The Military Death Penalty: The President Must Approve
It seems clear that, barring unforeseen factors, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, will be tried in the military court system. He is a military officer accused of killing and wounding other members of the military on a military base. If he is tried for capital murder, one of the most likely charges, he could also face the death penalty under the court martial system. But the military death penalty is a rarely used and circuitous process.
The current military death penalty system was established in an Executive Order by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Since then, according to Dwight Sullivan, an Air Force appellate lawyer, there have been 15 members of the military sentenced to death. Of that group, 10 have seen their sentences set aside on appeal, three remain on direct appeal, and two are continuing to seek other judicial reviews.
Under the military system, the President of the United States must affirmatively approve of the execution. In July of 2008, President Bush approved the execution of an Army private, Ronald A. Gray, who had been convicted in connection with four murders and eight rapes in the late 1980s. Gray has since appealed his case to federal courts, delaying his execution again.
The last recorded U.S. military execution occurred on April 13, 1961, when John Arthur Bennett was hanged, after a conviction in the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria. According to the Los Angeles Times, it took him 16 minutes and five second to die. Under current rules in the Army and Navy, future executions will be carried out by lethal injection.
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1
Perhaps this may flush out Obama's "Muslim" sympathies once and for all.
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2
Sounds like the military capital punishment scheme is as flawed as the civilian justice system. What you've just described is the norm for death row inmates in civilian prisons: appeals, stays of execution, years upon years of jurisprudential wrangling, anything but the actual sentence...
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2.1
You have our liberal / progressive "friends" to thank on that one, Exiled/Neo. Plus the myriad of liberal judicial quacks they have placed on the benches of America.
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Keep them for 30 or 40 years and allow them to rot. Now that is a humane way to do it.
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Of course we have Cass Susteen, Czar Number 1, who is proposing that your dog or cat has as many rights as you do.
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You betcha! And, they make fun of Sarah Palin. I'm guessing good 'ol Sarah would even pull the switch if she was called upon to do so.
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My vote is to go back to hanging. We need all the deterrents we can get. If it was good enough for Sadam, why not Hasan. -
2.2
Perfect, rusty:
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If it was good enough for Sadam, why not Hasan.
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Are you in favor of ascribing to the Iraqi code of justice in general? -
2.3
Rusty you must be a direct descendant of those folks that you gathered in the town square to bring picnic baskets to the hangings for entertainment. Gosh you conservatives are such a blood thirsty lot. You call yourselves Christian when you worried about somebody elses sexual proclivities, but when it comes to the other tenets of the faith like how the poor should be treated and not killing people then all bets are off. While you are so busy blaming liberals and progressives for not rushing to kill anything that moves, who do you blame for the mistakes, and not the ones that managed to be exonerated after 15 or 20 years, but all the ones that didn't, like the one Texas Governor Perry is busy trying to cover up. As long as human beings are in charge of the death penalty and no one can guarantee perfection, how can you justify taking someones life when you know the possibility exists that we could get it wrong. Our system was founded on the belief that we preferred that the guilty go free rather than mistakenly convict an innocent man. so what's killing one do to your sense of justice?
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2.4
Please do not mention the intentions of the founding fathers, Dee. It messes with Rusty's preconception that 'guilty until proven innocent' can be blamed on progressives.
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3
What a stupid waste of the president's time.
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4
Speaking of Muslim sympathies, I don't think we should just stop at the death penalty. Let's chop off some hands, stone some women, and give 1000 lashes to anyone who criticizes Glenn Beck. Yeah, there's nothing like one of those darn Muslims to send the hate posts in a torrent down the digital turd chute.
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5
I think that, ultimately, Hasan will be put to death.
Just like Tim McVeigh.
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6
Michael - why does it "seem clear" to you. I've been hearing that he's unlikely to be tried in military court.
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7
Jeffrey Toobin saying just now on CNN that this will have to be a negotiation between the DOJ and the DOD.
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8
Anything less than the death penalty for this RADICAL MUSLIM will be a crime in itself. But will this sympathiser we call prez. do it? I doubt it.
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9
Thanks Scherer, this is interesting history that I didn't know before.
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10
Just an FYI Obama is pro death penalty -
[when a crime is]...."so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment."
I think this crime fits his criteria. He will not stand in the way of his execution.
