_2.gif "Time.com 50 Best Websites 2008")
Three of the men accused of killing Redskins safety Sean Taylor got a bid of good news recently. If, that is, the prospect of spending the rest of your life in prison (and all that that implies) is deemed to be better than getting it all over with in the short term.
Prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty against the three defendants who were over the age of 18 at the time of the killing. The suspect who was under 18 when Taylor was shot in his home last November isn’t eligible for the death penalty, by law.
The attorneys for the three defendants received a certified letter on Friday announcing the decision not to attempt to put the men to death. “The state would have to show there was some premeditated plan, in my opinion, to seek the death penalty,” said Michael F. Hornung, the lawyer for one of the three men.
If convicted, the three men will instead face a mandatory life term, without the possibility of parole.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:39 am
The killer ought to get at least life in prison. Too bad Eric Rivera Jr. isn’t eligible for the death penalty.
As for the other three, one cannot morally say that those three deserve to be put in the electric chair. I am all for the death penalty, but not for those three. If they get life in prison, then that is punishment enough.
I don’t exactly understand why the 17-year-old isn’t eligible for the death penalty. (I know, it’s his age.) He broke into a man’s house and murdered him in cold blood. Sean Taylor must have felt excruciating pain and terror.
The death penalty is not about deterrence. It’s about retributive justice and doing what is right. A 17-year-old is not a 10-year-old. And this above claim: “If, that is, the prospect of spending the rest of your life in prison (and all that that implies) is deemed to be better than getting it all over with in the short term.”
Yes, life in prison is better. That’s why virtually everyone eligible tries to get out of the death penalty. Living is better than dying, even in jail, where you get free health care and three meals a day, and there’s always the prospect of getting out, freedom, somehow, someway.
Laws need to be changed. Some are dumb, ignorant, and stupid. How ironic would it have been for three fellows to be electrocuted to death and not even having ANY intent whatsoever for anyone to get murdered — and for the individual with the gun who acted in cold blood not to be eligible to be put to death. You have got to love Florida justice. What a laughing stock.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 8:07 am
“YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE, AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!”
Couldn’t have said it better Sam.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 8:20 am
They should be taken out behind the courthouse and shot like the useless dogs they are.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Is waterboarding still an option?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Ah yes. Now I can pay taxes to keep these men alive for the rest of their lives, while Taylor who actually made something of his life is dead and his family suffers. Makes complete sense to me… … …
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I am not so sure that the prospect of life in jail and the designation as some jailbird’s girlfriend is what these guys would consider “good news”
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I’m beginning to think the death penalty makes more and more sense. If for no other reason that we are running out of places to put these creeps!
Though honestly, why not use the death penalty as leverage to get them to plea and save the state some money. Doesn’t make much sense just tossing away a viable tool like that. Especially given Florida’s willingness to put down violent, murdering criminals.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I would rather than suffer in jail for the rest of their lives than get put to death and get it over with quickly.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 11:57 am
i dont agree with the death penalty, i think its more severe if a criminal is forced to rot in jail for the rest of his/her life thinking about what he/she has done, killing someone helps them escape their misery, let them rot in jail for the rest of their lives, the death penalty is just an escape for most of these criminals…RIP 21…and to all those who have lost their lives to idiots like these…
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Well, taylor would’t come back to life no matter what we do….
Placing these guys in a small room until they do, will do no good…..
What about actually trying to get them out of this lifestyle instead?
