Scott Peterson gets death penalty recommendation- Page 2

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:00pm

Let me get this straight. A man killed his wife and unborn child which is breaking a law. It is reccomended that he be sentenced to death which is not breakng a law. What is wrong with this picture? We are punishing a man for killing by killing him? This not justice in my book. It is ok for our judicial system to kill. I see the person who sentences him to death and gives the lethal injection just as guilty as Peterson.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:59pm

Matt-The way I see it is this.

I believe he committed the murder(s) but I do not believe that the prosecution met the burden of proof needed for a guilty charge (let alone a death penalty)

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:08pm

I've always been against the death penalty. I perceive it as being uncivilized and arbitrary.

I've thought about how I might feel if the victim had been someone I love, and in my heart, I don't believe that executing the killer would ease my pain.

The issue isn't quite as black and white for me as it used to be (I found it difficult to care much when the death sentence came down in the dragging death of James Byrd), but I still feel that the death penalty is governmentally sanctioned murder.

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:14pm

It is government sanction murder. I personally believe in the 10 Commandments. Thou Shalt Not Kill. Sometimes I wonder what goes through the minds of a judge and jury. I say sentence him to life imprisonment so he can learn what he did wrong.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:21pm

I don't usually agree with the death penalty. But the man killed his young wife and unborn child so he could be with his lover.
How does Laci's mom and dad feel?
The man is horrible. One life that will not be missed.
Why didn't he just get a divorce? Laci and her child are dead.
I don't believe in the death penalty, but what about Laci? Updated On: 12/13/04 at 10:21 PM

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:25pm

"One life that will not be missed."

His cousins, parents, in-laws, sibling[s] and niece or nephew beg to differ. I think this is a central problem with the death penalty -- the psychological effect on the relatives of the "monsters" is immeasurable. My father was facing the death penalty some fifteen years ago over a crime he was later found not guilty of committing. And even though I seldom talk to him now, I think it would've been... bizarre... for me to have been thinking one week that he was away "at work"(which is what so many mothers tell their children when their father goes to jail or prison) and then having to attend his funeral the next.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:29pm

He killed two people. KILLED!!!!!!!
I feel worse for the family of Laci.
She was only 32 years old. What a tragedy.
You have to be so careful who you date and marry.
Being single is starting to look attractive.
EEK.
To get even creepier, when I went to see Dracula a woman on the bathroom line thought i looked like Laci. Creepy. Updated On: 12/13/04 at 10:29 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:26pm

The Bible also says "An eye for an eye" and a lot of other things that are contradictory and confusing in modern times. So if a person commits murder, he deserves to live and be fed and watch TV? It's not a good life, by any stretch, but those they murdered are no longer allowed those luxuries. Murderers are allowed visitation. The families of the victims will never see their loved ones again because of his/her act. That is not justice, either. What about the victims that are raped and tortured before they die? Do you honestly believe life in prison is "justice" for that crime? I certainly do not.

I know if Jarico died in that fashion, I would want the murderer to suffer the same fate. I could not forgive him and I don't think he should be allowed anything more than his victim. If that means death, then it was the choice he made when he committed murder. Murderers know the law and death penalty. If they commit the crime, and are found undoubtably guilty*, then it's not the government's fault they blatantly disobeyed and are aware of the sentence.

*see my above comments about burden of proof

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:32pm

EvelynNesbit1906 - It is because of a situation like your father's that I would not agree to capital punishment if the evidence is circumstantial. In that case, I don't think the death penalty should be an option given to the jury. I think the death penalty should be given only if there is a confession of murder and/or physical evidence that meets the burden of proof tying the victims to the killer.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:37pm

Corine. Are you under the impression that Laci and child were the only people murdered in the last couple of years? Of course not. But think about how the reaction of the public is tied to the attractiveness of the victim. Is it really, in the scheme of things, worse that Laci was killed by her philandering husband, than say, someone who is less photogenic and hasn't been turned into a media icon? Murders are committed every day. Premeditated murders. Most of them, you never hear about. Laci was young, attractive, white, and pregnant. It sold papers.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:42pm

So let him live in Jail? They let Chambers and he got out.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:43pm

Chambers wasn't sentenced to life in prison without possiblity of parole.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:50pm

Even though he killed two people, I DON'T BELIEVE in the death penalty.
I personally think he should do something that will contribute to the world. Maybe clean the sewers and the subways in NYC.
LOL.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 11:52pm

What I find really disturbing is that people cheered when they heard the verdict. Even if he deserves the death penalty, I think it's horrible for people to cheer.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 12:01am

That's a part of my point, Gotham...the public has been whipped up into a frenzy about this story. It's entertainment. It's cheering for Team Laci.

