Gary Ridgeway has pleaded guilty to killing at least 48 women. He is now the most prolific serial killer in US history. Part of his statement: He has received a punishment of 48 counts of life without parole and a fine of $480,000 - $10K for each of his victims. Keeping him incarcerated will cost US taxpayers around $40,000 - $50,000 a year. Does he deserve to live?
Of course he doesn't deserve to live. No chance, no way, no how. Give me the gun and I'll happily pull the trigger on his ass myself. By what retarded logic liberals manage to believe scum like this deserve to live is absolutely beyond me.
I'd gladly personally execute him too....although I still think that life in prison is a far tougher punishment than a nice quick death.
You may be right. Still, I'd rather get rid of him rather than blow $50,000 per year storing his sorry ass.
Typically the prosecutors will accept a guilty plea in exchange for life. From their standpoint it makes a lot of sense: they get it over with, there are not endless appeals, the victim's families are spared the ordeal of a trial, there is no risk of a scewup at trial and the defendant walking somehow, and in this case I believe he gave them details of many killings they might not even have been aware of. On the other side, if you don't execute this guy, who will you ever execute? The prosecutors in the DC sniper cases have obviously made the same calculus and come down with a different answer.
Is it, though? Hot meals, recreational activities, TV, weight lifting. Doesn't seem like punishment to me. And the darned expense is what really ticks me off. $40,000 - $50,000 a year is what experienced cops, teachers, and social workers make. Why should our money go to caring for those for whom the life of others mean nothing?
I agree with hapaboy, Prison time is not much of a deterrent any more. Those that have committed lessor crimes should be doing hard labor six days a week for the duration of their term. For capitol offenses the execution should be swift and public, preferably live on national TV, and every prisoner in the country should have to watch it.
Excellent ideas, TL. So sad that it doesn't appear remotely likely they'll ever be implemented. Excellent nonetheless.
Hey, executing this maniac is just fine by me. But seriously, if YOU were given the choice between a quick death or life in prison, what would YOU choose? My answer is the same as my favorite comic, Chris Rock: HBO: When a new prisoner comes in, how do you initiate him? INMATE: The first thing I do is make him toss my salad HBO: Toss your salad? What's that? INMATE: Havin' your salad tossed means havin' your asshole eaten out with jelly or syrup. I prefer syrup. I am not making this up. HBO: Wh-wh-why must you go through all that, sir? Why not just oral sex? INMATE: Well, when a man's sucking your dick, he can pretend it's something else. When he's eating ass he <b>knows</b> it's ass. We don't need the death penalty. We've got the tossed salad man. If I had the choice between the electric chair and the tossed salad man I'd be like, "where do you plug it in? shouldn't I be wet first?"