Activists Say Charleston Shooter Dylann Roof Should Not Get the Death Penalty

[rug]

Some activists say that Roof, who killed nine black church-goers in 2015, should not be put to death for his crime.



By Joseph P. Williams | Staff Writer
Dec. 16, 2016, at 6:40 p.m.

After weighing the evidence, including his own chilling confession, it took just two hours for a jury to conclude Thursday that Dylann Roof, an avowed white supremacist, massacred nine black worshippers inside a historic Charleston, South Carolina, church – one of the most heinous attacks against African Americans in recent U.S. history.

If, after hearing more evidence in the penalty phase next month, jurors decide that he should die, it would be a rare federal death-penalty conviction. But it also would make Roof, 22, the rare white defendant sent to the execution chamber for killing African Americans, particularly in the South.

In a stunning twist, however, two of the nation's esteemed civil rights organizations – groups dedicated to fighting the legacy of slavery and white supremacy that Roof's beliefs represent – are arguing that the young man's life should be spared.

Their reasoning: The death penalty disproportionately harms the black community, therefore it should be eliminated completely, without exceptions.

http://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2016-12-16/activists-say-charleston-shooter-dylann-roof-should-not-get-the-death-penalty

[forgotmylogin]

1. In this case

He admits guilt. He's on tape at the scene of the crime. There's no doubt he took the lives of random strangers to him for explicitly racial reasons with plans to kill more.

I'm torn between "He's no use to society, why pay for his upkeep for the next fifty years?" and "He should be in a cement room by himself for 50 years with nothing but dry rice cakes and peanut butter."

[Statistical]

2. An execution costs more than life sentence.

Even if you are absolutely certain of his guilt the death penalty will never be only applied to cases where guilty is absolutely certain. Innocent people have been executed and will continue to be executed for a punishment which is more about revenge than justice.

[etherealtruth]

3. In my mind it is not about who he is (a vile, disgusting, POS)

... but about who we are. In dealing with his absence of humanity I don't want to see us lose ours.

I do find him to be completely despicable ... but do not want to become despicable myself

[roamer65]

4. Life in prison.

Just throw him into the general population.

He doesn't deserve any special treatment.

[backscatter712]

6. He'd fit right in with the neo-nazi prison gangs.

Better to throw him in Supermax, and give him nobody to talk to except the four walls of his cell. Leave him there until he tears out his own carotids with his fingernail clippings...

[groundloop]

5. Repeal the death penalty, far too many innocents are killed

Let this despicable piece of shit rot in prison for the rest of his miserable life. The death penalty, as was already stated in another post, is more about revenge than anything. Far far too many innocent people have lost their lives because we still have this barbaric punishment. Eliminate the death penalty once and for all to end the execution of innocent people, let guilty bastards such as this person rot in prison.

[Jake Stern]

7. There are cases which really test one's opposition to the death penalty

This is certainly one of them. However I feel that this is an issue that simply cannot be nuanced. Either you support the death penalty or you don't.

[linuxman]

8. If you say "But in this case there needs to be an exception"

Then you really don't believe in shit. Personally, I'm not against the death penalty. In my experience, many folks who say they are really aren't once a "Reasonable exception" arises. I can respect those who stick to their guns about it.

[JenniferJuniper]

9. Neither the State nor the Federal gov't should be murdering people

[Liberal In Texas]

10. He shouldn't

I'm against the death penalty period. I don't care the guy admitted to committing an atrocity. The state should not kill people.

And if you're into revenge. Consider that a life spent in prison is far worse that a quick end.

[melman]

11. How is that a stunning twist?

People who are against the death penalty are against the death penalty. Consistency should not be considered stunning.

[lame54]

13. Exactly...

This is a true test of their convictions

[Aristus]

12. No. Let him rot.

Long, long years of rotting...

[loyalsister]

14. They're absolutely correct about the racial disparity

But my bigger problem with the death penalty is that if he could afford OJ Simpson's defense, he would be much less likely to get it. We are not equal under the law.

[Calculating]

15. Really don't see the issue with the DP in this case

My main issue with the death penalty is the possibility of executing innocent people. It's a permanent solution with no do-overs if you fried the wrong guy. In this case there IS NO possibility of executing an innocent person, and he certainly deserves it for what he did. He killed 9 innocent people in a sadistic and unprovoked incident of racial hatred.

[Wiseman32218]

16. Normally, I am against the death penalty

But in this case he clearly admitted to killing and it obviously provoked by his racism. I hope they put this hateful piece of garbage to death very quickly.

[MineralMan]

17. I am totally opposed to capital punishment in all cases.

I do not believe that the state should execute people for crimes, since there is so much opportunity for errors in our system. For heinous crimes, a lifetime of detention provides ample time for a person to reflect on their crime and to understand why the crime is a crime. Execution removes that from the possibilities.

I always have and always will oppose the death penalty. It is my belief that you either oppose it or you support it. I can't see the justification for any in-between positions. We cannot know how many people have been executed for crimes they did not commit, but we do know that it has happened. There is no walking back from killing an innocent man, so we should simply not execute criminals. We have ways to prevent them from being in our society. We should use those as punishment, instead, I believe.

[Coventina]

18. +1 n/t