# 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:** 2
**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, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/21 "2015-06-20T02:09:47Z")
> [@pool](#): > > 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. I kind of chose the number at random and give a different too-short sounding number every time I express the view. The actual number would have to be determined by what the actual facts state about recidivism etc. But yeah, I imagine it’d be around ten. As to the question of “accepting the risk” one always accepts risks one believes to be extremely low-probability. ---
**Author:** ![Cadae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Cadae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cadae)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/22 "2015-06-20T02:11:49Z")
I want him executed, just like I want to finish this half-box of donuts. But giving into vengeful urges isn’t any healthier than giving into gluttonous ones unfortunately. ---
**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, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/23 "2015-06-20T02:19:57Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Claverhouse’s comparative history uses a broad word to loosely connect very different groups at different times in history. Indeed; exactly as I said in that sentence. However, that is down to liberals themselves, since they adopt the term to indicate their own goodness. In every place and time where they used the term. Literally in it’s beginning, because it meant — in their description — _noble, aristocratic, openhanded, constitution-loving_. Somehow, _party of murdering bastards_ doesn’t have the same _éclat_. > [@](#): > > There are conservatives against the death penalty. I would even say it’s a conservative position – it is against all-powerful government. And again, conservative has a different meaning in the USA, since the main body of conservative thinking the world over loved the darling government until the late 20th century, and wanted to defend it. Eventually veering into the near fascism of Evola etc… Still, I get your point, since there is conservative opposition to say, nuclear power or militarism — just as much as amongst liberals or the left. Very nearly any belief can be matched with any other provided it is not contradictory. Myself, I think the death penalty essentially hideous, but I don’t waste much time pitying the frequently vile people who get topped by the state. Crap happens. I am, right now, rather depressed over those 4 Chinese children who committed suicide, and would rather pity them, or millions of unhappy animals, than this punk if he dies. However neither would I gloat at his unhappiness in prison, since I think prisons should not be places of suffering. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/24 "2015-06-20T02:24:24Z")
I think he just needs some diversity and tolerance training ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/25 "2015-06-20T02:34:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > 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. Having argued with you recently in another thread, I welcome the opportunity to agree. Liberal here – certainly by most US metrics. And if I’m in any way typical, let me say that “whether this guy gets the death penalty” was so far down in my thoughts that it was non-existent. Why the hell should that even be a thought or consideration? Who cares? It was important that he be arrested and charged and, if guilty as I assume he is, convicted and appropriately removed from society. The much bigger question is why this sort of thing continues to happen – a question that has several implications, both prevalent racism and, not to start another pointless debate but hey, this guy was given a .45 caliber pistol as a birthday present – why not, what could possibly go wrong in a culture that treats guns as a fine introduction to life for an up-and-coming adolescent? IMHO, as long as the arguments are cast in terms of “I want to see the bastard fry” instead of root cause and prevention, and as long as everyone makes sure that no one dares to ever associate gun proliferation with the proliferation of gun violence, then carry on … nothing will change. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/26 "2015-06-20T02:35:28Z")
Liberal, anti-death penalty. This doesn’t change my position in the slightest. You don’t think I ever considered “but what if he did something really, REALLY bad” thought experiment before? ---
**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, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/27 "2015-06-20T02:49:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The much bigger question is why this sort of thing continues to happen – a question that has several implications, both prevalent racism and, not to start another pointless debate but hey, this guy was given a .45 caliber pistol as a birthday present – why not, what could possibly go wrong in a culture that treats guns as a fine introduction to life for an up-and-coming adolescent? > > IMHO, as long as the arguments are cast in terms of “I want to see the bastard fry” instead of root cause and prevention, and as long as everyone makes sure that no one dares to ever associate gun proliferation with the proliferation of gun violence, then carry on … nothing will change. You’re Canadian, right? Is it not possible to give a gun as a gift to an adult in Canada? Honest question, no gotcha intended. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/28 "2015-06-20T02:52:32Z")
Liberal and to use **wolfpup** ’s terms, whether or not he was exposed to capital punishment was not as important to me as that he be taken off the street before he killed again. Position unchanged by it being this situation. The _de jure_ existence or nonexistence of the alternative of capital punishment _per se_ is neutral to me; I have issues and objections to \*how \*is it applied and I find LWP to be an acceptable alternative. Whether the crime is shooting up a black church or blowing up a bar full of policemen, same applies. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/29 "2015-06-20T02:52:46Z")
