Posted on 03/14/2006 6:14:46 PM PST by mathprof
Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, comes up for parole again this week in a potential conflict for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to RFK's niece.
Sirhan shot Kennedy to death at a Los Angeles hotel in 1968, minutes after the New York senator claimed victory in the California presidential primary. Sirhan received a death sentence, which was commuted to life in prison in 1972 when the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional.
The assassin's parole hearing at Corcoran State Prison on Wednesday - the 13th since his conviction and the first since Schwarzenegger's election in 2003 - will be heard by two board members, one of whom was appointed by Schwarzenegger.
If the board recommends his release - and that is unlikely, experts say - the decision of whether to free Sirhan will fall to Schwarzenegger, setting up an unusual dilemma.
"Judges can recuse themselves, but this is not the kind of decision a governor can delegate," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.
The governor's press office declined to comment, saying it is highly unlikely the decision would fall to Schwarzenegger.
Sirhan's longtime lawyer died last year, and he has not chosen a new attorney.
Sirhan doesn't plan to present his own case, and if he doesn't choose a lawyer the board will make its decision without a public hearing, prison officials said.
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney David Dahle, who will argue the state's case before the parole board, said there is little chance the decision would fall to the Republican governor. He conceded there is at least the appearance of a conflict.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
If Robert Kennedy were alive, he'd favor giving Sirhan Sirhan parole.
He'll never get out. It would be politically incorrect to so many sides.
I wonder what drunk fat ted thinks about it?
Sirhan can room on the outside with John Hinckley.
Bobby Kennedy was just a politician from a famous family running for President. Compare Sirhan's fate to that of the guy who shot a living President.
Not going to happen.
He’ll be paroled with Manson, which is to say never.
So many deserving targets, so little time. He is no worse than many others that are out on parole. He is only convicted of one murder. //sarc//
Maybe if he gets paroled, it will show how important it is to have the death penalty.
They'll be paroled to the same place at differing times. May they both rot there.
Since Mary Jo Kopechne's murderer is running around loose, Sirhan should be given the same consideration....
ELECTION TO THE US SENATE!!!!
("sarcasm-off" button inoperative)
Great. More kennedy rememberance stuff from the left.
By now, Sirhan Scumbag could easily make Provost at Yale or Harvard, or he could certainly be elected Mayor of Berkeley. A lot of time has passed. To not release him immediately is surely a crime against his (previously expressed) free speech.
Sirhan will go down in history as the first jihadi in this war.
Too bad Jeff Dahmer is unavailable.
I cantsay what I was thinking, It was something on the order of paroling him and putting a certain address in his pocket on the way out.
I do believe that Sirhan actually used that logic as a rationale for parole in one of his earlier hearings.
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