However, be prepared for a defense of insanity and based on what I have read having a better than 50 50 shot at working. In which case the death penalty is constitutionally off the table.
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11
Question for the advocates of death? As warped as the guy's thinking might be, if the guy believes that he did his duty as a muslim and his reward upon his death will be paradise with 72 virgins, why would the death penalty be a punishment?
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11.1
The death penalty is not a means of retributive punishment, at least in my view. Its purpose is to protect society. From my Catholic perspective you cannot justify capital punishment in terms of justice or revenge. The only moral value of execution is to assuage an imminent threat to society. Whether or not Hasan constitutes such is a debatable point, however.
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11.2
Because he deserves to die. It's that simple.
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11.3
" .. if the guy believes that.. his reward ...will be paradise with 72 virgins, why would the death penalty be a punishment? .."
Isn't this "virgin" angle over-hyped?
1) As a way of demonstrating their piety, the jews would be encouraged by their god to invade neighbouring tribes in an orgy of bloodletting, slaughter and the defilement of virgins. And their god is reported to have been gratified. Do the ultra-orthodox fanatics in those lands still subscribe such cursed hedonism as the will of their god? Note the gratuitous tortures, rapes and slaughter the holier-than-thou, invading israeli inflict upon the palestinians.
Do such bible myths reinforce our view towards virgins and defilement?2) Looking forward to the virgins? Why was that christian god called jesus so-ooo unwilling to die/depart unto the other side? Wasn't he looking forward to everlasting hedonistic, eh, presence in the company of pure/virgin angels in the here-after?
3) What do we take with us to the after-life?
[After all we are created in the image of our god(s)]
Do we take with us the nerves at a minimum - for the sole purpose of partaking thereof in the enjoyment arising from the joy of defilement of virgins/angels? -
11.4
Why do virgins have to be victimized - in the bibl;e or in our society?
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12
A debatable point huh? Yeah, and the debate should last about a minute.
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12.1
I'm not saying that it's debatable whether he posed a grave threat, as it is quite evident that he did given his shooting rampage. It is a reasonable point of debate at this point, however, whether he continues to pose a threat warranting execution for the safety of society. Certainly, a life-sentence in a maximum security facility with no amenities could be considered adequate retributive punishment.
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13
The word "insanity" in reference to Hasan has been kicked around in this SWAMP.
Is that an effective defense plea in the military court system?
If it is, then those who want to see him hang may be advised not to mention the word ....
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14
I'm not even against executing the criminally insane. For people like McVeigh and Hasan, I'm not against involuntary organ donations either. It's a hard world and if any of their organs could help to save a life...bonus time.
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15
You forget, Dee, that this is the same Rusty that was high-fiving Hula when Ted Kennedy passed away. This is the same Rusty that was celebrating a store owner shooting two robbers - an act that store owner wishes he hadn't had to do.
The only thing that seems to make Rusty truly happy is insulting folk's patriotism and people dying. He's part of the same crowd that cheered when Dr Tiller was murdered. The same crowd that mock Islam as barbaric, and consider people who are willing to give up a bit more of their paycheck to help the poor and the sick as morally bankrupt. They smear a patina of philosophy on their jingoistic dogma - tossing out terms like 'small government' and 'fiscal responsibility' and the ubiquitously undefined 'FREEDOM!™' - and then accuse liberals of wanting to cancel Christmas.
According to sociologists, about 30% of the general population is incapable of advanced abstract thought. I believe that in order to have a sense of 'humanity' you have to be capable of understanding someone's plight, which is an advanced abstract thought process. I also believe this explains why a portion of the hardcore right wing persistently continues to exist. Maybe that's also why the percentage of Republican scientists are in the single digits. Its also why I've largely given up on arguing with the rabid Rush Limbaugh worshipers and their ilk.
Or to use an old saying: Never try to teach a pig to whistle. It annoys the pig and it never learns how to whistle.
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15.1
Ugh, meant that rant as a reply to 2.3.
I blame Bill Clinton.
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15.2
Oh the same old monotonous crap, moment. Alway's defending the criminal. Where's the "humanity" for the victims. Kill 'em all!
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15.3
Even misplaced, your rant was not wasted. i enjoyed it. thanks. I blame a rotating cast of characters.
