<p>Do you think it will really happen tomorrow?</p>
<p>The Supreme Court has denied his appeal. I don’t think Tim Kaine will give him clemency, which is the only option remaining.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - We both experienced this, didn’t we? Our county schools were on lock-down…We spent days looking for the white box truck van…vans that has been checked by the cops had orange stickers on them…I zig-zagged while running in to pay for my gas…I saw teachers standing in a line to shield the children as they got off the school bus at the school…our field trip bus was turned around and sent back to our school because a student was shot that morning. The snipers were caught at the rest stop in my county. Their next shooting was planned to be the parking lot of the Outback Restaurant in my county. </p>
<p>I believe the lelthal injection is supposed to happen at 9am in the morning. </p>
<p>I have a Bible Study at 9:30 and we will be discussing it - should be a very colorful discussion. With lots of differing opinions.</p>
<p>If there’s a case in which death is warranted, this fits. </p>
<p>I am personally opposed to the death penalty for three reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li>Studies show it doesn’t deter others. The nature of that kind of crime is too personal for deterrent effects.</li>
<li>It’s really, really, really expensive because we’re overwrought about executing the innocent - though it must happen because no system is perfect. It costs more to execute than to incarcerate for life.</li>
<li>My understanding of the Bible is that our job as humans is to confess our wrongs and repent and then it is our obligation to forgive (or at least get past it) because only God judges the content of the soul. My problem with the death penalty is that it eliminates any possibility of confession. It seems odd for people who believe in the soul to decide that it’s their job to cast a soul into whatever they believe is bad after life when the teaching is that God judges. I understand the point; it’s a version of the old saying to kill them all and let God pick out the innocents, but it seems kind of twisted to me.</li>
</ol>
<p>I would like to think that Kaine will stop it, but I think it will go forward.</p>
<p>Interesting article about his lawyers:</p>
<p>""The father of one victim says he would gladly kill Muhammad with his own hands. The prosecutor who sent Muhammad to death row said he plans to watch the lethal injection.</p>
<p>Then there’s Sheldon and co-counsel James G. Connell III, who have been working tirelessly to save Muhammad’s life.</p>
<p>They condemn the man’s crimes. But during the past three years, they have spent hours talking with him – in person and by phone – and they have come to see some humanity in the man many see only as a monster.</p>
<p>“I perfectly understand the families of the victims want to throttle him. It is hard to get a handle on the amount of damage he has done,” Sheldon said. “John Allen Muhammad is absolutely responsible. He’s guilty. But there are glimpses of him being thoughtful. People don’t want to see that. It’s much easier to wrap him up into the thing he did.”</p>
<p>Sheldon, who is also president of the board for Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said he thinks executions “errode” society. “It’s not about him; it’s about us,” he said. “When we see hatred and violence, what should our response be?”…</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903616.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009110903795]washingtonpost.com[/url”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903616.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009110903795]washingtonpost.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>The death penalty is appropriate in this case. The only problem is that the killer has only one life to give for the ten he callously took. His execution will not mitigate the pain and anguish of those who have to live without their loved ones for the rest of their lives, but it is the closest thing to justice.</p>
<p>I’m usually a fervent death penalty opponent, but I feel differently in this case. It’s hard to forget how we were terrorized by this man and how cold and calculated his killing spree was.</p>
<p>I’m still an ardent opponent of the death penalty including in this case. He cold bloodedly murdered strangers. He feels no remorse. He even seems to think he’s innocent. I think that execution is too kind for him. I’d like him to experience dying alone from a long illness after spending life in prison. I think that experience would finally allow him to realize the pain and suffering that he has inflicted upon so many innocent people.</p>
<p>I also feel sorry for the people who will be charged with executing him. Any normal human would have to put their humanity on hold as they did what’s necessary to execute another human being. From what I’ve read about people charged with such duties, the emotional toll is very high. I don’t think that they should have to pay the price for the crimes that Mohammed committed.</p>
<p>cartera - why would you think Kaine would be different than any other politician? The death penalty is unfortunately almost uniformly a popular move for politicians of any stripe. And the head of the Democratic Party cannot take a political chance in this - it would be a disaster. Look, there’s a kid of death row whose innocence can be reasonably questioned - a suburban drug dealer convicted on the word of the murderer who shot another dealer 8 times in cold blood - with the death row inmate the one who “ordered” - or so the prosecutor claimed - the murder. Now, I am not sure this kid is innocent - the jury did not think so - but if there were a case for clemency given the circumstances, this case is it. Kaine has not done anything about it, and only the most naive I think would expect him too.</p>
