this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2024
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Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.

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[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 80 points 10 months ago (30 children)

The death penalty is a barbaric institution. It always has been, and it always will be. The government says it’s okay to murder this person, so let’s murder him.

I don’t get why that doesn’t shock people’s consciences and sense of basic decency.

[–] MagicShel@programming.dev 81 points 10 months ago (11 children)

I think it's that guys like this one aren't a hill anyone is eager to die on. Like, it's bad, but let's not make this guy the poster boy for ending the practice. There are other cases I'm much happier to cite in arguments opposing the death penalty.

[–] teamevil@lemmy.world 55 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Perhaps one of the many innocent folks on death row, which includes a not insignificant amount of African Americans too.

But this guy can fuck right off, I am not losing a second of sleep to his suffering.

[–] CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I am never worried about guilty people on death row. I am worried about those that kill them, those that help kill them, those that witness the killing, and those who believe falsely that this form of justice will heal anyone from harms or prevent future harms.

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[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Even a single innocent person getting murdered by the state makes the practice barbaric. The state is imperfect. It should not have a license to murder.

[–] LanternEverywhere@kbin.social 35 points 10 months ago (8 children)

We're all in agreement, but as OP said, this
particular person isn't the time to make your stand on. We've all been vocally against the death penalty for a long time, but this specific person is not the one to make an especially strong "this is the line, no further" kind of stand for. I'm against him being killed like I'm against all cases of the government killing prisoners, but I'm also not doing any extra standing up for this particular person.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago

I have a friend who went to protest outside the federal prison when Timothy McVeigh was executed. He had no love for McVeigh. He thought McVeigh was a monster. That wasn't the point. The point was that capital punishment is always wrong. The state should not have the power of life and death over its citizenry.

And I have great respect for him for doing so. Protesting capital punishment in cases like this are just as important as in lesser cases because the reason for the punishment isn't at issue.

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[–] MindSkipperBro12@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Probably because our morals and principles collapse at the first speed bump.

[–] ArugulaZ@kbin.social 9 points 10 months ago

Too busy getting our consciousnesses shocked by mass killings at supermarkets, I guess. By the way, nice work blinding that cyclops.

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[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 51 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Fuck the death penalty, the guy needs to be punished, but the death penalty is barbaric.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I don't disagree, but also I think the death penalty is too merciful. This guy should live forever, watching the world go by without him or his ignorance. He should be forced to watch home movies and social media from the families of the people he killed. Watch them mourn, and how they find hope and love in a world where he also exists.

He should live long enough to learn that his life is meaningless, his actions, while extremely harmful, will be forgotten to history as just another violent, murderous bigot. He should realize that from inside a 10x10 room, and then he should live another 50 years with that knowledge.

The state shouldn't kill people at all. It isn't a deterrent, it doesn't cost less money, it doesn't increase justice, and sometimes we get it wrong. There isn't a good reason for the death penalty to exist, and plenty of reasons it shouldn't.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

He should be forced to watch home movies and social media from the families of the people he killed. Watch them mourn

Please, that would make that racist prick feel pride, not shame.

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[–] Buffaloaf@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

Not just barbaric, but also more expensive than life in prison. There's also all of those cases where an innocent person is killed.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 41 points 10 months ago (3 children)

The only issue with the death penalty is the potential to execute the innocent. There is no danger of that here. I don’t want to share the planet with this racist prick.

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (16 children)

That’s not “the only issue,” you fucking ghoul. It’s a barbaric practice and has no place in a civilized society.

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[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (18 children)

The other issue is that it quite frequently costs exponentially more to administer the death penalty due to years of appeals. I'm not sure how that would work in this case, since as you said, it's apparent that the defendant is guilty.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

His appeals will be focused on procedure, rather than facts. Pretty much the go-to defense strategy when a suspect is caught red handed. If you can’t argue the facts of the case, try to get the facts thrown out on technicality (like maybe the police mishandled evidence so it’s not admissible anymore,) or try to minimize the person’s crime as much as possible. Try to get the sentence reduced, try to downplay the convict’s actions, emphasize how much they have changed, etc…

Basically just damage control. Accept that you aren’t going to come out of it unscathed, so just work to mitigate the damage instead of trying to avoid it altogether.

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[–] IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee 28 points 10 months ago (22 children)

If you kill the man, his suffering is limited. If you lock him away in a supermax for the rest of his long days, his suffering is a thousandfold.

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[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 27 points 10 months ago (6 children)

I don't even kill spiders. It's hard to look at that photo and understand, how this young adult even considered doing this. What broke him like that? Maybe, instead of killing him, we can somehow guarantee no new guys like him would happen. Not in a genetic crime bullshit fashion, but in providing psychological services, making regular checks, noticing them and reaching out before they act like that? He's a fucking idiot, but also a guy that fell through many safety nets proving them ineffective.

[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (6 children)

That's not how the prison industry works. There's no money in fixing people if you can use them as unpaid labour.

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[–] chitak166@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

People who feel like they have nothing to live for often take their frustration out on others.

It's like they know their lives suck and likely won't get better, so they focus on making other people's lives worse because it's literally all they feel they can do.

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[–] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

From Wikipedia

Motive Anti-black racism White supremacy Belief in the Great Replacement and white genocide conspiracy theories[6][7][8]

A political wing of the USA is responsible for this

[–] BeerMedic@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago (4 children)

It's a worse punishment to let him rot in prison.

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[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 21 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Let him rot in prison. Abolish capital punishment!

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