Muhammad, along with his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, was responsible for a 2002 killing spree in the DC area that left 10 people dead. The shootings targeted everyday people in everyday locations like gas stations. They were all the more frightening because they were unpredictable and without motive. It had just been a year since the September 11th attacks and for the period while the shootings were taking place, it was a a new wave of terror for Washington-area residents.
Muhammad has maintained his innocence. His accomplice, Malvo, is serving life in prison without parole. (Ironically, a case that the Supreme Court did hear yesterday was on whether life without parole was cruel and unusual punishment for teenagers.)
We've been looking at the death penalty a lot in the last few weeks, mostly because of the case of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas - where the state may have executed an innocent man. With a case like that, opposition to the death penalty seems practical: let's prevent mistakes from occurring. The Muhammad case is a bit different. It falls along the line of retribution - why Obama says he's supports the death penalty, despite doubts about its efficacy: "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage."
What do you think? Is the community justified in this instance? In any instance?
From the News Blog: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/10/dc-sniper-john-allen-muhammad-to-be-exe...
LadybugLady's post: http://current.com/items/91414934_us-sniper-execution-appeal-denied.htm
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- News, News_Featured, Death Penalty
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- afitzgerald
- added this
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The only good Islamic jihadist is a dead one. Good riddance to this scumbag and I hope he enjoys his 72 virgins.
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The community is definitely justified. We should execute those that are undoubtedly guilty of heinous crimes and thoroughly improve the prison system to help prevent instances like Willingham.
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It's hard to be sympathetic to an obvious murderer like John Allen Muhammed, but ultimately the death penalty needs to be abolished. I live in Tx, which leads the nation in exonerations (and also executions if I remember correctly) The fact that so many innocent people are behind bars should be a wake upcall. I'd rather we keep 1000 criminals in a penitentiary for life than kill 1 innocent person. There's an illusion of the death penalty as a punishment for the worst crimes, but the reality is that its for poor individuals (often minorities) who cannot afford a good lawyer.
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- OneTwoRendezvous
- 10 days ago
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Why do we kill people who kill people to show them that killing people is wrong?
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In addition to the shooting victims, this man has three children in high school and college who I am sure suffer greatly for his crimes. No matter what he has done, he is still their father and they will have to live with this the rest of their lives, as well. I am against the death penalty for a number of reasons, one being that as humans we are fallible and inconsistent in its application. If an executioner applies the death penalty on our behalf, then we, whether we support the death penalty or not, have participated in that killing. I would rather be responsible for someone spending their life behind bars, then for their death.
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The bleeding hearts on here make me vomit with their soft brained bullshit.
Meanwhile, this sub-human follower of the mass murdering rapist and pedophile Mohammed, was quite the artist.
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Another masterpiece from this lover of humanity and freedom.
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The death penalty is an awfully barbaric, medieval behavior for the most powerful country in the 21st century to engage. Also, pretty stupid and pointless. My apologies to all the neo-cons and outright rednecks that seem to have taken over this site lately.
Also, does anyone else think that this guy looks like Denzel Washington in "American Gangster" or is that subliminal racism rising to the surface again?
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- antoine_99
- 10 days ago
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why should a sinner kill a so-called murder?...cheribum and the avenging angels take people out daily...so how is this justified?...no man has the final say on anything dealing with the children of God, this may spark something divine and let chaos loose on the world...you have people in positions of power who sin daily and curse and blaspheme the name of the Holy One...the common sense you think you have is a taught thing from man...1LOVE...<-A-Z->
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I can't tell which one sucks more.....
this guy or the death penalty.....
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- shanklinmike
- 10 days ago
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