Death
The rigorously consistent moralist in me opposes the death penalty for one reason only; the likelihood of killing the innocent.
The father in me - especially the part that is father to my daughter - is telling that moralist to shut the hell up now that Alphonso Rodriguez got the death penalty for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Dru Sjodin:
The verdict was delivered shortly before 11 a.m. Jurors had been deliberating since Wednesday.
A sentencing hearing has been set for Jan. 5
In closing arguments, defense attorney Richard Ney asked jurors for mercy, stating that killing Rodriguez would mean putting to death someone who suffered sexual abuse as a child and who possibly received brain damage because of exposure to toxic farm chemicals.
U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said aggravating factors, including past sexual assaults committed by Rodriguez and the manner in which Sjodin was killed, demanded the death sentence.
The type of killing, indeed, would have made it impossible for me to be a juror. I'm inflamed now just thinking about it, to the point where the death penalty seems too damn good.
A press conference with Wrigley and members of Sjodin’s family was held today shortly after the verdict was read.
“In the end, we believe there is justice,” Wrigley said after acknowledging the “difficult work of the jury.”
That sentiment was echoed by Sjodin’s mother, Linda Walker.
“Quite honestly, I don’t even know how to wrap myself around all that has taken place in our lives,” Walker said.
“Dru’s voice was heard today,” she said...Dru Sjodin’s father, Allan, said he and other family members would have been equally satisfied with a sentence of life in prison.
“For Dru’s sake, this needed to happen,” he said.
Chris Lang, who was Dru Sjodin’s boyfriend at the time she disappeared, also spoke at the press conference.
“Do not forget her. Celebrate her life. She was beautiful. She was wonderful,” Lang said.
Yet to be seen; how North Dakota, whose last execution was in 1905, carries on with the sentence. To the best of my recollection, the North Dakota State Penitentiary doesn't have a death row.
Posted by Mitch at
September 22, 2006 02:31 PM
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"Yet to be seen; how North Dakota, whose last execution was in 1905, carries on with the sentence. To the best of my recollection, the North Dakota State Penitentiary doesn't have a death row."
Mitch, this was a Federal case, tried in US District court. He will not be sent to a North Dakota State Penitentiary, but to a Federal Penitentiary. In this case, one that is adequately equipped to carry out his sentence, such as Terre Haute, IN - last stop for Timothy McVeigh.
Posted by: mike at September 22, 2006 03:45 PMDid you see the latest killer arrested in Valley City for the murder of another young girl? Charming.
Posted by: colleen at September 22, 2006 05:05 PMScrew the appeals process....
Posted by: Chad at September 22, 2006 05:17 PMFry him tonight and make it available on pay per view!!!
My moral objections aside, as long as justice is bought and sold in this country, as long as prosecutors and police are willing to lie to protect their images, jobs, turf..in short as long as human beings are the ones making the decisions I will continue to oppose the death penalty.
Posted by: swiftee at September 22, 2006 07:38 PMWhile I share your well deserved distrust of government in any function, this was such a slam-dunk (thanks Director Tennent), that I have no qualms about this result.
Posted by: Kermit at September 22, 2006 08:34 PMWith all due respect to Alfie's mom, let her enjoy the family photos and memories of the past.
Yet to be seen; how North Dakota, whose last execution was in 1905, carries on with the sentence. To the best of my recollection, the North Dakota State Penitentiary doesn't have a death row.
Posted by: Leo Pusateri at September 22, 2006 11:57 PMNorth Dakota, from what I hear, does not have the death penalty. This is a federal sentence, so the deed would probably be done in a federal penitentiary.
Basically, there's two positions on the death penalty: either you believe that, no matter how horrible the crime and how overwhelming the evidence, the state cannot properly execute somebody, ever; or, you believe that in some combination of horribleness and clear evidence, the state can.
Both are, basically, religious positions, and there's no point in arguing about religious positions; they're assumed, as a matter of faith, and not the product of reason.
I'm in the latter camp; I'm concerned about the DP being used improperly -- see the cases of people who were demonstrably not guilty by reason of SODDI (Some Other Dude Did It); I'm also concerned about long prison sentences in the same sorts of situations -- but when it comes to Rodriguez, I'll (closely, I suspect; I don't have the book in front of me) paraphrase Heinlein's Juan Rico from Starship Troopers: "The only thing I was sure of was that he wasn't going to be murdering any more little girls. That suited me; I went to sleep."
Posted by: Joel Rosenberg at September 23, 2006 08:02 AMIt wouldn't have bothered me if he was stuck in a prison cell forever; I won't lose a minute of sleep over him, six or eight years from now, getting a needle stuck in his arm.
In the words of Mark Twain, "I did not attend his funeral; but I wrote a nice letter saying I approved of it."
Posted by: John S. at September 23, 2006 08:02 PMBah.
The death penalty in this case, though deserved, is gonna be a waste of taxpayer's money.
Appeal after appeal, even though Federal is going to affect us all.
This guy was a pervert, and he took an innocent life, but in the end, let him rot in jail for the rest of his life.
He isn't worth the expense.
Posted by: Gina at September 24, 2006 11:17 AMLethal injection in North Dakota. No offense, but do you really think the guy would notice the difference?
Posted by: angryclown at September 24, 2006 05:58 PMActually, it will most likely be in Indiana, where Tim McViegh shuffled of this mortal coil. The difference between that and NoDak? Minimal.
Posted by: Kermit at September 24, 2006 10:26 PMIf he's the half-wit the defence and his family portrayed he won't know the difference.
Bush voter, eh?
Posted by: angryclown at September 25, 2006 03:48 PM