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As For the Penalty Phase...
My print column is up but the headline "Spencer: Death Penalty would be unjust sentence in Smithson case" is wrong.
I don't say it would be unjust, quite the opposite. I just say I'm not for it.
I don't say it would be unjust, quite the opposite. I just say I'm not for it.
posted by Spencerblog at
8:30 AM
8 Comments:
Gil-Oh well. There goes the Gil Spencer fan club. Judge, jury and executioner, C. Scott Shields Esq. www.lawyersgonewild.com, is going to go balistic, and Randal is going to join his jack booted friends, and go underground to join the resistance. Let me know if you want to buy a used flak jacket.
Bob:
It makes no difference to me that Gil is denouncing the death penalty. I am all for it! Further, since Smithson acted with malice, how is that his crime is not a hate crime? If it was a crime of passion then it would have been a manslaughter.
C. Scott Shields, Esquire
www.courtroomguru.com
I thought Dishonest Dave Diano (now posting as "Bob") was banned from posting his children drivel on this blog?
Gil's going soft in his old Lib age.
Gil- looks like the girls are giving you a pass on this one. If I said I thought Smithson should be spared the death penalty, Scott and Randal would be foaming at the mouth! BTW, do you have any idea as to why Randal thinks I've morphed into Dave?
Scott- Here we agree. I also think the death penalty is appropriate in certain cases. This could possibly be one of those cases, although I haven't followed it as closely as some. I still don't buy your concept that it's a hate crime. I don't believe Smithson said to himself "I hate this guy because he's a heterosexual, so I'm going to rape and kill him".
It's much more complex than that.
Thoughts on the death penalty. On a practical level, killing Smithson doesn't really help anyone in this situation. Meaning, it doesnt bring the victim back to life.
I've heard that it actually costs more to execute someone than to incarcerate them for life. I don't know if thats true or not. Killing Smithson might give the victims family some satisfaction, but then maybe not. One things for sure. Sentencing a gay man to life in prison with other men, doesnt seem like much of a punishment.
23 hours a day in a prison cell, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and for the rest of your life.
Not much of a punishment?
Gil - Yea, its punishment, but I know several people that have served time, and they all tell me that its not as bad as one might think. TV, computers, books, magazines, new papers, education, and of course the possibility of bunk mates. Maybe I'm totaly off on this one, but thats what seems to pass for prison these days. I'd love to be wrong about this. Can anyone shed some light on what life will be like for Smithson on the inside?
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