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D.C. sniper asks for new sentencing in light of Supreme Court rulings on juveniles

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
No matter how many people say a seventeen year old is an adult, it doesn't make it true. Everyone matures on their own time.

So everyone matures on their own time, but a 17 year old that kills 17 people HASN'T matured yet, but would definitely at 18?
 

Dsyndrome

Member
Give him a chance to prove he's changed. Life without parole for actions taken while legally a child is just one more example of America's ridiculous attitude towards crime.

Sentencing should be about rehabilitation. Set the bar high, of course, but I believe people are malleable. The wrong influence can lead nearly anyone to heinous acts.
Fuck that shit. Not with what he did.
 

ha1f

Member
First shooting was less than a mile away from my house, at the shopping center than my family and friends still frequent. And then I had to walk to school every day until they caught these assholes. Fuck that dude.
 

itwasTuesday

He wasn't alone.
uhhhhhhh, as a dc native
uhhhhhhh

Everyone's parents where like come straight home, no going out, no nothing, during those weeks.
 

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
For a good chunk of them, I do believe in rehabilitation

For anyone whose crime is serial murderer. You keep those ones locked up forever.
 

Rvaan

Banned
uhhhhhhh, as a dc native
uhhhhhhh

Everyone's parents where like come straight home, no going out, no nothing, during those weeks.

I remember my school making recess indoors and saying no one could go near the windows because of this. Shit was crazy.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
A new sentencing hearing, sure.

They'll still give him life without parole, he killed 17 people and who he is NOW shouldn't be reflective of his state of mind THEN, in which he was an unrepentant serial killer.

This is how I feel pretty much. But still, the things he had planned are just unfathomable. How can any human being think like that is beyond me. Thankfully.

Tell you what kid, I'll give you the same chance you and your "father" figure gave your victims.

We're going to release you in an open field near a wooded area. If you can run across that field, you are a free man.

Except a Marine sniper and his spotter will be concealed in the brush and will be doing their level best to shoot you dead.

Cruel and unusual? Maybe, but I'm big on irony.

I bet 'White Bear' is your favorite Dark Mirror episode.
 
A new sentencing hearing, sure.

They'll still give him life without parole, he killed 17 people and who he is NOW shouldn't be reflective of his state of mind THEN, in which he was an unrepentant serial killer.



This goes against the very concept of rehabilitation. Why don't you just advocate for the execution of murderers? It'd be a much more direct and logical solution considering your point of view.
 

Chumly

Member
I mean wasn't the father figure the mastermind of all this? I don't see any reason why we shouldn't resentence him and give him a chance of parol.
 

el jacko

Member
Is a seventeen year old a minor or an adult? I'm not asking if he "should have known" - I'm asking the legal definition of an adult.

If he's legally a minor, then try him as a minor.
 
In the years since, the Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles have constitutional protections against extraordinarily long sentences, and that mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional for children. Defense attorney James Johnston told Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert A. Greenberg that in light of those rulings, Malvo must get a new sentencing hearing.

This is pretty much the main ruling in that case. Also, it doesn't completely declare that life sentences are unconstitutional for juveniles. They clarified the ruling, life sentences are unconstitutional

“for all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility,”
https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/supct/2017/OPA160553-051717.pdf (based on miller v alabama http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/15-8842-cert-petition.pdf)

So the DC sniper's life sentence would probably not be viewed as unconstitutional. Also, multiple state Supreme Courts have upheld that extremely long rulings are still constitutional:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...-sentence-affirmed-in-sd-juvenile-murder-case

^Upholds a 92-year sentence as constitutional, even though it's an effectively equivalent to a life sentence.

Recent case here in Minnesota: http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/20...pholds-juveniles-sentence-in-seward-killings/

^Upholds that multiple 30 years sentences served sequentially is constitutional, even though it's effectively a 90 year sentence which is effectively a life sentence.
 

hypernima

Banned
uhhhhhhh, as a dc native
uhhhhhhh

Everyone's parents where like come straight home, no going out, no nothing, during those weeks.

We had a lockdown every other day at my school.
It was terrifying looking back because I underestimated how serious it was back then.

He can get out when he's 120.
 

Previous

check out my new Swatch
I remember my school making recess indoors and saying no one could go near the windows because of this. Shit was crazy.

