Comments on: Pennsylvania man, imprisoned since the age of 18, faces execution for murder of older men who repeatedly raped him

By: Dylan Childs

Dylan Childs — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:15:00 +0000

Vigilante justice is something that cannot be tolerated in a civilized society.

I don’t believe in capital punishment, and this man should have been rehabilitated to the point where he understood what he did was wrong, and should not have received death or a punitively long prison sentence

Rapist may be among the most vile wretches of the earth, but for the greater good we cannot let victims decide who lives and dies after the fact. It’s frightening to see how easily people can be whipped into a frenzy praising bloodshed

By: jandrese

jandrese — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:41:00 +0000

I had the same thought. Must have been a black guy with a publc defender.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:19:00 +0000

Despite Rome’s many flaws, women had more rights than they did in many other societies of the time. Women in Greece had almost no codified rights.

By: danarmak

danarmak — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Since I cannot reply below: thank you, Antinous, for correcting me. It’s to nice to know the Romans respected women more in their myths.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 20:45:00 +0000

There is no sex in the story. “Livy is clear that no sexual assault took place. On the contrary, Romulus offered them free choice and promised civic and property rights to women.”

By: Phillip Inglis

Phillip Inglis — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 20:42:00 +0000

it is irrelevant whether the jury new about the abuse or not, the death penalty is simply immoral, where is the compassion and forgiveness of the supposedly Christian US.

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 17:30:00 +0000

This should make the appeal a lot easier; the prosecution has very arguably denied information material to the case to the defence.

By: That_Anonymous_Coward

That_Anonymous_Coward — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 17:26:00 +0000

When the black person kills the white person, the case is over isn’t it?
There can be nothing the poor white person could have done to deserve the killing by that evil black person… and we sure as shit shouldn’t do anything that might hurt our win ratio, even if it is violating the law and the defendants rights.

By: John

John — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:35:00 +0000

This man shouldn’t have even been prosecuted let a lone be sentenced to death.

By: danarmak

danarmak — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:46:00 +0000

The state believes only the state should get to kill others for their horrible crimes.

By: danarmak

danarmak — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:42:00 +0000

As a jury member, looking up online something the lawyers were barred from telling you would get you expelled (or whatever the term is).

By: danarmak

danarmak — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:39:00 +0000

Because those women totally consented to sex after being abducted.

By: Scott Rubin

Scott Rubin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:37:00 +0000

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

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 09:49:00 +0000

…the culture of tit-for-tat favors between police, prosecutors, and judges…

Yeah, I checked Gideon v. Wainright.

Here’s a pure law. By “pure” I mean “innocent”. Then like THAT (“click!”) it’s perverted by two bastards: one of them cynical, the other lazy. Actually now that I think about it, both lazy.

What is the laziest line between two points, with plenty Prime Ribs in between?

By: devonkane

devonkane — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Petition against this here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-tom-corbett-pa-board-of-pardons-district-attorney-seth-williams-grant-clemency-to-terrance-williams-survivor-of-child-sexual-abuse

By: Ipo

Ipo — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 08:12:00 +0000

I almost clicked “Like” but I don’t support vigilantism or lynchings.

By: benher

benher — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 07:22:00 +0000

But boy, did they throw some great banquets! And from what I hear, the emperor played a mean fiddle!

By: benher

benher — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 07:21:00 +0000

I agree too. When it comes to the death penalty we always ask “Does he/she deserve to die” not, “Do we have the right to kill.” (I think I nipped that one from a TED talk somewhere on the d.p. – highly recommend watching it if you have the chance)

By: soylent_plaid

soylent_plaid — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:49:00 +0000

And this is why people complain about the legal culture of prosecution victory at any cost.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:09:00 +0000

Or Dessie Woods, who was sentenced to 22 years in 1975 for blowing away her white rapist with his own gun. Depressingly, despite it being a nationally known case, she doesn’t even get a mention in Wikipedia.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:06:00 +0000

The Rape of the Sabine Women actually means ‘abduction’, not forced intercourse. But yeah, the Romans had a few little quirks that the more squeamish among us might disapprove.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:03:00 +0000

His comment makes sense given that we as a society are less likely to do anything about accusations of rape than crimes.

By: Yukako

Yukako — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:48:00 +0000

What had just happened to the world.

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:49:00 +0000

The legal system in Pennsylvania isn’t exactly representative of the legal system in every state. Mr. Williams isn’t the only death row inmate there for questionable legal maneuvering reasons.

By: Mister44

Mister44 — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:48:00 +0000

This is why I like the death penalty in theory – but in practice it often doesn’t work out so well.

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:45:00 +0000

Rarely have words more true ever been typed.

By: Marja Erwin

Marja Erwin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Or maybe also the culture of tit-for-tat favors between police, prosecutors, and judges? Or the end-runs around Gideon v. Wainwright?

By: Marja Erwin

Marja Erwin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Okay. I’m just thinking of the recent case of a black trans womon who has been imprisoned for murder for defending herself from neo-Nazis. The judge refused to admit evidence of her attacker’s past violence, neo-Nazi tattoos, etc. The legal system does not serve justice.

By: Marja Erwin

Marja Erwin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Can’t get much more civilized than the Romans. Their economy was based on slavery and serfdom, their politics were civil war, their founding myths involved mass rape, and their favorite sports involved either the gladiators killing each other or the racing-fans killing each other.

By: Samuel Slaton

Samuel Slaton — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:13:00 +0000

Two men commit horrible crimes, and are killed for their crimes by their victim. Then the State decides that killing someone for committing horrible crimes is a crime, and so sentences the living perpetrator to death for his crimes. Yeah, that makes sense.