<p>mam - I don’t think Kaine will do anything different from any other politician. I don’t think he will step in. I wish that he would, however. I will not support the death penalty under any circumstances. I might kill someone with my bare hands who killed someone I love, but I do not support the death penalty.</p>
<p>STATEMENT OF GOVERNOR KAINE
~ On the scheduled execution of John Allen Muhammad ~</p>
<p>RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine issued the following statement today on the scheduled execution of John Allen Muhammad by the Commonwealth of Virginia:</p>
<p>“On November 17, 2003, John Allen Muhammad was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court of Virginia Beach, Virginia and convicted of two counts of capital murder committed in Prince William County: his premeditated murder of Dean Meyers in the commission of an act of terrorism; and the premeditated murders of Dean Meyers and others within three years. Muhammad was also found guilty of the use of a firearm in the commission of capital murder and conspiracy to commit capital murder. At the sentencing hearing on November 23, 2003, the jury sentenced Muhammad to death for the capital murders and to 23 years in prison for the other crimes. The trial court sentenced Muhammad in accordance with the jury’s verdicts on March 29, 2004. </p>
<p>“On April 22, 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed Muhammad’s convictions and death sentence. The United States Supreme Court denied Muhammad’s petition for a writ of certiorari on May 15, 2006. </p>
<p>“The trial court appointed counsel to represent Muhammad in a state habeas corpus proceeding, and on June 12, 2007, the Virginia Supreme Court dismissed this petition. On October 26, 2007, the United State District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia stayed Muhammad’s scheduled execution and appointed counsel for federal habeas corpus proceedings. The district court denied and dismissed all of his federal habeas corpus claims on September 24, 2008, and on August 7, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment. On November 9, 2009, the United States Supreme Court denied Muhammad’s petition for a stay of execution and a writ of certiorari.</p>
<p>“Muhammad’s trial, verdict, and sentence have been reviewed by state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Having carefully reviewed the petition for clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts.</p>
<p>“Accordingly, I decline to intervene.”</p>
<p>I am against the death penalty - for a number of reasons. However, I can’t get worked up over this. His guilt is not being questioned and this will bring closure.
Hopefully, they don’t botch it.</p>
<p>Some of the opinions posted here re-enforce why I, as a general proposition, do not like capital punishment; it’s the inconsistency. Either we apply it in all cases of murder, or it shouldn’t be used at all. A shifting standard is unjust. A different result for different people, despite the similarity of their crimes, is unjust.</p>
<p>There are many reasons not to like the death penalty. </p>
<p>But one I find persuasive is that politicians support the death penalty because it makes them appear tough on crime when often the opposite is the case. </p>
<p>By way of example, New Orleans has had for decades an out of control murder problem that makes sections of the city unlivable. Yet very few defendants receive the death penalty, and by no means are they the worst of the worst in every case. Louisiana still loves the death penalty for their own purposes. </p>
<p>I also am disturbed by the hypocrisy all around. All too often defense lawyers work to exploit every corner of the law to keep their clients from being killed by the state. OK - I get it. But where are they at the trial court level, where life truly is at stake? My suspicions are that appellate work is higher profile and lends greater credence to the “cause”. But countenancing poor trial work doesn’t make sense. Most suspects facing the death penalty don’t receive it with great trial lawyers at work. And neither do wealthy defendants. And prosecutors are equally suspect - death qualified cases get them publicity without really any impact on public safety.</p>
<p>LakeWashington - of course you are right. When this terror is in your own back yard and it gets personal - it is hard to feel remorse for this guy - couple that with his motives - ugh.</p>
<p>I liken it to folks who are opposed to abortion - it’s the killing of an innocent life - but okay it if the woman was raped. Just making an analogy here folks.
Life would be easy if we could just stick to hard and fast rules.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the fact that there are inconsistencies in the application of the death penalty render it unusable. I have always been in favor of the death penalty–used on a very, very limited basis with strictly applied criteria. I do not believe that it is the appropriate punishment for all cases of murder. In this particular case, I have absolutey no problem with the death penalty.</p>
<p>“However, I can’t get worked up over this. His guilt is not being questioned and this will bring closure.”</p>
<p>From what I have read and have heard from friends and in-laws who lost loved ones to murder, nothing brings closure after a murder just like nothing brings closure after any death of someone whom you care about.</p>
<p>One of my friends lost her daughter and 6-year-old grandson to murder. Another lost her son to murder. Both friends are against the death penalty. They say that nothing will bring back their loved ones.</p>
<p>…an hour to go…</p>
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<p>This was actually our dinner time discussion tonight - which of us believed we could pull the trigger / administer the electrocution / etc of scumbags like this guy and Hasan / Ft. Hood. I’m pretty confident that in a situation where there was no doubt of guilt and in which the crimes were heinous, I could do it. I wouldn’t be “surrendering my humanity at all.”</p>