Tsarnaev? Death penalty? Your thoughts....

[ghostsinthemachine]

Does this change your mind? is there a level of heinousness that makes the penalty okay in your eyes?

[RandiFan1290]

1. Still against it. nt

[Katashi_itto]

98. I still like waffles.

[F4lconF16]

2. No.

Murser is wrong, state sanctioned or not. I will never support the death penalty.

[DrDan]

3. Nope

[cali]

4. No. And I still oppose supermax prisons.

[tenderfoot]

5. It's too kind for someone so young

let him rot behind bars.

[DustyJoe]

65. Younguns

Too bad the 8 yr old he murdered doesn't have a say.

Give the murderer a choice of a last meal and a rope or a bullet.

[tenderfoot]

69. Too bad I couldn't care less about your blood thirsty opinion.

Last edited Wed Apr 8, 2015, 10:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Have a nice day.

[AnnieBW]

104. Better Yet... Deport him to Russia

I know he's not Russian, he's from Kazakhstan (or wherever). But let him find out how the Russians deal with jihadis - a one-way trip to the gulag (if he doesn't get a Kalashnikov headache first).

[TreasonousBastard]

6. no

[merrily]

7. IMO, either you believe the state has the right to kill or you do not.

[Erose999]

82. That is my position on it as well.

[merrily]

83. Cool. Always happy when I can agree with someone.

Looks as though quite a few on this thread agree as well.

[Vinca]

8. No. Life in prison with no parole is a worse sentence.

[jeff47]

12. +1 (nt)

[KamaAina]

52. That is correct.

Before New York reinstated the DP , a convict begged to be extradited to Oklahoma where he would have been executed.

[Raine1967]

85. Did I miss this? NY reinstated the DP?

I was not aware of that. I thought it was abandoned about a decade ago.

[KamaAina]

88. Well, it was, sort of, by a court decision

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_New_York

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972), New York was without a death penalty until 1995, when then-Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for execution by lethal injection. In June 2004, the state's highest court ruled in People v. LaValle that the state's death penalty statute violated the state constitution, and New York has had an effective moratorium on capital punishment since then. Subsequent legislative attempts at fixing or replacing the statute have failed, and in 2008 then-Governor David Paterson issued an executive order disestablishing New York's death row. Legislative efforts to amend the statute have failed, and death sentences are no longer sought at the state level, though certain crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.

[Raine1967]

100. It's pretty much Done in NY. I don't think the DP will be used in the state anymore.

Thank you for the response, tho. I appreciate it.

[KamaAina]

105. Let's hope not!

[MANative]

9. I am against the death penalty. Also, he's said he wanted to be a martyr, so...

the punishment of making him stew over that for the next 50 years sits fine with me.

[Old and In the Way]

42. That is my argument, too.

Sadly, a distinct minority of people here in Mass agree with us. The guy will be preceived as a hero/matyr for the cause....much better to treat him as the typical murderous psycho criminal he is and let him spend the rest of his long life forgotten bin isolation. No 72 virgins for him....and no tax dollars spent paying lawyers to file endless delays in the sentence.

[MANative]

62. Exactly. The death penalty is incredibly EXPENSIVE because of all of the required appeals...

that are part of the process. My father worked for the Court system in MA for over twenty years (as did my father-in-law) and was very knowledgeable about the costs to the state for keeping prisoners for life. He'd been asked - this was maybe 30 years ago - to do a full study of the costs of incarceration versus the death penalty process. IIRC, his research found that it would cost more than double to the commonwealth to take a prisoner through an entire death penalty process versus keeping him/her behind bars for thirty or more years.

[Xipe Totec]

10. In my view, life sentence without parole is the greater punishment

A death sentence shortens the time he would have to reflect on his actions and consider the consequences, knowing full well that he will never, ever, be able to undo the consequences of his actions.

A full long life to reflect.

The longer, the better.

[bvf]

11. Against the death penalty here.

No exceptions.

Life without parole.

[sarisataka]

13. No

simply no

[Arkana]

14. No. Life in prison, no chance for parole.

For all the horror perpetrated by the Tsarnaev brothers that day, I believe the true architect of it died in the initial escape. Tsarnaev's brother Tamerlan was far more into the whole "fundamentalist nutjob" thing than his brother.

That said, he's guilty and he killed a lot of people. Lock him up and throw away the key, and let him live with his actions forever. If you kill him, you make him a martyr.

[hlthe2b]

15. No... Use of the DP only puts us closer to the brutality and incivility of our enemies.

[morningfog]

16. Always against it. I think life with parole eligibility after some years is appropriate.

[F4lconF16]

29. Assuming heavy rehabilitation and mental health care, I agree.

But not without--a supermax spell might just make things worse.

