It's begun.
Thurber will be sentenced today or tomorrow. Seems like the consensus is that he'll get death
Below is Traveler editorial from Saturday. (Yes I wrote it) Obviously the minority view. James Jordan column has a different take.
DEATH PENTALY PROBLEMS
There's no doubt about the awful, heinous nature of the crimes against Jodi Sanderholm.
Now that Justin Thurber has been found guilty of those crimes - kidnapping, rape, murder - he could be sentenced to execution by the State of Kansas.
Thurber put Sanderholm through so much suffering, pain and fear that his punishment should fit the crime.
But what good will killing Thurber do?
Prevent him from killing again?
Life in prison does that.
Bring closure to the victim's family?
In some cases, it makes things worse.
Deter others from committing similar crimes?
There is little evidence that it works.
Satisfy society's need for revenge? Eye for an eye?
Maybe, but we're not Saudi Arabia.
Death penalty opponents are campaigning right now to abolish the punishment, based on the fact that it costs more to sentence somebody to death than lock them away in prison, because of all the appeals.
But it's hard to count coins when you're talking life and death.
When it comes to the death penalty, simple axioms are useful.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Thou shalt not kill.
Don't play God.
Prosecutors certainly have the right to pursue the death penalty, especially in this case.
It may even feel right, but that does not make it so.
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24 comments:
Amen.
News Flash !
We don't make the rules.
God instituted the death penalty when Noah walked off the ark. Try reading Genesis 11 & beyond. Or start in Genesis 1 & beyond.
When an innocent person is murdered then the death penalty is the punishment & answer. There is a reason the earth was flooded around Genesis 10 & only 8 humans survived.
The death of innocent babies in Wichita by Tiller as a form of contraception is murder. The death penalty for a murderer isn't wrong.
And yet, Jesus looked down from the cross and said, "Father forgive them..."
Abbreviated said...
News Flash !
We don't make the rules
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You are so right, which is why I think we should impose Sharia Law and start restoring some order to our society.
Scripture calls for the death penalty for attacking you father or mother, working on the sabbath, adultery, and lying...
Let's get to work!!!
Exodus 21:15
15"Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death.
Numbers 15:32-36
32While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." 36So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deuteronomy 22:22
22If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
Leviticus 24:14
14"Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.
I am not sure what I think of the death penalty. I think that whatever the victim's family needs is more important than what others who are judging from the outside have an the need to interject.
The New Testament is quiet when it comes to the death penalty. What is clear however, is that Jesus said, "Do not repay evil for evil" and "Love your enemies."
I would like to start by saying I believe in God and I respect all of the opinions of the good Christians who took the time to write, however with all of the Christian opinions said, I would like to bring up the point of the cost it takes to house a death row inmate v.s. the cost of a life inmate. All the research I have done has pointed to the cost of death row inmates being roughly 40% higher than life imprisonment. But I believe that if we start regulating how much justice will cost for the families of any murder victims that we will set a dangerous precedent for future proceedings. Will we get to the point of setting limits on how much money the courts can spend on prosecution and sentencing? Will we start setting limits on how much money an innocent person can spend on a defense lawyer? I think that the argument of cost is flawed. There is no cost to great for justice. The death penalty is set in place for a reason, and to undermine it is to undermine what grieving families may want in order to heal. Jodi lost her life and her parents have to deal with that for the rest of their life. If the murderer is not put to death, then tell me. Who will be the one being punished?
When it comes to the death penalty, simple axioms are useful.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Thou shalt not kill.
Don't play God.
Prosecutors certainly have the right to pursue the death penalty, especially in this case.
It may even feel right, but that does not make it so
and it does not make it wrong either , it depends whos side your on , for or against , a case can be made either way , the poster at 10:51 proves that
The poster at 10:51 was being sarcastic.
I do not believe we can justify the death penalty.
My only point was to demonstrate that we are not consistent when we say we want to "follow the Bible."
We use scripture to justify all kinds of hatred, to reason why homosexuals should not be married, or ordained, yet scripture is just as clear that God does not care for gluttony. Why then do we allow gluttons in the pulpit?
Proverbs 23:2 "Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony."
my point exactly
Ummm....to the poster that said it cost less to house a prisoner for life than the death penalty. Did Mr. THurber and his defense not have 2 years to plea and take the death penalty off the table? How much money of mine did they waste these past two years when this could have been put to rest long before now? There was no concern for cost then. Why start now????