Well, this criminal system sucks.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Too Bad! Their sentence should be to live and work in the Washington DC area the rest of their (short) lives!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
In the banana republic called Miami, North Cuba The entire legal system in South Florida is rancid. I mean everywhere in the entire state of Florida they are putting Joe Blow and the Kokomos on deathe row for everything down to unpaid parking tickets or so it seems… Yet for the heinous crime that these vermin did is unpunishable by the electric chair or by injection at the Stark, FL facility. I don’t say this because Sean Taylor, football star was murdered? I say they should be terminated due to the fact that it was a premeditated violent crime. They went to a party in the man’s home… They showed up with a handgun in the man’s bedroom and murdered him in front of his child’s mother… If any criminals can come into your home and kill you without fear of the death penalty then America as you knew it is freakin’ doomed. The legasl system in this country is self serving. Justice as explained in the New Webster’s Dictionary is a pipe dream! Even the pipe can be used to kill you nowadays. The prosecutors shouls be accessories in this crime. I can’t believe it!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I’m hoping they get shanked in jail.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hey RedbullnRaiders, you do know it costs more for the government to give an execution that it does for life in prison right? So more of your tax dollars would go to execute them than it will be for them to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Obviously that’s messed up, our legal system needs a slight adjustment there. I think execution’s should be hangings. It’ll be a heck of a lot cheaper than execution and lethal injections.
For the record, the shooter should probably get executed. Like Brian_21 said, criminals try to get life in prison instead of execution because you still get meals and whatever, and there’s always a chance to get out. And isn’t life better than death? So if you’re saying they should just rot in prison for the rest of their lives, that’s usually what they want. The government wouldn’t let them “rot” in prison. So you’d by giving them life in prison rather than execution, you’d be giving them what they’d want.
Oh, and maybe their punishment should be going into the middle of RFK stadium to play a 4 on 53 game against the Redskins, with a full stadium. THAT would suck for them. Obviously it wouldn’t happen, but it would be justified!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
INVITE THEM AND THE FANS TO FEDEX FIELD AND SEE HOW LONG THEY LAST. EYE FOR AN EYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I meant FeDex Field, not RFK. Haha oops, still living in the past.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Hey cowboysdw28mb3. I heard rumors that it costs more to sentence someone to death than life in prison, but that’s probably because death row takes somewhere between 15 to 20 years. This was a grown man stripped of his life, more so an icon/roll model to the public eye specifically here in DC. It’s open shut case. People that kill people, should die. If there wasn’t so many tree huggers in this nation than there wouldn’t be so much homicide because the repercussions would be fatal, after a fair trial, of course. But that’s just my opinion.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Just another example of no justice being served in this country that was a hard time for a skins fans and I want those bastards to fry
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Do to them what they did to him. Shoot them.
Eye for an eye.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
People that kill people should die, I agree but unfortunatly our legal system is kind of flawed that way. We do agree then. Yeah that is dumb though because the guy admitted he shot Taylor so he shouldn’t have to sit 15-20 years in prison, had he recieved the death sentance. They should do it right away, like tomorrow. Unfortunatly, he gets off.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
The guys that are saying life in prison is worse than the death penalty … no way. If that were the case, people would be begging and pleading to go from life in prison to the electric chair and not vice versa. Well, it’s vice versa. And just imagine laying down, knowing you’re going to get drugged to death, or electrocuted to death. What would you be thinking? Would you not be very, very afraid?
As for FloriosPhillyFan, I agree that the killer should get the death penalty, but when you say them, I don’t know if you mean the other three. If you do, then they should not get the death penalty, as they did neither shot Sean Taylor, nor planned on it happening.
And I AM for the death penalty, but things are not as simple as “eye for an eye,” lex talionis, etc.
Now, it is important to have justice.
But in general, be careful. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Send ‘em to Texas. We execute people for spitting on the sidewalk and make funny faces at them as they plead for their lives.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
i agree with first poster - execute. retribution is the hugest part. but even if the death penalty doesnt deter new killers… it sure cuts way down on recidivism.
penalties are to improve on the public safety posture.
besides, some of these a-holes get paroled.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Ghandi was the man, he slept with naked teenage chicks just so he could resist the temptation. I’m sure he got in some quality poon time though. I mean spoon time.
Not sure what would be worse in this case. Getting executed immediately or getting thrown in prison with a bunch of criminally insane ‘Canes fans for the rest of your short-a$$ life. Electrocution or injection would probably be more humane than anything those guys would do.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
May 13th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I’m not sure how the death penalty constitutes ‘getting it over quickly’ given the average time inmates spend on death row.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated