Matthew Shepard case and capital punishment

[nclib]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard

Note: If you think one (but not the other) of Shepard's killers should have gotten the death penalty, vote option 1.

Option 3 for me, though since Wyoming has the death penalty, I cannot believe why a supporter of capital punishment would not support it in that case.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

It was a terrible case, while I consider them to have been fully aware of their actions (the "gay panic" defence is a load of BS) - the death penalty is something I will never support.

[Ban my account ffs!]

No death penalty.. though I wouldn't be hurt if someone were to beat them to death in prison.

[Tender Branson]

I don´t support the death penalty.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I do support the death penalty, and applying it in this case seems to be a no brainer.  A brutal, conscience shattering crime.

[Cubby]

I almost always oppose the death penalty (except for extreme cases like Timothy McVeigh, he deserved it).

Probably at the time, I thought the 2 killers should get the death penalty. But now I think the right decision was made. I was surprised at the time that the Mormon Church ex-communicated one of the killers (who was a Mormon). Even back then I knew how anti-gay that church is.

There have been lots of other gay bashings resulting in death since October 1998. Yet for some strange reason, none has ever made the national news like that case did. There's been one in Baldwin County, AL, another somewhere in Alabama, one in West Virginia, one at the University in Columbia, MO.

[opebo]

...one at the University in Columbia, MO.

Oh, please inform!  I hadn't heard about this one.  Gays should repay these attentions in kind (oops did I just advocate terrorism?).

[afleitch]

It was a terrible case, while I consider them to have been fully aware of their actions (the "gay panic" defence is a load of BS) - the death penalty is something I will never support.

^^^^^

[7,052,770]

I don't support the death penalty, so no they should not have, but if a certain number of people HAD to be executed every year, I would pick them...

[Democratic Hawk]

For such a heinous crime, Matthew Shepard's murderers should never ever see the light of day, which is something that could be achieved without their execution

Dave

[Cubby]

...one at the University in Columbia, MO.

Oh, please inform!  I hadn't heard about this one.  Gays should repay these attentions in kind (oops did I just advocate terrorism?).

http://www.courttv.com/trials/rios/052105_verdict_ctv.html


I remembered it from a story in The Advocate when it happened. But after reading the details again, it doesn't seem like he was murdered only because he was gay. It was because he threatened to expose their relationship. 

[Ebowed]

Let's not try and justify capital punishment.

[HardRCafé]

Andrew Sullivan in The New Republic on April 2, 2001:

In the month after Shepard's murder, Nexis recorded 3,007 stories about his death. In the month after Dirkhising's murder, Nexis recorded 46 stories about his. In all of last year, only one article about Dirkhising appeared in a major mainstream newspaper, The Boston Globe. The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ignored the incident completely. In the same period, The New York Times published 45 stories about Shepard, and The Washington Post published 28. This discrepancy isn't just real. It's staggering.

[Josh/Devilman88]

Yes.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Whether you believe the story of attempted robbery or the more heinous reasons, there's enough here to satisfy my requirements for the crime to merit the death penalty.  Can't say for certain whether the forensic evidence is strong enough.  Given that confessions have been coerced, I'm not willing to put someone to death based only a confession.

[AkSaber]

I do support the death penalty, and applying it in this case seems to be a no brainer.  A brutal, conscience shattering crime.

I agree.