@February 16, 2009 4:32 PM.....Because the state is in debt now?!
Anonymous said...
Ummm....to the poster that said it cost less to house a prisoner for life than the death penalty. Did Mr. THurber and his defense not have 2 years to plea and take the death penalty off the table? How much money of mine did they waste these past two years when this could have been put to rest long before now? There was no concern for cost then. Why start now????
February 16, 2009 4:32 PM
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Do we really want to reduce this argument to a discussion of dollars and cents? We are talking about human life.
How does taking Justin Thurbers life honor Jodi Sanderholms life?
Justin has faced judgement, and been found guilty. He will never see the light of day. he cannot kill again.
Clearly he is and was a disturbed young man.
Can we not have some compassion, if not for him, then for his family?
This situation is tragic enough. Lets not compound it with more killing...I think in some ways, life behind bars for such a young man is a fate far worse than death.
Justin Thurber will face a final judgement. his sentence then will be God's, not ours.
To the person who pointed out that Thurber and his lawyer could have took a plea bargain. I was just responding to the column that the reporter had wrote. My concern is not the cost, but the fact that cost was brought up in this column struck me as odd. I think that we should try to speed up thr death penalty process so we can serve justice sooner. I think the law and the way it is set up legislatively could be improved. But the only way to correct that is to elect leaders that have the will to change it.
he could have plead guilty without the plea any way
Why should there be an appeal ?
The sentence should happen within a year.
Everytime someone gets the death penalty there is an automatic appeal. This is so we always make sure there is not a innocent execution.
I am glad it is all over so I can quit hearing about it.
I have a cost solution:
Sell chances to pull the switch, push the button or pull the lever.
Bryants sells rope, AC Clinic has the dope, Or Westar can supply the amperage. Wal-Mart even has bullets. Winner gets to Pick One Permanent Solution
HANG HIM FROM THE HIGHEST TREE....BABY WILL YOU WAIT FOR ME???
"Death penalty opponents are campaigning right now to abolish the punishment, based on the fact that it costs more to sentence somebody to death than lock them away in prison, because of all the appeals."
Well, DUH! They are death penalty OPPONENTS after all. Of course they are going to try to find a reason to stop it.
I believe however, that the solution to that argument is fewer and faster appeals. Sitting on death row and being able to think on what he did with happy thoughts is not acceptable. Why not have the one and only appeal next week, and then the penalty carried out on the one year anniversary of the decision? Why all the red tape? So an innocent man doesn't get put to death? There is no doubt in this case, so why wait?
To satisfy a bunch of liberal whiners, that's why.
We are talking about human life here. Yes, Mr. Thurber may be the worst of the worst, but that is precisely the kind of person God calls us to love. We are called to love the unloveable, the lowest of the low. It may be very difficult; indeed,many would say impossible, but Jesus does not give us an option.
No offense, but when you quote the Bible you've lost the arguement.
Like Dave said, the death penalty doesn't deter people from murder.
Those that quote the Bible, what about when Jesus prevented a stoning. Ye without sin cast the first stone. So there are inconsistant philosophical points of view throughout the old and new testaments.
In repsonse to the editorial in Friday's paper from the antideath people. I thought it was awful of how they called the juror's anti-Christian people. From what I could see the jurors took their time in handing down the recommendation of death by sleeping on their decision. Also it was not their duty to use their personal opinion but to follow the law. Sadly no one wins in a case like this. But to blame the jury is WRONG WRONG WRONG.
If they don't like it take to the state legislators and work with them to change the law don't blame the people who giving their time to uphold the law. They are blaming the wrong people.
Yes the defense tried to get a plea but why didn't they do that a long time ago??? Why wait until the 11th hour? Was it because all of Mr. Thurber's "innocent innocent innocent" pleas to the cameras and the "i'm incompetent" games did not work that they decided it was time to say "guilty"? I'm sure they knew all along that Mr. Thurber did this crime why not come forward then? I don't believe for a moment that state wouldn't have accepted a plea a year and a half ago. Even the jurors took into consideration of when the plea was attempted and rather the state was just wanting a death penalty conviction or not. Thank goodness they are smarter than you.
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