Posted on 07/26/2010 11:48:46 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Forget the death penalty, which is nearly a dead letter already.
The impending parole of 77-year-old Henry Michael Gargano after 43 years in federal prison for murdering Northlake policemen John Nagel and Anthony Sperri should spur a serious examination of the need to abolish life sentences. The U.S. Parole Commission has set Gargano's release for Sept. 3, citing his model behavior over the past 10 years, advanced age, poor health and little likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior. Opponents of Gargano's release include Officer Nagle's son, the deputy Northlake police chief and 6,000 supporters who signed petitions.
Gargano's incarceration has achieved the primary purpose of severe sentencing: removal of a violent monster from further opportunity to prey on society.
But needless continued imprisonment of hollow shells of one-time offenders should not be held hostage to relatives, colleagues or friends of victims decades later. If you asked what would really quench their thirst for justice, most might want to get the offender alone in a room and rip him apart. While that is understandable, it is not within the scope of the criminal justice system to authorize.
The lifelong warehousing of physically and mentally broken down old men shouldn't be as well.
While he was being a “model prisoner”, how many times did he appeal his sentence and his victim’s family got to relive the murder of the police officer over and over again? Oh look! They get to see it again. He’s still breathing air and got to talk to people he loved (even if he was behind bars). The Officer’s family and friends missed out on a lifetime. I don’t care how old the murderer is. He can rot.
Pay no attention to the Old and New Testaments. As long as other means exist, indeed, just re-write the Bible. Stuffy ol´ stuff....
I truly believe it should be the method of choice.
All these other attempts to make executions more humane, sterile, faster, cleaner, are bogus. From the electric chair to the gas chamber or even lethal injection, they are over engineered, over thought, expensive crap that uses technology to hide behind when people say it's inhumane. Yes, killing someone or something isn't nice. Too bad.
Hanging is cheap, reliable, clean (if done right), and painless/fast. After a hundred years of trying to come up with some better mousetrap, it's still the best method. Sometimes you have something that works perfectly well, but people have to mess with it just because they think that incorporating some new technology (electricity here or the guillotine in many other places) will improve it.
So I suppose taxpayers should support the guy on the OUTSIDE rather than on the INSIDE, right??
If he commits any level of felony between his release and his death the bond is fortified to those injured by his actions.
IMHO this is one of the major problems of the system - those making serious decisions have no vested interest in the outcome. This starts at defense attorneys and goes though release boards.
If I could include editorialists in the bond requirements listed above I would do so in a heart beat.
Even if it only cuts down on recidivism, capital punishment would be worth it.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
First they did away with the death penalty. Now life sentences. After that, the bleeding heart liberals will be crying for shorter sentences. “14 years should be enough for any crime”
See tagline.
It certainly is. Those who want to abolish th death penalty always say it can be replced by life without parole (LWOP), the bait part of the bait and switch. Then comes the switch with a thing like "Proect Gramps" that's designed to eliminate LWOP, the original bait, and leave us with no effective penalty for murderers at all.
bump
Only in favor for a good torture penalty or death.
I can understand the Pope's logic. The argument would be that the Bible only used capital punishment because way back then that's how one normally removed the incorrigible from society. It opens the question of what the Bible would say to do if they'd had our easy method for life-long imprisonment. Basically, it's text vs. intent. I don't pretend to know more about Catholicism and the Bible than Pope Benedict, so I won't argue beyond that point.
But I do know the real world. Even if nobody ever escaped from prison, we have liberals pushing for letting people out, and there's always the chance for officials who believe the sob stories and forget the agony inflicted by the prisoner. Thus there remains the possibility that someone put in prison today with no parole could still be released 50 years down the road. So in reality there's no guarantee, thus the Catholic argument against capital punishment doesn't hold.
Yes. Substitiute death.
Or...see my profile for a suggestion.
Despite what some people say, I think you are overstating the case. Pope John Paul II was personally against the death penalty, and may have a case, but he didn’t make it an obligation on Catholics to be against the death penalty, nor could he.
Was his one-time offense killing officer Nagle or killing officer Sperri? Also, with 10 years of model behavior after serving 43, what does that say about the first 33? Not sure this idiot picked the right murderer to pluck the old heart-strings.
Ditto.
As did I, which was one of the main reasons I remained a death-penalty proponent. I knew that these folks were, in essence lying through their teeth, even as they spoke...
the infowarrior
political pandering to a class that dominates the prison life sentence population.
Why would anyone release capable criminals into society?
This anecdote is an old man who is too weak to do more crime. he still is under parole supervision.
It begins....I KNEW THIS WOULD EVENTUALLY HAPEN!!!!!!
First they argue against the death penalty saying it’s “cruel and unusual” punishment....next, they’ll say the same thing against life sentences. Pretty soon, murders will be punished with “time-outs” at mommy’s wall corner.
What reasonable options are there for a 77 year old released felon in poor health in the outside world? Unless he has family that will take care of him, it might be more cruel to release him. If he really is no threat, he should "retire" to a mimimum security/cheaper facility till he dies.
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