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16
The problem with the death penalty is not that certain people don't deserve it. It's that the people who decide who deserves it are only human and highly subject to error. People who cheer executions much like the people who cheer on torture seem untroubled by the possibility that their victims might be innocent.
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16.1
" .. untroubled by the possibility that their victims might be innocent. .."
For those who were not around during the heyday of Hitler got a lesson during the heydays of George Bush on how a propaganda war can be waged which can turn rational beings, Christians, into monsters capable of gratuitously inflicting horrendous pain and death on a fellow innocent man.
State Rationalization::
1) We don't torture innocent people: All the people we torture do confess eventually or they are always about to confess just before they die under torture.
[Indeed - long before the torture commences, I would confess that my mother is a klingon ..]2) Those killed in our missile strikes and bombings in Iraq and Pakistan - including kids and their mothers - were terrorists or suspected terrorists. And that is enough 'reason' to assuage the (vestigial) conscience of the 'civilized' world.
3) About the death penalty: The society doesn't murder innocent people, we contend thus: All those that the state puts to death are guilty as charged.
[Trick: We do not generally re-open a case once the subject has been put to death. For what purpose, we say, closure has already been reached ... Why be cruel to those left behind by re-opening old wounds? Clever, eh?] -
16.2
At a little past 9 pm last night Joh Allen Mohammad was put to death, and yes I cheered.
We who advocate the death penalty do so because we place a very high value on human life.
There you go dirks, c-fuk, and all you other limpwristed lefties, that should keep you busy for awhile.
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16.3
2/3 I have read posts from you for at least a couple of months now and have seen no evidence from your posts that you put any value on human life beyond yoru own. In fact you seem to have very broad categories of humanity who you seem to feel deserve death, or at the very least abject scorn. If you are a bible reader then you know that you are going to be judged someday by your own standards. Since you are so without compassion for others, expect to get an equal amount back in return.
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16.4
Yeah queenie, Rapists and muderers should die,period. That applies to muderous muslim extremists, no exceptions. Too broad of a category for you? Too bad. I stand by it. You should try you're lily livered drivel on the loved ones of those killed by this fanatic and see how it goes over. Do you read the bible? Maybe you should read all of it, not just the passage(s) that fit your liberal bleeding heart philosophy. He who sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. Refers to those who take innocent life.
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17
With all the DNA expertise there is today, there is no excuse why murders still should be on the streets and innocent be in prison. The goverment is fighting a war for what they believe in and should not be so hipercritical and love murders!!! That's why the military is fighting in the first place!! To get justice! These people that murder should be on death row. They do it on purpose and should pay for killing innocent people. It baffles me why people stick up for murders and watch innocent people get killed. This country is so messed up we are no better then them. It's all crime in this country and we still keep letting them in and training them. Just like the goverment let illegals in and gave them free licences, social security etc. It's time for a change and give Obama a chance. Time for a new goverment and we do want change. You kill, you die!!! He deserves the death penalty, Thank God it wasn't one of my kids, relatives or friends, my heart sure goes out to all that have lost. Maybe this country would be better off if they brought back the death penalty, they might think twice about killing someone, or they are just hoping to die themselves.
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18
You know it is rather comical to see how many people will post their opinions on MILITARY matters, but yet so many of them don't have the balls to wear the uniform and serve OUR Flag. I honestly don't care about your religion but if you are going to Serve you should understand the costs. As far as Hasan is concerned he should see the death penalty. Why you may ask, he MURDERED 13 Soldiers and Civilians and wounded another 31. If you don't think that that deserves the death penalty than you should really re-evaluate your belief systems.
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19
just put him ion front of a wall and have the ones that he didn't kill have there go and see what happen so just do the old fashion firing squad why wast all the time just do i t so he can be were he want to be any way but in my ways i would will you wouldn't want to o know what my people would do to a f---- a------- that what i would do and if every body would just remember 9/11 there would be no f---- big deal at all so why have all the big ass show about this just keep it low and do it and if that not going to happen will then this here U.S.A. has lost it
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20
In capital punishment for Muslims we are justifying their cause and we create more Hassans, Saddams and Taliban.
Justification seems a mild cause but martyrs and beautification for their cause are better ways to create more nostalgia and hysteria for the extremists. And all those who follow the steps are promised a better next life.
What-a-joke!
