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Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14227
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 5:12 pm: | 
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http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060515ta_talk_hertzberg
Lots of good stuff in here.
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Nevertheless, a debt of gratitude is owed to the nine men and three women of the jury in Alexandria, Virginia, that, last Wednesday, declined to direct that Moussaoui be put to death. The calm seriousness with which these anonymous citizens approached their task has reassured many of us that our federal criminal-court system, even in the face of the extraordinary pressures generated by the exigencies (and the politics) of the “war on terror,” remains capable of rendering justice in which sternness is guided by wisdom.
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Moussaoui’s case was a murky one. ... What kept the trial going for another year was the government’s fixation on pursuing the death penalty.
One need feel no sympathy for Moussaoui to suspect that this fixation had more to do with domestic politics and conservative ideology than with justice per se. The familiar arguments against the death penalty apply to cases like his, some with special force. Whether or not the prospect of lethal injection deters ordinary murder—a questionable proposition at best—it is perverse to imagine that it can deter the sort of murder of which faith-based ritual suicide is an integral part. And any execution, whatever the crime it is intended to punish, degrades the society that decrees it and demoralizes the particular government employees who are assigned to carry it out. A criminal may deserve to die, may deserve even to die in terror and agony; but no civil servant deserves to be made to participate in the premeditated killing of a person who, however wicked, is on the day of execution a helpless and frightened human being.
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The Moussaoui case could have been settled long ago, with the same result and the same horrific sentence, had it not been for the government’s single-minded pursuit of death.
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kathy
Citizen
Username: Kathy
Post Number: 1292
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 12:04 am: |
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Apparently only the vote of a single juror saved him from the death penalty. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1545
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 10:49 am: |
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What a pity... |
kathy
Citizen
Username: Kathy
Post Number: 1294
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 7:51 pm: |
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I disagree. This is a guy who wanted to die as a martyr. I'm glad that he isn't getting that satisfaction. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1550
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 10:47 pm: |
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I disagree. This man is a murderous terrorist who will gladly resume his path if he ever gets the chance. And stranger things have happened than a wild-card appeal on some obscure technicality that might someday free him. He seeks a path to God; I wish the jury had handed him a face-to-face intro. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3115
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 11:38 am: |
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Right now he is a wanna-be. Killing him would have given him status that he didn't deserve. I cannot imagine a technicality or appeal that could successfully reverse his conviction, but you are right. Stranger things have happened. Consider, though, that if he were given the dealth penalty, those appeals are automatic, and typically would last years, if not decades.
I just wish they had put him in general pop. I'm sure someone would have taken care of him... |
dave23
Citizen
Username: Dave23
Post Number: 1760
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 11:49 am: |
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Why is death seen as a punishment? |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14269
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 11:54 am: |
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Moussaoui asked for a retrial and claimed that he pleaded guilty only because he expected the trial to be unfair and expected to get the death penalty. Not that I believe him, but maybe this shows that giving it to him is being too nice to him.
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Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14270
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 11:55 am: |
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And I invited everyone to read the commentary I linked to at the top of the thread. It offers some points of view you probably haven't considered yet.
I invite you to address those points, rather than which sentence would best befit Moussaoui.
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Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3119
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 12:54 pm: |
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Tom, I'm a bit confused... He didn't do it, but pled guilty because he expected to be sentenced to death? So he wanted to be executed even though he didn't do it? And now, since he's not happy with the sentence, he wants a do over?
I just want to make sure I've got it right. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14280
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 1:01 pm: |
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I don't think we should try too hard to understand him. But if I had to offer a possible explanation, my guess is that he figured he'd die no matter what so he pled guilty. Now that he saw the process could be fair, he wants a retrial. Too late, and too little "faith," pun intended.
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Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2012
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 2:29 pm: |
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I suspect that he only wants a retrial to get a little more press coverage and say more inane things. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4323
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 2:44 pm: |
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Unfortunately for Moussaoui, not being sentenced to death reduces the number of things he can use as an excuse to appeal, so unless he can dredge up some dramatic new exculpatory evidence, I guess he had better get use to prison.
In addition, not being sentenced to death eliminates the possibility of any support from anti-death penalty groups.
All and all, I think the government is in a better position with the life sentence than would be the case if they had been granted a death sentence. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2015
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 4:05 pm: |
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Well I strongly disagree with Brett on this issue anyway. I think a life of sitting around rotting in a jail cell is a MUCH worse sentence then dying. In fact I'd rather die, and considering that is exactly what the idiot wants, I'm happy to NOT give it to him. Call me spiteful, but if the douche bag is right, and he has 40 virgins waiting for him in heaven, I'd just as soon deny him from getting what he deserves for as long as possible. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1555
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
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Dave23- Why is death seen as a punishment? I certainly wouldn't consider the forfeiture of my remaining life a reward...
Most sentences end in a period; his should end in an exclamation point! |
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