America, you won

[Briar]

America, you won
In refusing to sentence Zacarias Moussaoui to death, jurors stuck to their country's principles and made the world a safer place.

Clive Stafford Smith



The fact that last night a US jury declined to sentence Zacarias Moussaoui to death demonstrates that the people are acting on far higher principles than their leaders. Dostoyevsky's maxim, that "society should not be judged on how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals" is as relevant as ever. It is particularly applicable to our treatment of those accused and convicted of terrorism.

Moussaoui shouted out as he was led away: "America, you lost!" I beg to differ. The US attorney general lost, but the people of America and the principles on which the nation was founded won. What is clear is that the US attorney general and his boss, George W Bush, are out of touch with both the people and common sense.

Any death sentence is a moral failure; on a more practical level, to impose one on Moussaoui would have been a catastrophe.

...

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/clive_stafford_smith/2006/05/moussaoui_jury_leads_the_way.html

[mcscajun]

1. Great article! Thanks for posting! The point is well-made...

(Emphasis mine.) Seems like the talking points for arguing with freepers are right here:

The point our leaders seem to be missing is that the government is responsible for the overarching safety and wellbeing of society, not simply the prevention of an individual criminal act.

(snip)

Viewed in this light, the enforcement of human rights and the rule of law provide the most effective counter-terrorist measure we have in our arsenal. It is not a matter of "coddling terrorists"; it is a matter of living up to our ideals, and it is also common sense.

(snip)

By sentencing Zacarias Moussaoui to life, the jurors who held out against a death sentence declined to allow a madman to goad them into violating their ideals, and in that moment made the world a safer place.

[acmejack]

2. He made a public mockery out of America for how long?

Of course, It would have been no embarrassment at all to take him out back and silently dispose of him. Zacarias Moussaoui? Oh, Him, we released him weeks ago...

[Karmakaze]

5. Yeah!

Extra-judical execution is the New American Way, in the New American Century! :eyes:

[nevergiveup]

3. "Amen"

[DavidDvorkin]

4. By trying him for a crime, America lost

Lost what little was left of its justice system. He belongs in a loony bin, not a jail. He's a self-deluding fabulist, not a criminal.