I've heard something like that before...
Posted on 02/22/2020 3:28:59 AM PST by Kaslin
He killed his grandmother. And he did so brutally, dumping her in the water before she was even dead, if the coroner is correct that her cause of death was drowning. He killed two others -- all evil acts. And then once in prison, he managed to kill a fellow inmate. So, I get why the governor of Tennessee refused to grant Nick Sutton clemency when the time came for his execution and final appeals.
But no one was asking for the man to be released. Instead, people -- including prison staff and the sister of the inmate he killed -- were advocating for Sutton's life. In the 34 years since he had been on death row, Sutton had done what you would hope would happen in prison. He changed. He started caring about others. Based on his last words, he became a man of faith. He even saved the lives of prison staff when inmates got violent. One former corrections officer whose life Sutton saved said in a plea to the governor that if Sutton were released from prison tomorrow, he would welcome Sutton in his home and as a neighbor.
Yes, Sutton's crimes were evil. They were also committed by a teenager whose mother abandoned him and whose father abused him. Reports indicated that as a child, his father introduced Sutton to drugs. Sutton's father later committed suicide.
It's all so miserable. And even more so, of course, for the families of those Sutton killed all those years ago. On social media, I saw a lot of burn-in-hell, this-should-have-happened-years-ago kind of comments. I couldn't help but think about mercy. Justice is crucial. But so is mercy. To have the civic and moral imagination to care that a person who has done heinous things may actually be a person whose life has value -- the kind of value he didn't see in others -- seems to be an important thing.
This all happened around the fifth anniversary of the mostly Coptic Christian Egyptian men who were beheaded on the shores of Libya by ISIS militants. I thought of this because the families of those martyrs publicly forgave the terrorists and are praying for their conversion. We do see this radical forgiveness closer to home, too -- after the Charleston church shooting in 2015, for instance.
There's something about the ritual of executing prisoners in America that is dehumanizing to more than the prisoner who is killed.
Sutton was the 1,156th person executed in the United States since 1976. These state-sanctioned executions are a poison in our law and culture. They insist that more violence and death are good, that they solve a problem. We pretend that they will be a civilizing influence or a deterrent. But I doubt that the next Nick Sutton born of similar circumstances will be swayed by the prospect of the death penalty -- his life is already a living death.
People respond to love. Mercy is for the guilty. We can't look callous in these circumstances, or our arguments about the life of the most innocent might not be heard. I understand why Sutton was not granted clemency, but Sutton's life and death should prompt an examination of conscience that could bring a lot of people of good will -- those strange "pro-life" and "social justice" divides -- together.
+1.
Death is in fact the answer but is not swift enough.
The fact the man allegedly changed in prison does not relieve him from his sentence of death.
I pay for his upkeep while alive. when dead, that economic burden is lifted from me
He chose Old Sparky over lethal injection. Why would he do that if he didn’t feel he still deserved the severest punishment available?
You are not wise enough to determine what and what is not sinful
The question is not sin but law.
(RE: McVeigh) “While you may be saying “he got what he deserved” it says something horrible about us as a society.”
I can live with that burden.
I almost agree but for a different reason. Whenever there’s an execution, I specifically read on to find out when the original crime took place. Almost without exception it is around 30+ years. That’s basically an adult lifetime, lived by the offender. Justice delayed is justice denied. If we can’t do it correctly, give it up.
Well, you may be able to. But others aren’t.
What was the question?
I've heard something like that before...
Over 61 MILLION future American citizens have by executed by CHOICE since '73.
Unfortunately, until the way such prisoners are handled is drastically changed, death “is” the answer.
This demon was in prison, yet still managed to kill. The only alternative to the death penalty for such persons is life imprisonment in total solitary confinement, in facilities purpose built for this function. Putting these offenders in regular prisons puts still puts the guards and other prisoners at a risk they do not deserve to be exposed to.
Nope...there is NO current option that assures "no further threat to society". Not in the US, nor anywhere else.
There are some crimes for it is inappropriate to simply offer an apology and for which rehabilitation is not an option.
I had a professor long ago who said, “I could be a pacifist and oppose the death penalty except I meet too many people that deserve to have the sh*t beat out of them.”
He was right.
There you go, right there. And that is the truth.
That is the problem.
An evil man can do a good act. He did save some corrections officers’ lives.
He also killed a fellow inmate.
He won’t do that again.
If the Romans didn’t have the death penalty, there would be no Christianity...
Depends on the question.
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He should have been publicly hanged within a week after conviction of his first murder.
There’s always a threat.
Dipstick.
L
In the USA and any other technologically advanced society, where the imprisoned present no further threat to society, the death penalty is sinful.
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Utter nonsense. The murderer in question, and all other convicted murderers should be publicly hanged within a week of their conviction. NO EXCEPTIONS . . . and no consideration whatsoever concerning motive.
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