[morningfog]

68. Absolutley, I don't think he is entitled to a date certain release, just that he should be eligible

for consideration at some point. It could be a minimum of 15 - 25 years, and then only after appropriate review to determine whether he has rehabilitated.

What a lot of people ignore is that had the bombing occurred just 8 or 9 months earlier, he would not be eligible for death or even automatic life without parole.

[Desert805]

90. worse how?

Will he be blowing up children with home made pressure cooker bombs in a supermax cell?

Because if not, I think the term is "better", not worse.

[RedCappedBandit]

17. No. Policy should not be about the exceptional case. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. I am opposed to the death penalty in all cases.

No exceptions (even if, emotionally, I'd like to strangle the person myself).

[Nuclear Unicorn]

19. Still against but I'd be okay with him spending the rest of his days

digging one hole and using the dirt to fill another hole then digging out the second hole to fill the first hole ad infinitum.

[JustAnotherGen]

40. I didn't read your response before posting

But I'm in total agreement.

[hrmjustin]

20. The death penalty is wrong. life in prison is fine with me.

Last edited Wed Apr 8, 2015, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)

[herding cats]

21. No.

I'm consistent on my beliefs regarding the death penalty. Life in prison is an appropriate sentence for this heinous crime.

[hifiguy]

22. Jail for life. No parole.

I can't imagine anything more like hell on earth. Let him sit and think about the consequences of his actions for the rest of his days.

I do support the death penalty, but only for crimes against humanity and war crimes. This is plain old crime.

[riderinthestorm]

23. No. He said he wants to be a martyr so no way would I give him that nt

[aikoaiko]

24. I'm still for the death penalty in some cases where the crime is heinous and agency is certain.

and there are no compelling mitigating circumstances.

I think the first two boxes are check off, but I haven't been following the case to hear about mitigation.

[Capt. Obvious]

25. No. And I was annoyed by the make up of the jury.

IIRC, 10 that support the death penalty, 1 that leans death penalty, 1 that leans against the death penalty but could be persuaded to impose it.

[Ms. Yertle]

51. I think that in a DP

case anyone adamantly opposed to the DP will be automatically excluded.

[Capt. Obvious]

81. Yes, but do they have to stack the deck to favor that outcome?

Why not more than one juror that leans against the DP?

[bravenak]

26. No.

[treestar]

27. I'm always against it

Also against it for this defendant as it exists. Very young and crazy older brother. Life without parole is enough.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. No

Doesn't really do any good.

However, they should get a collection of the mangled body parts of those people they killed and maimed, put them in formaldehyde and have them in his cell so he clearly remembers why he is in there.

[question everything]

30. No.

Granted, I was not in Boston, did not experience the horror, did not lose a loved ones, nor did I lose a limb or changed my life forever.

But putting him to death will not bring back any of this.

Studies showed that executing criminals do not bring closure. The victims families think, hope, but it does not.

And, the legal system is built on punishment and justice, not on revenge.

Let him rot in jail.

[beam me up scottie]

31. No.

No death penalty.

[Eleanors38]

32. No.

[FSogol]

33. No. n/t

[frazzled]

34. No to death penalty in the US

I oppose the death penalty in all cases. Life with no parole.

[MineralMan]

35. Nope. My opposition to capital punishment is total.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

36. Assuming he can contemplate his deeds,

you in this thread are assuming that he HAS a conscience and therefore can be apprised of his crimes.

Some people who commit crimes do not have a conscience and are completely blank about it. I've seen many defendants in court with a blank look on their faces as if they are wondering "Why am I here?"

I don't know if he has a conscience, as he did not testify. I don't know if any of his writings were introduced into evidence, or the admitted evidence was his actions only.

I doubt that he can be rehabilitated and seen as a human being worth saving from the death penalty during the punishment hearing.

[Phentex]

37. No and never.

Not ever okay by me.

[zappaman]

38. In this case, I don't care either way.

[JustAnotherGen]

39. Nope - against the death penalty

I'm far more cruel than that -

Let him dig a hole one day - and fill it up the next day - for the rest of his life.

[Coventina]

41. Against the DP in all cases, no exceptions. n/t

[underpants]

43. No

[louis-t]

44. No. He needs to live a long life behind bars.

Suffering every day of his miserable life. These nuts crave death. They have death wishes. Death is too good for him. He could live another 70 years. He will be in fear for his life every day in prison, probably isolated from the rest of the population. I wish him bloody diarrhea, torturous mental illness, and any painful disease he could possibly ever contract.

[Eugene]

45. No and no. I don't believe in the death penalty.

I won't be attending a candlelight vigil for someone like Dzhokhar,
but I rather see them lock the door and throw away the key.

[LeftInTX]

46. I only support the DP in cases where inmates' crimes can't be controlled in prison

Like when they breakout and kill people or order hits from prison etc etc.