No. I don’t support the death penalty under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/30 "2015-06-20T02:59:26Z")
Against the death penalty for anyone, including this rat brain. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/31 "2015-06-20T03:04:47Z")
> [@XT](#): > > 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. I guess I consider myself a liberal and I agree with this. Much like Jared Loughner (who shot Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others and murdered six of them), let this guy plead guilty in exchange for having the death penalty taken off the table. Lock him away for the rest of his life in solitary with no appeal and no possibility of parole and keep him in his cell 23 hours a day with no human contact except for guards and psychologists. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/32 "2015-06-20T03:06:51Z")
No, I don’t support the death penalty under any circumtances. > [@protoboard](#): > > …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. I have no idea what you are talking about here. > [@Claverhouse](#): > > …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. I seem to have missed the part of the 1990s when Joe Biden possessed dictatorial powers that allowed him to “single-handedly” pass laws. If you are referring to what is commonly called the Biden Law of 1994 then you should note that is was passed by bipartisan support in Congress and yes, largely written by Joe Biden. But at the same time it was adamantly opposed by death penalty opponents and civil libertarians and still is today. But hey, nice try. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/33 "2015-06-20T03:07:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You’re Canadian, right? Is it not possible to give a gun as a gift to an adult in Canada? Honest question, no gotcha intended. OK, AFAIK here’s the answer, but let’s keep this from digressing into a gun debate that I never intended. Legally, the answer is “no”, unless the recipient is appropriately licensed for the type of weapon – and for a handgun, that would be practically no one: [http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/fs-fd/sell-vendre-eng.htm](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/fs-fd/sell-vendre-eng.htm) There are so many restrictions on transportation and weapons types as well as ownership transfer that I suspect that presenting a pistol in a nice bow-wrapped box to a friend or relative would in most cases incur about half a dozen criminal offenses. OTOH, very very few people get shot here, but that’s probably just sheer coincidence. :rolleyes: Culturally, the answer is that the response to anyone offering a gun or asking for a gun as a gift here would almost universally be along the lines of “WTF is wrong with you?”. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/34 "2015-06-20T03:13:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Liberal here – certainly by most US metrics. And if I’m in any way typical, let me say that “whether this guy gets the death penalty” was so far down in my thoughts that it was non-existent. Why the hell should that even be a thought or consideration? Who cares? It was important that he be arrested and charged and, if guilty as I assume he is, convicted and appropriately removed from society. Liberal here. Yeah, this is basically it. I happen to be on the fence with regards to the death penalty, but the subject didn’t cross my mind over the past couple of days. Until this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/35 "2015-06-20T03:24:41Z")
Here’s what [Richard Nixon](https://twitter.com/dick_nixon) had to say today. (Some think that the former President died in 1994, but we know better): [INDENT][INDENT]Lincoln was a great man. But I don’t buy the “malice towards none” thing. Wage war against the United States you should be destroyed. [/INDENT][/INDENT] I think many conservatives should be able to get behind that. [https://twitter.com/dick\_nixon/status/612052763468402688](https://twitter.com/dick_nixon/status/612052763468402688) I personally and respectfully disagree with the former President on Twitter. But Lincoln was a great man. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/36 "2015-06-20T03:26:54Z")
I’m ok with him being executed. But I don’t really have a problem with executions in general. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/37 "2015-06-20T03:35:23Z")
Capital punishment does not work, so why consider it? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/38 "2015-06-20T04:20:04Z")
If capital punishment is on the table, the more useful time to carry it out would have been before Roof killed all those people. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/39 "2015-06-20T04:27:37Z")
Is this a poll? 'Cause if it is you should have it moved to the polling forum. If not, the answer is “Some do, some don’t.” You know, for whatever definition you’re using for “Liberal.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/40 "2015-06-20T04:55:26Z")
Nope. I’m generally anti-death penalty (except in extreme cases, like war crimes and dictators). This guy didn’t commit a war crime nor is he a dictator. I confess – there are times when some people get the death penalty that it doesn’t necessarily bother me. But if it were my decision, I’d go with life in prison without parole. > [@Frylock](#): > > I kind of chose the number at random and give a different too-short sounding number every time I express the view. The actual number would have to be determined by what the actual facts state about recidivism etc. > > But yeah, I imagine it’d be around ten. As to the question of “accepting the risk” one always accepts risks one believes to be extremely low-probability. And in case like, Charles Manson? :dubious: You’re willing to let the fucker walk the streets? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986.md?page=3)