# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/41 "2015-06-20T04:57:14Z")
As someone who has gone from supporting the death penalty to being pretty much against it now I have to say Roof being executed wouldn’t bother me in the least. However, after seeing the large number of wrongly convicted people who are finally released after decades I can no longer support it. Also, the system is extremely biased against minorities and the non-wealthy which is another reason I can no longer support the death penalty. ---
**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, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/42 "2015-06-20T05:15:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And in case like, Charles Manson? :dubious: You’re willing to let the fucker walk the streets? Manson is/was insane. He should not even be in prison, he should be in a secure facility that is designed to manage his corroded mind. Ridgeway might be another example for whom treatment or whatever is a better idea than punishment. ---
**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, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/43 "2015-06-20T05:28:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Manson is/was insane. He should not even be in prison, he should be in a secure facility that is designed to manage his corroded mind. Ridgeway might be another example for whom treatment or whatever is a better idea than punishment. Yeah that’s pretty much what I think as well concerning the kinds of cases **Guinastasia** is referring to when she mentions Manson. Lemme walk back what I originally said, however. I said no “prison sentence longer than 10 years” but really what I have in mind is that there should be no such thing as “without parole,” AND parole determinations should be made by third parties not elected officials, AND parole hearings should start at year one, AND I bet if we did it right we could have all parolable people paroled within 10 years (and the unparolable ones shouldn’t be in the prison system in the first place–there should be a separate, more explicitly medically oriented system for those guys.) ---
**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, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/44 "2015-06-20T05:33:46Z")
Well, not to get off track, the idea that punishing people improves their behavior has largely not been shown to be valid. We shit on the convicts and then cannot understand why they have an attitude when they get out. Corrections should be about studying the convicts to determine how we can make them not be a problem when they get out, then do that. (I should note that that is not typical “liberal” thinking, more like fringey pragmatism.) ---
**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, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/45 "2015-06-20T05:37:23Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Well, not to get off track, the idea that punishing people improves their behavior has largely not been shown to be valid. We shit on the convicts and then cannot understand why they have an attitude when they get out. Corrections should be about studying the convicts to determine how we can make them not be a problem when they get out, then do that. > > (I should note that that is not typical “liberal” thinking, more like fringey pragmatism.) I’m down with it. ---
**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, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/46 "2015-06-20T05:44:30Z")
No, what you’re describing is pretty much one of those cases of being “so open-minded your brain falls out”. There are some crimes so heinous that you’ve pretty much forfeited your right to live among society. I think there are individuals who have earned life without parole. Taking away the death penalty is one thing. But no life imprisonment? That’s just fucking insane. ---
**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, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/47 "2015-06-20T05:50:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, what you’re describing is pretty much one of those cases of being “so open-minded your brain falls out”. There are some crimes so heinous that you’ve pretty much forfeited your right to live among society. I think there are individuals who have earned life without parole. Taking away the death penalty is one thing. But no life imprisonment? That’s just fucking insane. A secure treatment facility is equivalent to life imprisonment. I spent 4 months in the state hospital when I was 19, while they tried to figure out what the microdot had done to my brain. Let me tell you, from first hand experience, being stuck in a dormitory full of crazy people for the rest of your life is very probably worse punishment than bars and soap-on-a-rope. _Cuckoo’s Nest_ comes nowhere near what it is really like. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/48 "2015-06-20T05:51:43Z")
I think the one thing I still share with my Catholic upbringing is my attitude toward the death penalty. No, I’m not for it. There could conceivably be circumstances when it’s the least bad option, but we’re not anywhere near those circumstances. No, not even for evil people. Not even for terrible crimes. Not even Saddam Hitlinpotamin. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/49 "2015-06-20T06:21:20Z")