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21
Linedoc, I disagree with you on one thing. I know have known and have family and friends in the military. i know and heard it all. To say I don't have the balls to join, looks like your just recruting people to join the military. Before this war, your military, at the civilian expenses, have a free world tour and free parties, cheat on your wives etc!!! Will I join this hipercritical goverment service, no. When and why you joined, that's your business. This goverment has a problem and a big one. We are talking about murder here and what you are now fighting for. Why the goverment is still recruting people to come here, is beyond me. They just promise them free and we are paying for it, yet we are fighting for you and your family for cc interest etc, unless your one of those that run up your cc then cry because you can't pay for it and get free merchandise then we have to pay for you also. Don't use your balls to freely.
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21.1
Justice you say that all anyone did in the military (pre war) was party, tour the world and cheat on thier wives. Are you aware that The US Coast Guard is also military?
My husband works at a surf station, one of the bussiest on this coast. For the last 200 + years men and women have been putting thier lives on the line in that branch of the service to save others from the sea. They piloted small boats in WW2 bringing soilders to and from ships, they spend half of the year on duty pulling people off a jetty they shouldnt have been on in large seas. They used to row out in small boats to ships that were stranded and lost thier lives often. Heck some of them jump out of the air into the frigid Alaskan waters knowing that they will die in 45 min if they are not pulled back out in time.
Where is the party again?I suggest you learn your facts before you slam the military. But even though you come accross as a jerk whom I wouldnt want my husband risking his life for, dont worry he will still save you and the hundreds like you and then let you spit all over him afterward. THAT is what the men and women in the miltary do. THAT is what you pay them for.
And speaking of money please explain to me how you pay my credit card bills? You have the nerve to act like what our military is paid is too much. My husband would make 5 times as much doing the same job you pay him for in the civilian world. Gesh, if you add up the hours he works and divide it by what he makes he gets paid less than 1$ an hour. We live UNDER the poverty level, not because he is uneducated or not capable but because he would rather serve his country than be rich.
Don't use your balls to freely you say, I don't think you can because I don't see any on you. But I see some large ones on every man and woman risking thier lives everyday in the US Coast Guard for rude people like yourself.
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22
Trust me we look at the flag all the time. just like we look at the sky.
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23
It seems fairly obivious that by the actions and comments Hasan made prior to his act of violence, it demonstrates he had divided loyalty contrary to his oath as a military officer and citizen of the US. He traded his citizenship and loyalty to the US for his religious loyalty and those who wage war against the US. When he acted out his loyalty, it became high treason and murdering his fellow comrades who were going to fight against the enemies of the US. He knew what he was doing and deliberately planned it out, and likely he suspected that he would be killed in the process, not survive and stand trial. During the investigations by FBI, he should have been kicked out of the Army, and possibly stripped of citizenship and deported. Our country has become lazy, can't even deal with immigration issue. People who fly flags of another country in US are loyal to the US, this is a no-brainer, just like Hasan, it's a no-brainer, a traitor from the get go, and treated as such.
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24
I think, ladies and gents, we need to look at the specific events and issues of the case regarding the application of the death penelty. As a former Marine, I was well informed of the UCMJ and possible consequences for my actions while in uniform - all service members are aware of the level of required committment to the military community and we, as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, do not subscribe to the gray 'civilian' application of justice. As directed by the service, this man will be prosecuted for his actions. We do not care what his motivation is, we do not care what his problems were, and we certainly do not care what religion he choses to follow - what we do care about is the actions he took and the consequences of those actions. Basic statement: Against base regulations, he brought a weapon on base purchased for the express purpose of committing murder, did commit murder, and was only stopped by extreme force. Regardless of how the civilians think, those of us in the military firmly believe he should be judged according to the UCMJ and put to death in line with our regulations and laws.
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25
CORRECTION from my previous message, "People who fly flags of another country in US are NOT loyal to the US". Sorry.
Reading several other comments, appears alot of arguments about death penalty and religious morality. Many references in the Bible of the wicked being vanquished. Our country was founded in battle, defended in battle (WW1, WW2) and others from an eminent threat, all justified in the minds of those on the firing line that God is with us. Evil exists in our world and in our society, but we must do what is necessary to preserve what we have & that so many have died for. Whether or not we are an instrument of God, He will determine that on our day of reckoning. We must do our duty to preserve peace and goodwill in His name, that means we have to take on the evil in this world, head-on, be decisive.
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