Sniper to appeal execution

DC sniper to ask Supreme Court to block execution

Attorneys for sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad plan to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to stop next week's execution.

Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection next Tuesday at a Virginia prison.

Attorneys for the 48-year-old have said they planned to file the appeal Tuesday. They asked Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency last month.

Muhammad is to be executed for the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas, Va., gas station during a three-week killing spree in October 2002 that left 10 dead in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana and Alabama. Malvo is serving a life sentence in prison.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/dc-sn...ask-184327.html

Put him down......he has no right to his life.

I cannot believe that anyone really believes he avoids the death penalty. This looks like the typical case of an lawyer making everything as complicated as possible. (Though: If said layer did not use any means at his disposal, he might get sued for not doing enough...)

It is the lawyer's job to try any means legally possible to avoid the execution of his client.

I am always and forever opposed to the death penalty. It always seems barbaric to me. It never makes victims families feel better, although many Americans work diligently hoping that the convict will die... and you can see them weeping sometimes when the perpetrator is not given death.

What is the purpose for executing a criminal?

I think that if we are going to execute people then executions should be televised live. If it is we the people that are calling for this death, then we should all have at least the option to SEE what we are doing.

Are you really sure you want this?

In the olden time executions were a merry festival, just the kind of entertainment where you bring your children. The times may have changed, but people are still people.

Are you really sure you want this?

In the olden time executions were a merry festival, just the kind of entertainment where you bring your children. The times may have changed, but people are still people.

I am not sure what you mean by..."The times may have changed, but people are still people." ?

My point is that if free people want to kill people, then they ought to have to watch. Personally, I don't think that the people really want to kill off criminals. I think that we have been encouraged by the media to want revenge, and that if we SAW what we have been supporting that "we" would change our mind.

Are you really sure you want this?

In the olden time executions were a merry festival, just the kind of entertainment where you bring your children. The times may have changed, but people are still people.

I am not sure what you mean by..."The times may have changed, but people are still people." ?

My point is that if free people want to kill people, then they ought to have to watch. Personally, I don't think that the people really want to kill off criminals. I think that we have been encouraged by the media to want revenge, and that if we SAW what we have been supporting that "we" would change our mind.

Mike I am not sure I agree and cannot follow the logic.
Real people go to the bathroom but I do not want to see that on TV.

There are some people whose acts cry out for capital punishment.
Personally I am a man who believes that evil does exit and it needs to be destroyed not put into a Federal prison with HBO, Golf, Tennis and other amenities.

In my view the SuperMax prisons where people are locked down 23 hrs per day is WORSE than capital punishment.

Are you really sure you want this?

In the olden time executions were a merry festival, just the kind of entertainment where you bring your children. The times may have changed, but people are still people.

I am not sure what you mean by..."The times may have changed, but people are still people." ?

My point is that if free people want to kill people, then they ought to have to watch. Personally, I don't think that the people really want to kill off criminals. I think that we have been encouraged by the media to want revenge, and that if we SAW what we have been supporting that "we" would change our mind.

Mike I am not sure I agree and cannot follow the logic.
Real people go to the bathroom but I do not want to see that on TV.

There are some people whose acts cry out for capital punishment.
Personally I am a man who believes that evil does exit and it needs to be destroyed not put into a Federal prison with HBO, Golf, Tennis and other amenities.

In my view the SuperMax prisons where people are locked down 23 hrs per day is WORSE than capital punishment.

In my religion Having a life is God.
To me the statement "crying out for capital punishment" is meaningless.
In my religion "evil" exists, but getting rid of evil doesn't mean killing people.
Your anxieties about evil people in SuperMax prisons goes clank against my mantra that before you existed there was NOTHINGNESS.

Are you really sure you want this?

In the olden time executions were a merry festival, just the kind of entertainment where you bring your children. The times may have changed, but people are still people.

I am not sure what you mean by..."The times may have changed, but people are still people." ?

My point is that if free people want to kill people, then they ought to have to watch. Personally, I don't think that the people really want to kill off criminals. I think that we have been encouraged by the media to want revenge, and that if we SAW what we have been supporting that "we" would change our mind.

Bluntly said: If you televise real executions, you will have a major hit. People will love to turn on the show (just as they watched public hangings in past centuries). They will not (with some exceptions) have any compassion or regret. Instead they (at least the majority) will demand harsher sentences when once the poison injection is no longer new. Of course only to provide a proper level of deterrence.

I am fine with your predictions. I still believe that if we are going to execute people, then we ought to have the opportunity to watch our policy unfold.

What is the reasoning for not showing us the results of our revenge seeking justice?

I am fine with your predictions. I still believe that if we are going to execute people, then we ought to have the opportunity to watch our policy unfold.

What is the reasoning for not showing us the results of our revenge seeking justice?

I see a bit of both sides of the equation, and I would agree that your point is valid.

I would rather not have any executions, by choice. And if we have them, better hide them then let them serve as example for more violent punishment as well as inciting more violent crime. (I fear the inhibitions for both will decrease - but this is something I cannot prove ... and which might very well never been proven or disproven at all.)

Mike,

Given the current climate on TV, televising executions would be a ratings hit. I bet they could even put it on pay-per-view and make a ton of money (I was going to say make a killing.....) There would be an audience and I'd predict it would end up being mostly 16-39 year old males. I know I wouldn't watch but there are plenty who would.

Looks like the Supreme Court isn't going to stay the execution:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/09/scotus.sniper/index.html

That reminds me of the Lottery.