Cry me a river

[No Sympathy]

The court has okayed this scumbag's execution, but some of the doctors walked out citing these concerns:

[font class="newstext"]"The change was made after Morales and hisattorneys argued that the three-part lethal injection cocktail used inCalifornia and 35 other states violated the Eighth Amendmentprohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. They said a prisonerwould feel excruciating pain from the last two chemicals if he were notfully sedated."

You know what? Boo hoo.  I don't care. Will it be as "excruciating" as the pain this young girl felt as Morales bashed her face in with a hammer? (Terri Lynn Winchell was found beaten, stabbed and raped in a remote area near Lodi, in Northern California's San Joaquin County on Jan. 8, 1981. Her face was so badly beaten with a hammer that she had to be identified through dental records.)

So frankly, I don't give a flying f*ck if this maggot's last few minutes is spent in excruciating pain. In fact, I'm all for it. If it was up to me, he'd suffer a lot more.


[/font]

[Witch]

Which makes you no better than him...

[No Sympathy]

> Which makes you no better than him...

I never claimed to be "better than him". On the other hand, I don't rape and murder young girls, so maybe I am better than him.

[GET REAL]

WHAT A FINE HEROIC PERSON MR MORALES IS, SURELY HE SHOULD BE SPARED!!
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]
[span class="bodytext"] The attack began in Ortega's car when Morales,then 21, tried to strangle Winchell from behind with a belt, whichbroke. Morales' roommate, Patricia Felix, later testified that heearlier had rehearsed the strangulation by wrapping his belt around herneck.

 A state attorney general's report said, "She screamed for Ortegato help and attempted to fight off the attack, ripping her own hair outof her scalp in the struggle."

Morales then beat Winchell on the head with a claw hammer untilher face was no longer recognizable. Then he dragged her face-downacross a road and into a vineyard, where he raped her.

Morales then stabbed her four times in the heart. Later thatnight, he spent $11 he found in her purse on beer, wine and cigarettes.
[/span]

[BC Bill]

I don't feel any sympathy for Mr Morales either. I know I should, but I can't.

[49er]

he's scheduled to be executed tonight at 7:30 pm........he just have to think about his own death in his isolation cell more hours than if he was executed this morning

[Witch]

I don't feel any sympathy for him either, but neither do I wish him pain or torture.

To wish to torture someone for revenge makes you no better, nor gives you any right to judge, the person who murders, rapes, or whatever. Torture for revenge removes the element of justice. When we give in to feelings that allow us to think that inflicitng pain intentionally on another human being is ok, no matter what the circumstances, we become the monster we seek to punish.

Will torturing this man bring back his victim? No.[/DIV]Will torturing this man change his behaviour or teach him a lesson? No, since he'll be much too dead to change.

So what will it do, other than give some sick sense of satisfaction to those who do or propose or condone the torture?

I don't believe in the death penalty myself, although cases like this sometimes give me pause to reflect on my beliefs, as they should. But we sometimes have to kill... it's jsut the way things are. If I cannot rid my home of roaches by discouraging them, then I may have to kill them. So be it.

But if I do have to kill them it is my responsibility to make sure I do so in the most humane and painless way I can, despite anything they may have done to me. If I choose to torture and delight in the pain of each one as it dies, I have crossed the line from executioner to sadist.  If this man must die, so be it, but I will not delight in his death, and I will not delight in his pain.  I will not become what he is.

[tenkani]

Witch, I've tried to put those feelings into words in the past and failed miserably. Thank you for your eloquence and wisdom.

[kevlar]

Sorry but call me a sadist. [/DIV]If this was my daughter, hand me the hammer and forget the needle !!!!!!

[Future Canadian]

The death penalty is not revenge. It is a punishment. He took her life in a sadiststic, thoughtless, and brutal way. Meting out punishment for this act after careful deliberation does not make us the same monster as him. [/DIV]There is no reason to keep this human around after the pain he has wrought upon the victim, family, and everyone who hears of this unspeakable act.The death penalty is not easy to swallow (I don't like the government involved in the business of killing its own - even though they're well rehearsed at it), but I can think of no other worthy punishment for this monster.

[49er]

now it has been postponed indefinitely

[Witch]

We're not talking about the death penalty. We're talking about a method of administering the death penalty that would result in excrutiating pain.

[P.C.]

I don't believe in the death penalty, but so many times that belief gets so shaken.  The fear of error sickens me. Imagining my loved ones being taken away from me in a hideous manner sickens me.  And yet deliberately and in an organized manner, the taking of another human life sickens me too.  I talk myself in circles.

Sometimes I start to wonder if it's some form of culling the flock.  DO people with no regard for human life have the right to impose this on those that do ?  I just don't know.  I need to stick to what I feel is fundamentally right.

[Brent]

My two responses here are 1) give him over to the girl's family/loved ones and let them be alone w/him. Simple, fair.    2) Death Penalty;  we should each sign something saying whether or not some creep who kills you on purpose , if YOU want him to get the death penalty or life in jail(10years).  I'd sign for him/her? getting the death thing personally, but you nicer types do what you like. Bit of a raffle for 'them', but fair.

[tenkani]

I don't like my government to get too far up into my business.[/DIV]On the other hand, leaving the punishment of criminals up to the individuals they harm is patently ludicrous. Our justice system should be about...justice...not sadism or revenge.

If someone killed my daughter, I would absolutely want to see that person die screaming, which is why I should never be given the opportunity to judge that person. Victims, understandably, are often not interested in even-handed justice. They want vengeance. That's precisely why we need an independant, relatively objective judicial system to handle the matter.

I've run into quite a few people who are intelligent, lighthearted and open-minded, but when it comes to dealing with criminals, they espouse the "eye-for-an-eye" perspective. A rapist should be raped. A murderer should be murdered etc. Even when presented with evidence that such punishments often have no preventative effect, they persist in arguing that such a system is just. Personally, I want no part of a legal system that rapes, tortures and murders prisoners, regardless of what they are accused of.  On the other hand, I'm pissed off when I hear about someone getting a short term for a violent crime. How about we end this stupid f*cking war on drugs, stop putting people away for victimless crimes and increase the sentences for violent criminals? </rant>