainly a lot of people (although maybe not percentage-wise).  

As law students, Grisham's big message for us(and if you haven't ever heard him speak, you should!  He's really good) was that, if nothing else, people need to understand and believe that innocent people are in prison and on death row.

All this aside, you are right in your assessment that the death penalty isn't a deterrent and is in fact the ultimate incapacitation.  Whether or not the state should be killing people or the death penalty serves any real purpose other than making us "feel good" is a discussion for another time.

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by: VaPolitico @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 04:34:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Research (0.00 / 0)

For over forty years in study after study, it has never been proven that the death penalty deters anyone from murder. Instead, the studies show that no criminal thinks he/she will ever be caught. Capital punishment - legal murder by the state - is nothing more than vengeance carried out through a legal framework. That being said, until a majority of Americans support the end of the death penalty, I feel sure it will stay on the books.

Even though I feel that capital punishment is morally wrong and against my religious convictions - even so - I certainly wasn't upset when the likes of Ted Bundy died at the hands of the state. (I know, I know...moral inconsistency)

This case is different in one important respect. The woman in question barely misses the cutoff point for being declared mentally retarded. So, when the Supreme Court declared in Atkins v Virginia that executing the mentally retarded was unconstitutional, did it set a hard and fast bar for those who get killed by the state and those who don't? Did this woman miss her chance to avoid premature death by 2 points on a test with a margin of error???

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by: Elaine in Roanoke @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 13:32:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Margain of Error and the Supreme Court (0.00 / 0)

If the Supreme Court is going to take up this case which I believe there is a chance is it going to be this "margin of error" argument that should be presented. That is probably the best chance they have on appeal and hopefully her lawyers have thought about that because I think it is a very compelling argument.  However, if we continually what number is the "right" number then we'll never execute anyone because it'll continually go higher and higher when another condemned prisoner is within a point or two.  

I also agree that the death penalty has no deterrent effect on crime and wish the argument would stop being pushed as much as it does.  

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 14:09:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's Pushed Because... (0.00 / 0)

it's true. You can refuse to acknowledge facts, but to deny the research is to indulge in Colbert's "truthiness."
If you are aware of research that shows a different result...and follows scientific methods...let us know. I would be happy to read such research reports.

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by: Elaine in Roanoke @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 15:07:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sorry, I Misread Your Comment. Dumb me...:-( (0.00 / 0)

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by: Elaine in Roanoke @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 15:08:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

LOL (0.00 / 0)

It's cool :)  

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 17:36:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Innocence Project (0.00 / 0)

I absolutely support the Innocence Project and wish that it got a lot more publicity throughout the news media than it does.  Any time we can get innocent people out of prison or jail is outstanding to me since for me, someone with a law enforcement background I don't want any innocent person in jail because that means the guilty person is potentially still on the street.  I'm all about getting the bad guy off the street, the right one! I can say that not many people really look at that aspect of the equation in regards to innocent people in jail.  

Reasonable conservative?  Haha, that's probably the only time those two words can be put together in the same sentence :) Unlike the term "compassionate conservative!

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by: DanielK @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 15:03:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You bring up a good point (0.00 / 0)

And one that Grisham mentioned as well.  He said that as terrible as it is that an innocent person gets wrongly convicted, even more terrible is that the guilty person goes free and generally continues to commit crimes.

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by: VaPolitico @ Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 17:08:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Any word from Bishop DiLorenzo condemning his congregant's decision? (0.00 / 0)

Anybody?

Bueller?

How 'bout Bobo? aka Bishop Loverde in Arlington?

Nothing?

We'll check back with the chancellery later after they've had a chance to consult with Cooch for the Focus on the Family talking points or maybe they're waiting for their Sunday homily.    

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by: martinlomasney @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 06:19:31 AM UTC

2010 (0.00 / 0)

We are chronologically in the year 2010, and yet each year reminds us that many people refuse to advance in their thinking beyond 1100.  There is no reason to kill people in prison anymore, if there ever was.

Vengeance?  Wow what a great reason to kill someone.  It does nothing except kill someone.

Fulfilling the law? The laws are antiquated and worthless. They should be off the books. There are no reasons to kill someone in prison.

Religion?  What terrible religions there are that dictate killing people who are in prison.

Again, and again, there are no reasons to kill someone in prison.

Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy.
Edmund Burke

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by: blue bronc @ Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 14:43:09 PM UTC