I think i read this a few week ago, 'tis horrible. Texas, the only place you can be executed for not commiting a crime.
If you are out to rob people then you know your in the wrong and you should be prepared to deal with the consequences. I'm afraid a slapped wrist doesn't cut it anymore, teenagers wish to grow up quicker then they have to answer for their actions. I agree the punishment is extreme and totally disproportionate to his intent to rob which really the crux of the argument. But lets not forget he was with 3 other men out to rob passer-bys, which by definition generally involves the threat of violence or the use of violence.
Even armed robbery shouldn't invoke the death sentence. Hell, nothing should. There's tonnes of evidence to show that execution doesn't work. I don't want to risk the chance that even one innocent person is convicted. Then it simply becomes sponsored murder. Agreed he should go to prison but he shouldn't be killed.
OK, the death sentence is barbaric regardless of circumstance. But if we decide to agree that the penalty for murder is execution, it still doesn't justify this sentence. They guy didn't murder anyone. He didn't help someone else murder someone. He didn't know a friend was going to murder someone. He is guilty of robbery, and he should be appropriately punished. The typical sentence for robbery is an amount of time in prison. The argument that he brought it on himself doesn't wash: 'Don't go out to commit armed robbery and you wont fry.'. Perhaps we should execute someone who steals an apple. Well, they shouldn't have stolen the apple if they didn't want to 'fry'! That's just a facetious argument, you say... 'We don't want to apply the maximum sentence for murder (death penalty) to someone who simply steals an apple!'. OK, at what point do we depart from the sentencing guidelines for the crime and apply the maximum sentence for murder? Clearly, some people think that armed robbery is covered. What about rape? Or assault? What about threatening somebody with a gun? If the US decided that the penalty for armed robbery was death, it would be fair enough. But it isn't. The penalty of armed robbery is prison, and so to prison this guy should go.
I think what bothered me most about that article was how much they were doing the race thing. They could have taken out every instance of "black" and "white" and it would have had just as much meaning, without trying to propagate the stereotypes.
He was complicet in the murder, they (he and his buddies) went out with the intention to rob people using a loaded gun which unfortunatly resulted in a death. Armed robbery doesn't carry the death sentence, but murder does, he was party to the murder. Personally I believe a long long jail sentence would be appropriate, but as the saying goes "fly with the crows, get shot with the crows"
QFT. I couldn't care less about the race of any of the people involved. I keep hoping that one of these days my state will catch up to the rest of the civilized world, but then I think some Texans actually enjoy playing the stereotype. In the end, if we had better punishment for petty crimes and put a little more effort into rehabilitation, we might just end up with more room in our jails for people like this guy. Quite simply, there's no real reason to take anyone's life. To do so only makes us the same as Mauriceo Brown. -monkey
Back in 1953, 19-year-old Derek Bentley was hanged for his part in the murder of a policeman during a bungled warehouse robbery; he was actually in police custody at the time of the shooting. In the spirit of "someone has to pay" the fact that he was mentally-retarded was not disclosed at his trial and all pleas for a reprieve turned down by the Home Secretary. The UK campaign for the abolishment of capital punishment got a huge boost from what many saw as a grave miscarriage of justice. Full story from Wikipedia.
Texas Governor commutes death sentence. Looks like the boy will get life instead. Well, it's at least a step in the right direction. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope yet. -monkey
This in Texas, USA, where I believe it's fairly common for people to own guns? So why was Foster still under death sentence? Because the other two had plea bargained, a system I'd agree is "contrary to the purpose of the law in which a specific action should be associated with a specific penalty". Why the 11th hour high drama? It's the movies come to life. Foster was sentenced to death in May '97, over 10 years ago. Couldn't the Governor have come to a decision a few days, weeks, months, even years ago? Seems sick to keep anybody under that sort of strain, whatever they've done - it makes the justice system as inhuman as the worst criminals.
That's the stereotype, yeah. We all wear cowboy hats and ride our horses to work, six-shooter at our sides. According to a 2004 article in the Dallas Morning News, 4 out of 5 Texans wanted Congress to renew a ban on assault weapons. The poll also found that only 53% of the adults surveyed owned a gun, or lived in a household in which someone else owned a gun. However, 61% favored the concealed carry law. I can't find the original article, but I found the information here. Honestly, I was kind of shocked, because I would have thought the number of gun owners would be much higher. If you can find alternative numbers then by all means share. -monkey
QFTx2. That really bugged me. Edited to add: Glad to hear the sentence was commuted. Let's keep punishments proportionate to crimes, please.
I'm shocked it's so high - considering 50% of the population are below average intelligence and there's no guarantee all the gun owners are at least average. Maybe this is part of the violence problem; the stereotype perpetuated in Dallas only applies to the few; a successful UK soap, like Coronation Street or Eastenders, focusses on the more common man rather than the fantasy.
I find those statistics very frightening, 1 in 2 people may be carrying a gun, I would be terrified to go outside the house if it was like that here.
While I was surprised that the percentage was not higher, I agree with both of you that 53% is still very high. I was trying to put the stereotype into perspective by pointing out that guns aren't as everywhere as most people think. Again, let's take that 53% and put it in further context. Census data for 2006 lists the Texas population at 23,507,783, of which 27.7% are under 18 years old (the 27% was 2005 information, but I think it's close enough for this purpose). You must be 21 years old to obtain a concealed carry permit, so subtract the number of people under 18, and that leaves an estimated 16,996,127 citizens. The Department of Public Safety lists 258,162 active permits for 2006, which means that only about 1.5% of the adult Texas population is legally allowed to carry a weapon. Please understand, I'm actually opposed to the idea of concealed carry laws. However, I feel perfectly safe waking around town because I know that few people are actually packing heat. -monkey