[TBF]

47. Opposed in most cases -

there may be an exception or two (McVeigh comes to mind - blowing up a daycare center - with the children inside - that takes an especially hateful person). They should probably throw this guy in supermax (and then throw away the key) but I'm not going to lose sleep over the DP in this case either if that is the decision.

[Ms. Yertle]

48. In this case, the DP

would be kinder. He has a long life ahead of him, and I have been reading up on life in Supermax. If I were him, I'd want the needle ASAP.

But--I'm still against the DP.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

49. No. Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. Friedrich Nietzsche

[KamaAina]

50. Nope.

Not even for him.

[Marrah_G]

53. I am against the death penalty

[yallerdawg]

54. No death penalty ever.

The state should not make me complicit in premeditated murder -- too.

Punishment and revenge or justice and mercy.

Which are the more important questions -- what pushed Tsarnaev to break from our society and how could we prevent and rehabilitate those who do or would? Or which cocktail of drugs kills most effectively, or are drugs too kind when we could hang, shoot or throw rocks at...?

[HockeyMom]

55. He is very young. Rot in jail for the rest of his life

That would be far more punishment than death.

[Warpy]

56. Nope.

I still think he was a drifter, indoctrinated by his religiously insane older brother.

Justice will be served by locking him up so he can't do it again.

I don't need to see this kid killed by the state. As he continues to process what his older brother caused him to do, he might take his own life. If we take it from him, we're no better than he or his brother were.

As the scale of heinousness goes, he's not nearly as heinous as Cheney. He just did it here instead of overseas.

[onyourleft]

57. No, my...

...mind is not changed at all. The death penalty should never be an option.

[stevenleser]

58. No. nt

[Agnosticsherbet]

59. Tsarnaev's guilt does no change the fact that innocent people have been put to death.

So it doesn't change my opposition to the death penalty.

A self confessed mass murderer should never be allowed out of prison. No one should be put to death.

[longship]

60. Not for anybody, no matter the crime. nt

[Scootaloo]

61. I only have a singular exception to my stance against the death penalty

And that is public authorities who, trusted with the safety of their community, abuse that trust by killing members of that community.

Even then I'm not totally sure I'd support the death penalty, and it's more of "IF i were to make an exception."

[Trajan]

63. I am against Capital Punishment

Bar none ...

[Blue_In_AK]

64. I oppose the death penalty in all cases.

[Rex]

66. Going to prison will be the death penalty for him. Maybe not right away, but he is a marked man.

They will find him dead somewhere in the prison, he is going in with the wrong kind of notoriety.

[WI_DEM]

67. Against the death penalty, hope he spends the rest of his natural life in

a prison cell. Also, don't buy that he was some poor kid taken in by his older brother who didn't have a free will of his own.

[steve2470]

70. Life in prison with no chance at parole

1- Death penalty is wrong.

2- The criminal justice system is not perfect, even though it's obvious this young man is guilty.

3- It targets PoC much more than white people.

4- It costs the taxpayers MORE to have the death penalty than life in prison.

5- Hopefully every minute of every day in prison he will regret what he did, and then die a lonely death in prison. To me, that is far worse than dying maybe ten years after his horrific act from the death penalty.

[ScreamingMeemie]

71. Nope.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

72. No... I oppose the death penalty but I wouldn't be holding any candle light vigils for him.

If one supported the death penalty he would be a great poster child.

[haele]

73. Nope. No one deserves killing. Not the victims, not the perpetrator.

Have we killed the Blind Sheik yet? Why?

What would killing Tsarniav do? Make another martyr for radicals? "Look what he suffered in his attempt to avenge the killings of innocent Muslims by western interests" makes a great recruitment poster for other disaffected and outraged youth who will follow in his footprints because they don't have that much of a life to look forward to, either.

He's a stupid, impressionable young man, who probably doesn't think much past "react". Let him waste his life in prison; maybe he - and others like him learn that the trade-off between whatever cause encourages one to act in a violent manner and the long, slow death that a life in prison brings might not be worth the violent act in the first place.

If he was killed in the boat, I wouldn't have shed a tear. But "Justice" is not served by a judicial killing. Revenge is served by a judicial killing.
Revenge is not Justice - it does not serve the people as a whole, it does not serve the government.
Otherwise, we might as well have vigilante mobs that can go around shooting drunk drivers, the mentally challenged, petty thieves, and assholes that piss them off or insult their honor.

Not that there aren't some good, upstanding citizens who would have no problem playing vigilante hanging around, even in this thread.

My take has always been, if I am not actively protecting myself or my loved ones against a direct threat to our lives, who am I to judge who out there "needs killing"? And as a citizen of the United States, do I want someone else judging who gets to live or die in my name?

BTW, I don't like drone killings or other such remote killings by my government either. I'm of the culture that believes that if you're going to kill, you need to know it's not a video game; you need to know and respect that you are taking a life.