This looks a lot more like an opinion pole than a debate. While I don’t like kicking threads around from forum to forum, I am going to send this to IMHO. (Just to insert a fact as it leaves: in the reports I have seen, Roof was not given a gun as a gift; Roof purchased a gun with money given as a birthday present.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/50 "2015-06-20T06:32:48Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Also, I would require not merely the absence of reasonable doubt, but the absence of doubt, _period._ this. Times a thousand. I have no problem with the death penalty but it must be absolute guilt. No question. rotting in prison forever works for me too. > [@E-DUB](#): > > 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. This. Again. Cap his sorry ass. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/51 "2015-06-20T06:59:31Z")
By U.S. standards, I’m a liberal, and remain staunchly opposed to capital punishment. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/52 "2015-06-20T07:44:46Z")
Capital punishment is morally wrong, always and everywhere. This crime, and any putative punishment, fits the framework of the space-time continuum. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/53 "2015-06-20T07:46:02Z")
> [@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. So what would be the “reward” of releasing a dangerous homicidal maniac after ten or so years (or at all)? I get that the desire is to not unnecessarily punish people with unduly long or harsh prison sentences. Particularly for non-violent crimes. But I don’t think this a great case study. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/54 "2015-06-20T08:09:57Z")
A liberal (of the FDR/Truman/Humphrey variety) here and yes I absolutely support the death penalty in this case. My scepticism of the death penalty comes from pragmatic reasons such as the potential for executing an innocent man or the costs associated with appeals that exceed those of life in prison. However, nonetheless, I’ve always supported the death penalty for particularly heinous murderers where the guilt is certain such as serial killers, spree killers, mob bosses, terrorists and/or war criminals. This applies to Mr. Roof and thus he ought to be executed as soon as guilt is ascertained by the courts. As a side-note I might add that the use of lethal injection for carrying out the death penalty in the US is one of the worst effects of its “puritanical” (really moralistic Unitarian) heritage. This obsession with an antiseptic form of execution that has the _form_ of being clean and painless instead of being actually clean and painless like the venerable firing squad or the trusty guillotine is the unfortunate legacy of those tiresome Yankee heretics who rejected the wonderful pragmatism and orthodoxy of their forefathers for the endless crusades for various silly causes (abolitionism and women’s suffrage excepted) such as Prohibition, animal rights, and this. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/55 "2015-06-20T10:03:17Z")
Far-left liberal. No, I’m not in favor of the death penalty. It’s not because it’s inherently wrong in all cases but because it’s too difficult to administer fairly and humanely in our society in proportion to the benefits it brings. The piece-of-shit person in question is certainly a POS, but he’s also clearly crazy. I don’t think there’s really any treatment for this type of sociopath, but there’s also no particular advantage in terms of justice in killing them either. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/56 "2015-06-20T10:06:40Z")
Strong liberal. Strongly in favor of executing Roof. He’s forfeited his right to live and society gains nothing by keeping him alive. There’s absolutely no question of his guilt or his motives. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/57 "2015-06-20T10:40:28Z")
We could show Black Americans that they are fully accepted by improving their schools, ending economic exploitation; degrading and hypocritical attitudes in the workplace and out in public; and heavy-handed policing. Or we could kill one crazy white punk who took that attitude to its logical extreme. Then those negroes should have nothing to complain about. Amirite? (Ho ho, see how I used their colorful patois to comic effect?) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/58 "2015-06-20T10:52:53Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > 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 am stealing “Bring on the electric bleachers”. > [@](#): > > I oppose _routine_ application of the death penalty but would reserve the right to use it in certain circumstances. Ditto. Mass murderers, serial killers, and truly horrible people (like Hitler and bin Laden) can all sit on those electric bleachers together as far as I’m concerned. FWIW, I’m a far left liberal hippie commie sort when I’m in northeast Florida, but oddly, in Massachusetts with the same beliefs, I’m kind of centrist. Go figure. :rolleyes: ---
**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, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/59 "2015-06-20T11:57:45Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, what you’re describing is pretty much one of those cases of being “so open-minded your brain falls out”. There are some crimes so heinous that you’ve pretty much forfeited your right to live among society. I think there are individuals who have earned life without parole. Taking away the death penalty is one thing. But no life imprisonment? That’s just fucking insane. I don’t know what openmindedness has to do with anything here. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986/60 "2015-06-20T11:58:13Z")
I’m not for the death penalty but this kid just looks like someone who won’t survive his time in prison. He’ll get multiple life sentences but in reality he won’t be there for long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-liberals-want-dylann-roof-executed/722986.md?page=4)