# Murderer sentenced to one year in jail **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768 "2005-01-14T21:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/21 "2005-01-15T22:29:19Z")
Rape, theft, and murder are par for the course outside of war, too. Does that make them morally okay with you? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/22 "2005-01-15T23:16:56Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Turn your monitor ap!sdn umop. No shit. Heh! ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/23 "2005-01-16T05:43:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Rape, theft, and murder are par for the course outside of war, too. Yep. And its been controlled to a remarkable degree in modern times. But perfect behavior is impossible; attempting to create such would be counterproductive. America gives a great deal of latitude to its troops, and has not been particularly dissappointed. To my knowledge, no other country’s soldiers have noticable better behavior, and most have vastly more controlled commands. > [@](#): > > Does that make them morally okay with you? I knew someone was going to say that. I did not say I was “OK” with what happened here. But I recognize that it isn’t particularly important in the grand scheme of things. Likewise, the nation of America and humanity in general will survive civilian rapists, murders, even serial killers. There are a great many things which do not please me; in perspective however, this has no real importance. Though I hate to bring up the subject as it will undoubtedly cause a number of people to hate me, I must point out essentially the same thing at Abu Graib (or Garib; I keep seing weird spellings). While some people loudly condemn it as inhuman and monstrous, the worst they were subjected to was humiliation. It was not, as several posters here have claimed, equivelant to Saddam’s torture and murder prisons, nor was it terribly damaging to my cause. While it was unpleasant, couterproductive, and a breach of military discipline, I also do not particularly worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/24 "2005-01-16T07:56:42Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > The military court may not have had a choice, it was the intentional and premeditated killing of a human being, even if the intent was to relieve the suffering of a human being. This is correct. The act was premeditated, even if it was intended as a humane act. Therefore is is murder, as defined under the UCMJ [Article 118](http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/mcm/bl118.htm). There is no other possible charge, as the soldier in question clearly and uniquivacally stated that he did deliberately kill the boy. The light sentance is due the _circumstances_ of the killing - Mortally wounded and badly burned, and in apparant great agony. A lot of people would have simply walked away without charging the soldier. That he _was_ charged for an act of mercy actually says some positive things about the discipline in the force. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/25 "2005-01-16T09:04:17Z")
Come on, the turd in his hand _looked_ like a grenade. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768/26 "2005-01-16T10:49:58Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > Big assumption, especially that it would include painkillers capable of killing the kind of pain we’re talking about here. Morphine doesn’t work on all kinds of pain. It would work pretty well for this kind of thing, I would think – it’s usually effective for acute injuries like that. It not as effective for neuropathic pain and for some types of chronic pain, nor, in my experience, for ongoing injury. Of course, it’s all academic if there was no morphine around at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail/284768.md?page=1)