I think her murder was horrible. I think he's probably guilty. All I'm saying is that the public's reaction has been manipulated into caring specifically about this case. It's not so much the horror of the crime, as it is that it's a lurid, interesting story. You have the pretty, popular, and pregnant dead wife. The handsome, upscale husband with a tootsie on the side.

As a friend said to me earlier, if Laci was black and weighed 250 lbs, and if Scott was toothless, we would never have even heard about the murder, much less cared about the verdict.

The cheering was totally offensive.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 12:09am

There's another murder case going on here in NY. Boyfriend breaks up rich woman's marriage, then marries her. First husband is killed, rich woman dies of cancer, boyfriend on trial.

Also, there's two hawks on Mary Tyler Moore's building. The building tore down the nest and scads of whiny people are out in the street protesting that the hawks deserve to remain there. I think people have lost all perspective.

[CaTheatreGirl]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 12:16am

I live in Modesto. Emotions have been running high over this case -- both the trial and penalty phase. Many of us have connections in some way to the people in this case. Even my fifth grade students have had an interest in it. Laci had been their sub a few times a couple of years ago. I can't say I'm a proponent of the death penalty, but Scott Peterson doesn't deserve any breaks. In any event, with 640 men and women already on death row and only 10 put to death since 1993, Scott will sit in prison for a LONG time, perhaps with a view facing the bay where Laci's and Conner's bodies were found.

As for any cheering, consider the riff raff that's been congregating around the courthouse for days full of curiosity. Not your quality crowd. It was quiet inside the courtroom. From the interviews with the jury members, it appears they were very meticulous and made their decision with heavy heart. They were offended by the cheering after the guilty verdict. They know they'll live with their decision forever. No one wins and no matter what, nothing will bring Laci and Conner back.

Just maybe things can get back to normal here.

[wink]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 8:33am

I keep thinking of a dream I had right before Timothy McVeigh was executed here in Indiana. I dreamt that I was the nurse who was supposed to give him the lethal injection, and as I was driving to Terre Haute, I was calling trying to call my husband to tell him I couldn't go through with it. Then I was in a room in a jail with another nurse and a security officer from work and they were telling me that if I didn't do this I would go to jail myself.

I read after the execution that some family members of the Oklahoma victim bombings felt as though they had some closure. I don't believe in the death penalty.

The only time I could harm anyone is if I felt my life or my family's life were threatened and I needed to do this to save them. I can't justify taking a life for any other reason.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 8:47am

I am completely against the death penalty. It would a far better form of "punishment" if he had to endure prison life for the rest of his born days. The death penalty goes against everything good in this world. An eye-for-an-eye does no one any good and just perpetuates the circle of negativity.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 8:55am

I am all for the death penalty. I think forgiveness is highly overrated and have no problem making criminal punishments an act of vengeance.

This man murdered his own wife and unborn child. Spare me the moralizing about the high road: he doesn't deserve to exist and I applaud the jurors for making the decision to purge our world of a demon.

In other words, good riddance to bad rubbish.

[AbsolutKnight]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 9:00am

Well I don't feel like I have ever had an experience close enough to be for or against the death penalty.

But he did know the consequences of his actions. And for that I will not feel sorry for him.

And I completely agree that if there is only circumstantial evidence he should not be given the death penalty.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 9:17am

JohnPopa - so you don't belive in God, right? Not a judgement - I'm just asking a question.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 9:19am

Nope, don't believe in god. Updated On: 12/14/04 at 09:19 AM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 9:19am

OoooOOOo! Dismemberment or disembowlment?

I'm just all goosey and giddy deciding which one is more delectible!

Updated On: 12/14/04 at 09:19 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/14/04 at 9:40am

flay the philandering murderous sociopath alive. i've been getting in shape. i'll wield the whip. it'll be like the passion re-dux.