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.
Maybe it should not take 34 years to carry out a sentence....
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Thirty-four HOURS would be more than enough time.
Interesting take...
It is an injustice to take from our children in order to feed, house, and contain them.
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Well and truly said, and every word of it!
True, if the sentence had been carried out in a timely manner, perhaps the security guard and inmate might still be alive.
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Correct. And “timely manner” in my view means within hours of conviction.
It is cheaper to keep them alive than to kill them.
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Absolute nonsense.
——It is an injustice to take from our children in order to feed, house, and contain them.-——
Children? What about me?
I am taxed to pay for the lawyer fees and upkeep of those on Tennessee death row. Lawyer fees both prosecutorial and defense trump justice on death row
If he deserved to die is not for us to decide. He turned his life around. So God probably forgave him and he is in Heaven. I have no idea.
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I agree completely with your last sentence. The preceding ones are complete nonsense.
“imprisoned present no further threat to society”
Oh you mean like diverting money from programs that help the poor and aged to pay the 100000 a year it takes to house and feed and guard and provide medical care to each of these inmates?
To refuse to do due justice for those murdered by such inmates is also sinful. If a man is a murderer then he needs to have his life taken from him. God provides the “sword” to each government and it’s appointed officials to exercise such judgment. It’s a job for grown-ups to look evil in the eye and then do away with it.
It is good the man repented....I’m glad we will see him in heaven in a body that is incapable of sinning and murdering.
Speculating about what God wants is irrelevant
He deserved death.
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Yes, and he deserved it within hours of his conviction.
When we become advanced enough that the imprisoned present no further threat to society, let us know.
You take the prize for willful blindness. This guy continued killing even behind bars. As long as he drew breath, he posed a threat to society. Now, he does not.
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Well and truly said, and why he should have been executed within hours of his first conviction.
34 years on death row? He should have been executed 33 years ago.
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And within hours of his first conviction.
That a civilized society would allow a person who purposefully takes the life of an innocent person to keep theirs is morally, ethically, judicially and religiously wrong.
Fitting handle for you.
The problem is an endless line of state-sponsored appeals and justice not quickly carried out. Further there’s lots of people who’ve been raised in unstable homes while growing up who don’t go out and kill people...Additionally put a person in jail you can be assured over time they’re going to improve to some degree.
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Well and truly said and every word of it, except that improvement while incarcerated, in my view, is totally irrelevant. And motive, IMHO, should be a completely inadmissible consideration in regard to the commission of any capital crime.
70% more, on average.
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
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Well and truly said, and every word of it!
1994 - ADX.
Why should society pay for housing or sustenance? Get real. Those type of animals are of no use, and are continuously dangerous. God demonstrated the death penalty.
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