I was in 4th grade, my school had zero outdoor recess. Our gym had huge windows and they covered them all with a tarp, and at the end of the day we were dismissed in small groups from the side door only. Gas stations everywhere also hung up giant tarps to shield drivers.

serial killer defense force i've seen it all
Seriously.
You can't "rehabilitate" someone who had no problem killing 17 random people.
 
That is very debatable.
Axiomatic disagreement. I respect and understand everyone's disagreement on this.

I've been interested in the beltway snipers for a long. Seemed horrifying and tragic all at the same time. Life is very sad. Maybe I just don't have the strength for justice.
 
He is exactly where he needs to be. He can redeem his humanity plenty from exactly where he is. Mostly by remaining out of our fucking way.
 

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
He murdered 17 people, if he is really sorry for his action he would voluntarily stay in jail for life.
 
If he was a year older he would be dead. I am content with life in prison for him.

I still walk in some of the parking lots he killed people in sometimes.
 

Ri'Orius

Member
When do all the people he killed get a chance at rehabilitation?

Had I the power to do so, they'd get that chance (ignoring for now the fact that "rehabilitation" isn't remotely the right term).

We can't save them. Literally impossible. Doesn't mean we shouldn't be merciful to those we can. That's ludicrous, dark ages-logic.
 

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
Do laws usually work retroactively? If so, of course he should get a new sentence
I don't think so, no. I know that some serial killer got caught and they couldn't put him to death because he could only be sentenced under the laws at the time he committed the crimes. While he was killing people there was no death penalty in his state.

It's akin to double jeopardy I think, you can't be tried and convicted, and then have the prosecutor hold you without sentencing while they wait for a harsher penalty to be put into place. I don't know how it works as far as lightening a sentence.
 

commedieu

Banned
He was brainwashed by an insane person. Mercy.

This was my memory of the case. Also, wasn't there something sexual between the two? Or it was implied... vague memories of that. But definitely wasnt the sharpest tool, and was conditioned by the marine guy/sniper? The other guy was a veteran right?

Unless I'm in the bearstein world, some of this was trueish...

Guess it's a good time to google.


Edit: him feeling like a pos.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49231109/...sniper-shooter-says-he-felt-worst-piece-scum/

And there's molestation accusations but I don't know how to link those phone amp links.

But he's very much repentant. Doesn't sound like he has blood lust.

Edit: molestation claims

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wa...2822d0-1e76-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html


But, Manson got time. So did everyone he brainwashed right? Can't remember if anyone was spaired sentencing.
 
I hope I live to see the day America can adopt a form of restorative justice that focuses on rehabilitation over retribution. Starting with juveniles seems to make sense.
 
This goes against the very concept of rehabilitation. Why don't you just advocate for the execution of murderers? It'd be a much more direct and logical solution considering your point of view.

Because I don't think the justice system exists just to rehabilitate those that do wrong. It's also and should be, depending on your crimes, a punishment.

He took the lives of 17 people.

Forgive me for thinking that him being punished and losing his freedom for the rest of his life is an unequal but deserved recompense for the 17 people he callously and coldly murdered for sport.

People who kill other people because they enjoy killing, should not be free.

Is it punitive? Sure, forgive me for lacking sympathy for serial killers losing their right to be free. Him feeling bad and guilty about it NOW does not absolve him of his actions THEN.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
I mean wasn't the father figure the mastermind of all this? I don't see any reason why we shouldn't resentence him and give him a chance of parol.
He may still be brainwashed. There isn't a 100% chance of rehibiltation, so the state would have to accept that there's a chance of recidivism. But when the crime was serial murder and terrorism the risk becomes too great for society to bear. The crimes committed were devestating.
 

Dead Man

Member
If minors are treated as non responsible in every other way, society should be consistent. That's why I dislike sentencing minors as adults. I'm not saying he should be released, but he should have been tried as a minor and sentenced as such.
 
We had a lockdown every other day at my school.
It was terrifying looking back because I underestimated how serious it was back then.

He can get out when he's 120.
I had to be like in the 3rd or 4th grade and I was terrified for my mother to even go to work sometines (she worked at the VA)
 

nacimento

Member
I swear some people on GAF would have been calling for Pol Pot's release because of rehabilitation if he had been imprisoned.
 

Vilam

Maxis Redwood
It's reprehensible that anyone could entertain the idea of letting this piece of shit breathe free air at any point in the remainder of his pathetic life.
 
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