Dylann Roof was found guilty of murder in short order. All that’s left is the sentencing.
SO far, so good. There was never any doubt of Roof’s guilt, and there was never any hope he’d be acquitted. Even in the Deep South, racist murderers can’t get away scot-free any more.
But what’s interesting to me is that most whites in South Carolina want Roof executed, and most blacks don’t.
There may be all kinds of reasons- perhaps it’s because so many black Southerners are deeply religious, perhaps it’s because they oppose the death penalty itself (precisely because so many blacks have been executed).
But I’ve thought that if ANYBODY ever deserved the death penalty, Dylann Roof does. It’s hard for me to imagine ANYONE who supports the death penalty saying, “In THIS particular case, I’m opposed.”
I would no longer consider him my son. Had he repented and become a good person, maybe I could be Christian enough to forgive him. Maybe.
But, as it is? I would not consider him my son. I’d mourn that my son had died, and that this demon had replaced him. I might still have sympathy in the way I do for other criminals who I think are so bad they must have a mental problem. I might feel guilty trying to figure out where I went wrong.
But he would no longer be my son.
(And, even if he was my son, I’m anti-tribalism, so I say what should happen to him is what should happen to anyone who did what he did.)
I can’t imagine my son committing a murder, let alone mass murder. And he has so many non-white friends, I can’t imagine him hurting anyone out of racist ideology.
If he did, I would weep and mourn and I would pray for him. If I thought he was insane, I would want a lawyer to put up a strong defense and get him sent to a hospital.
Otherwise, I couldn’t forgive ANYONE for a crime like Roof’s. Not even the child I love more than anything in this world.
How is this surprising? The American justice system has a long and dark track record of disparate racial outcomes.
David Baldus’s study, released after the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, found that in Georgia, black defendants were 1.7 times as likely to receive the death penalty than their white counterparts. Furthermore, the murderer(s) of white victims were more than four times as likely to receive the death penalty than if the victim was black.
IS 42% disproportionate? I’d like to see some numbers.
Compared to the US population as a whole, sure. But what percentage of murders in the USA are committed by black men? If the answer is 12%, then obviously we have a gross disparity. But if 50% of murders are committed by black men, then 42% might actually mean that black murderers get off relatively lightly.
What IS the ethnic breakdown of convicted murderers?
I think he’s clearly insane and should be treated for his mental problems before being tortured to death. So put me down in the ‘other’ category on this one.
I have no children. But if he were my son he’d still be my son after committing these crimes. My life would be hell, knowing that my own flesh and blood did such an evil thing.
I’d visit him in prison, if he didn’t get the death penalty. But if the state did put him to death I wouldn’t oppose it. I’d pray for his soul, that his sins were forgiven by God.
I do oppose torture though and I find it appalling that some Dopers, at least one in this thread, seem to be ok with it
Precedent.
It is okay to torture a serial killer to death.
It might be decided to torture all murders to death, we did it to the serial killer!
Take thieves and burglars. Let’s torture burglars to death, we do it to murders.
Take people who park in handicapped spaces…
I wasn’t being serious about actually having him tortured. I would feel that way about some people even though I don’t want it to happen. But in this case I don’t know enough about his mental state to say what should happen to him.
There is not enough info in the article to determine where the 1.7 figure comes from, but it should be noted this was a study of homicides only. Not all homicides qualify for the death penalty in Georgia, there must be aggravating circumstances. It would be interesting to know if the study looked only at death penalty eligible homicides.
For executions this year (the only time period where I could easily find stats on perp and victim race) only 2 of the 9 in Georgia were black, the other 7 were white. Nationwide there were 20 executions in the US, with no more scheduled by year end. Of those 16 were white (80%), 2 were black (10%) and 2 were latino (10%). The US general population makeup is 78% white, 13% black and 17% latino. That doesn’t seem terribly out of line, but I have no stats as to death penalty eligible crimes by race. These men (all were male) had been on death row for an average of 18.5 years (sentencing to execution). Two thirds were sentenced between 1980 and 1999.
Of the 27 victims, however, 25 were white, 2 were latino, none were black.
I completely understand that the death penalty has historically been used disproportionately against minorities, but I wonder if the current data shows a change in attitudes or is just an anomaly. Only time will tell.
There’s a catch, there: You’re assuming that murderers of both races are equally likely to be convicted. And while that may or may not be true, it’s inherently almost impossible to prove, and a lot of the people you’re trying to convince are starting from the assumption that it isn’t.