Monsters are monsters, men are men. Even though people can do horrendous things in the name of their causes or through their delusions and lusts, they are still people.

Haele

[DemocratSinceBirth]

75. Some folks deserve to die. It's just not up to civil society to pull the trigger./NT

[HereSince1628]

74. no ... I don't need him to die. I don't need anyone to die as punishment

Punishment is not a worthy goal for incarceration in a modern society

[peace13]

76. No more killing. nt

[Vincardog]

77. No why let him be a martyr (even in his own eyes)? Let him rot in jail forever

[DeadLetterOffice]

78. No.

I couldn't support the death penalty when my school was shot up and people I knew and loved died, and I can't support it now. State-sanctioned killing accomplishes nothing positive.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

79. Against the death penalty, but I won't shed any tears for him, either.

nt

[Logical]

80. FFS when will Dems stop supporting the DP? Look at the other countries that have it and....

the ones that don't. Who do you want to be like?

[The Green Manalishi]

84. No- in solitary. Complete solitary 24/7/365

No books, no other humans, no TV, internet or anything besides a cot and a toilet.

That would be worse than death, which would be a good thing.

I have no problem with anything that makes him suffer. I have big problems with making him a martyr.

[backscatter712]

86. Still opposed - too many fuckups in death penalty cases.

There are far too many cases where innocent people end up on death row, then there are execution fuckups, such as with lethal injections, and overall too many problems with the process.

Granted, I'm not going to expend energy trying to prevent Tsarnaev from being executed - looks like he was caught dead to rights, and I have better things to do with my time then show sympathy for a mass murderer. I don't approve of executions, but I fail to give a shit about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

[Raine1967]

87. No. No death penalty.

[KamaAina]

89. Nope.

Here's why, straight from the horse's mouth.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026476142

[Desert805]

91. He can rot in a cell, that's worse than the DP.

So there you go. I'm a-ok with no death penalty, but I don't think he deserves a lifetime of fresh desserts and cable TV either. The survivors and families of his victims will think about the horror he inflicted on their lives every single day, until death. They will replay that nightmare EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIVES.

He should too.

[Art_from_Ark]

92. No

[Adrahil]

93. No. If anyone deserves it, he does...

... But I remain firmly against the death penalty.

[avebury]

94. Still against death penalty.

There are still too many instances when people have been found guilty and put on death row who were later found out to be innocent.

Death penalty is final, you can never take it back if you got it wrong. I not only am against the death penalty, I do not trust the police and judicial system to get it right and am afraid that they far too often rig the game against a defendant.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/04/03/alabama-man-released-after-30-years-on-death-row.html

The US cannot claim to be a Christian country that believes in the sanctity of life while going around killing people with the death penalty without even blinking an eye.

[LWolf]

95. No.

The level of heinousness is not an excuse to be heinous. And killing to punish or enact revenge is just that.

[markpkessinger]

96. I believe the death penalty is immoral and unethical -- in ALL cases...

. . . irrespective of how heinous the underlying crime. Same goes for supermax prisons. Criminal behavior is not a moral license for a society to commit act that are under any other circumstances considered to be crimes. Full stop.

[avebury]

97. I have a problem with the way the Prosecutors ran the trial.

They used a lot of victim impact testimony during the guilt or innocence phase of the trial which was to ramp things up to a greater chance of not just getting a guilty verdict but the death penalty as well.

If you look at the Federal Trials for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols you would see that was what they did in McVeigh's trial but not in Nichols trial. And we all know which one received the death penalty and which one did not.

To me, victim impact testimony should be in the punishment phase of a trial. If I were on a jury, I would not allow victim impact testimony to sway me in the guilt or innocence phase of a trial. I would expect a Prosecutor to provide evidence that a defendant committed a crime and leave the emotions out of it. Jury trials are serious business and I would be suspect of a Prosecutor that was overly reliant upon emotional victim impact testimony over hard provable evidence. In the case of the Boston bomber, it is pretty clear that he was guilty but the way the Prosecutor ran his/her case would probably lose him/her any chance of a death penalty vote from me. The Prosecutor clearly was playing on the jurors emotions.

[Major Nikon]

99. Here's the thing about the death penalty

When someone says, 'I'm usually against the death penalty, but...' What they really mean is they are for the death penalty, because they see it as a useful tool.

There is nothing useful about the death penalty. The vast majority of the civilized world has figured this out.

[DonCoquixote]

101. The last thing you want to do with martyrs

is grant their wish. The real way to demystify him is to show him scrubbing toilets like any other inmate in the joint.

[awoke_in_2003]

102. not one bit

I am anti death penalty. Child molesters make me question my stance sometimes, but I still hold to that stance.

[AnnieBW]

103. Don't Make A Martyr Out of Him

That's what he wants. If he's executed, he'll be the poster child for ISIL. Let him rot.

[Skittles]

106. no....you cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing