# Do liberals want Dylann Roof executed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986 "2015-06-20T01:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/1 "2015-06-20T01:03:00Z")
Generally speaking the death penalty is seen as an anti-liberal/right wing thing (though of course Communists used it plenty), but it seems like American liberals have largely moved away from the hippie and MLK-type stuff and towards a more reactionary and vengeful approach to fighting bigotry. Do you think this mass murder is going to cause an increase in support for capital punishment among liberals? I could see many progressive types cheering Dylann’s execution as a sort of come-uppance for the black community, though personally I would rather see mercy than vengeance play into this case. Apparently some of the victims’ families agree with me too. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/2 "2015-06-20T01:09:39Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > . > Do you think this mass murder is going to cause an increase in support for capital punishment among liberals? . I’ll bite. Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/3 "2015-06-20T01:10:28Z")
No, still strongly opposed to it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/4 "2015-06-20T01:11:19Z")
First off, “American liberals” of the 21st Century generally don’t identify closely with Cold War-era communist governments. People opposed to the death penalty tend to be pretty consistent in their opposition. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/5 "2015-06-20T01:11:45Z")
Why is this in Cafe Society? ETA: Liberal, here - my opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with the murderers’ stance on apartheid. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/6 "2015-06-20T01:12:15Z")
far left liberal support death penalty for this guy 100% ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/7 "2015-06-20T01:12:59Z")
I’ll just move this over to GD. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/8 "2015-06-20T01:17:14Z")
I don’t want any more deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/9 "2015-06-20T01:17:51Z")
I was sorta hoping there would be a trial first? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/10 "2015-06-20T01:18:00Z")
I’ve never noticed any reluctance by liberals, in whatever circumstances they are defined as such, to have those they hate executed. The Whig Supremacy in Britain during the 18th century added around 200 capital offences ( admittedly mostly for the poor ); the liberals in 19th century Latin America killed as enthusiastically as their foes of various stripes; and in your country, as I never tire of mentioning, Mr. Biden, the current vice-president and a prominent liberal, single-handedly doubled the number of capital offences during the 1990s. However, I dunno if ‘liberals’ particularly hate this murderer. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/11 "2015-06-20T01:20:22Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I’ve never noticed any reluctance by liberals, in whatever circumstances they are defined as such, to have those they hate executed. . . . Then you haven’t been paying attention. Many, many liberals are opposed to capital punishment, and those of us who feel this way hold the same belief in this particular case. No, the murderer here should not be executed. No one should be executed. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/12 "2015-06-20T01:22:04Z")
Nope, I still oppose the death penalty. Killing him provides no ‘extra justice’ on top of life imprisonment, in my view, and does nothing beneficial for society as compared to life imprisonment. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/13 "2015-06-20T01:30:21Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Generally speaking the death penalty is seen as an anti-liberal/right wing thing (though of course Communists used it plenty), but it seems like American liberals have largely moved away from the hippie and MLK-type stuff and towards a more reactionary and vengeful approach to fighting bigotry. > > Do you think this mass murder is going to cause an increase in support for capital punishment among liberals? I could see many progressive types cheering Dylann’s execution as a sort of come-uppance for the black community, though personally I would rather see mercy than vengeance play into this case. Apparently some of the victims’ families agree with me too. Not a liberal (at least to folks here :p) but I don’t support it even for a scumbag like this guy. What I support is to lock this dude away and throw away the key. Let him live, year after year, decade after decade alone and forgotten until he dies of extreme old age, waiting for the race war that will never be. He’s a dumb fuck, a racist and a murdering piece of garbage and it will give me a warm feeling inside knowing he is continuing to rot away in his cell. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/14 "2015-06-20T01:33:54Z")
My position on capital punishment has always been al little more nuanced than either: “No, never. Even Bin Laden should be thrown in jail for life.” on the one hand and: “Bring on the electric bleachers.” on the other. I oppose _routine_ application of the death penalty but would reserve the right to use it in certain circumstances. Generally speaking, the greater the amount of premeditation that goes into the crime the more I would tend to support the usage of the ultimate sanction. Also, I would require not merely the absence of reasonable doubt, but the absence of doubt, _period._ If targeting, for murder, random strangers does not qualify, I’m frankly hard put to come up with something that would. I mean, your boss, your wife, the a-hole that sits at the light until just before it turns red and then jack-rabbits through, we’ve all been there. But blowing up a building, setting a bomb in a crowed, or shooting up a church, I say stick a needle in his arm. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/15 "2015-06-20T01:37:08Z")
I don’t know if I’m a liberal but I am against the death penalty and that hasn’t changed. I’m not against it because I “like” the people on death row. Claverhouse’s comparative history uses a broad word to loosely connect very different groups at different times in history. And liberal (for whatever country your in at the time) doesn’t necessarily or even usually mean nonviolent. There are conservatives against the death penalty. I would even say it’s a conservative position – it is against all-powerful government. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/16 "2015-06-20T01:38:01Z")
Liberal. I don’t think there should be any such thing as a prison sentence longer than ten years. And of course I am also against the death penalty, in all cases including this one. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/17 "2015-06-20T01:48:28Z")
So **Frylock** , you would have a guy like Roof released after ten years at the age of 31, he did his time, and if he went on to target more people you would just accept the risk of people like that being released back into society? That seems pretty crazy unless there’s something I misread somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/18 "2015-06-20T01:48:50Z")
There’s a connection between US liberalism and an anti-death penalty stance, but its not particularly strong. According to the first Gallup poll that came up on Google, 47% of liberals are in favour. That’s less than the 61% average, but still, the average liberal is about as likely to be for as against. In anycase, I doubt this particular instance is going to change many minds. Its not like Roof is the first awful murderer in most peoples lifetimes. People who have been consistent in their views for the Boston Marathon bombers, Bin Laden, Breivik, McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, etc etc. aren’t likely to change their minds just because of one more instance. FWIW, I’m a liberal and am as against the death penalty as I was before. I don’t think it makes future massacres less likely, it tends to make an imperfect justice system worse and is generally barbaric. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/19 "2015-06-20T01:51:25Z")
Now aside from my feelings on the death penalty, I think Roof has a short life expectancy because even if he evades execution (which might be _more_ likely if this is prosecuted as a hate crime)\*, he will be in a prison population that is largely African American and have a big old “Kick Me” sign on his back. Furthermore he is suicidal (told friends he was going to do something big then kill himself), and I think if he’s determined to do himself in, he’ll find a way. Like with the guy in Cleveland who kept those woman prisoner all those years, I think the guards could even aid this with a little strategic carelessness. Last but not least, he has been using pretty hardcore drugs for a while, stuff like Oxycodone and Buprenorphine which have very intense withdrawal, which would make him suicidal even if he wasn’t self-destructive and had, you know, some chance at a future other than execution or lifelong imprisonment. He will be hard to keep alive. \*The explanation I read is that if he was simply tried for nine counts of murder in SC the death penalty would be a no brainer, but they don’t have a hate crime law so it gets to the Feds. They can still ask for the death penalty but it’s less certain than in South Carolina courts. I’ll throw out there that keeping this person alive would probably mean nearly constant solitary confinement and separation, and he will never, ever be allowed out, so he is looking at 60-70 years life in prison, much of it very lonely, and death may be kinder. And more than he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/20 "2015-06-20T02:09:41Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I could see many progressive types cheering Dylann’s execution as a sort of come-uppance for the black community… Well, if you could see it, then it must be true! I mean, what other kind of proof could anyone possibly need? Just witness the number of liberals chiming in on this thread saying they changed their minds. Why, there must be at least ZERO of them!! I’m neither liberal nor conservative, I don’t favor the death penalty, and this situation makes no difference whatsoever. None. Nada. Zip. Nein. Nyet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986.md?page=2)