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Chris 62
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But I'm feeling MUCH better now
Jan 2001 time: 00:25
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I made a slight error, the little girl wasn't 10, she was FOUR YEARS OLD
quote: 'A disgrace to the state of Illinois,' local man says
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By Ed Pilolla
STAFF WRITER
They used to smile more, laugh more, talk a little more.
They used to be the sort of people who thought it could never happen to them or someone they loved. But tragedy did strike them or someone they loved. And now they've changed ... forever.
Now they hug people a little more, cry a little more, and think about the past much more.
They are the victims who survived: Those who barely escaped death or those family members who received a phone call from police in the middle of the night.
On Saturday, when Gov. George Ryan announced his decision to grant blanket clemency to all the state's death row inmates, the victims needed a distraction. Ryan's allowing convicted murderers on death row to live out their days was just too painful for some to think about.
Robert Weides, whose son Jeff was one of two people killed by Luther V. "Luke" Casteel's gun blasts at JB's Pub in April 2001, put up some shelves in his house.
Dino Calabrese, who was shot three times and barely escaped Casteel, watched football on TV.
But they soon had to digest Ryan's decision, and when they did, the dark sorrow of experience ignited into rage.
"Nothing is going to bring Jeff back," said Weides, who lives in Bartlett. "Every Christmas, every birthday, my son will always be in my heart ... This guy (Ryan), all he's doing is grandstanding, and all the world is applauding and that's driving me crazy."
"I've been trying not to think about it," said Calabrese, who lives in the northwest suburbs. "I think it's just ridiculous."
Jesse DePirro Jr., who was shot in the elbow by Casteel, characterized Ryan as "a foolish person who should have been gone a long time ago. Maybe he just doesn't understand what me and my family have gone through. Good riddance!"
Casteel wasn't the only local on death row. Maurice A. King, 43, was convicted of murdering Carpentersville resident Lola Gooch and her 4-year-old daughter Alisha. King stabbed Alisha after he drowned her in a bathtub of scalding hot water on April 17, 1998.
King told police he did it "for the thrill of it," police said at King's trial.
Joseph Heinrich's 30-year-old sister was raped and then murdered along with her husband in their Chicago apartment in 1983. Their son was beaten and stabbed and left for dead, but he survived.
Heinrich spent Saturday in the company of his extended family inside his Elgin house and made a point of watching Ryan's speech.
"It wasn't possible to get our minds off of it," said Heinrich, a detective sergeant for the Geneva Police Department. "We didn't want to watch it. We felt we had to see this through to the end. We were looking for any kind of explanation."
Like other victims, Heinrich said he didn't get an acceptable explanation from Ryan, either in the speech or in the form letter sent by the governor's office.
"He's a walking contradiction," Heinrich said, "and a disgrace to the state of Illinois." |
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/.../e12sidebar.htm
Yeah, you "humanitarians" are beautiful.
Never give a rat's behind for the victims.
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Guynemer
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quote: Originally posted by Chris 62
Yeah, you "humanitarians" are beautiful.
Never give a rat's behind for the victims. |
The victims are already dead, Chris. They are beyond our help.
As for the families, it is a falsehood that only the execution of the murderer can bring peace and closure to their lives. They alone have that ability; retribution can not do it for them.
You're allowing your emotions to rule in a debate about politics and justice. You're smart enough to know that emotions really shouldn't apply.
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Ramo
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Austin, Texas, USA
Oct 1999 time: 23:25
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quote: I understand how some people are against the death penalty in practice because of the social inequalities in the justice system, but I'm sorry, if you murder someone, you should be put to sleep. |
Why is it that if an indivual kills someone based on revenge, he should be killed, while if a state kills someone based on revenge, it should be applauded? The justice system should protect society, not satisfy someone's bloodlust.
quote: Heaven forbid we kill anyone, like the guy who rapped a 10 year old and then slaughtered her, and freely and happily admitted it.
The parents can always have more babies, f*ck them, right? |
How are the parents "****ed" if someone spends his life in prison instead of being killed? The murderer/rapist certainly wouldn't be able to kill any more of their kids.
Of course, that might not be true if their kids end up in prison as well (prison violence and the like), but that doesn't matter since criminals are inhuman and we ought to be tough on crime. 
quote: Look at the poll numbers supporting the Death Penalty in Illinois. Then see that every person on Death Row was convicted by a jury (originally). |
And the DP is an action of the state.
quote: And Executive orders are, on the whole, more authoritarian than laws passed by the legislature. Exec orders are unquestionable orders of authority, while laws are questioned by the opposition. Unquestionability is one of the primary parts of authoritarianism. |
Again, Ryan's actions reduce the authority of the state on the convicts. Hence, they are anti-authoritarian.
quote: Lenin, Mao, Mussolini... I can name more well run revolutionary uprisings where a leader led the charge. |
And I wouldn't call any of them well run. 
quote: No he isn't. These acts do nothing to prevent future executions from taking place, he has merely decided to show leniency in this case. |
Yes he is. Yes, these acts do nothing to prevent future executions, but they do prevent the relevent executions. Which is the point.
quote: Also democracy and authoritarianism are not mutually exclusive. Democracy only concerns the ways laws are passed. Authoritarianism is something used to describe the law. |
Again, I think of democracy as the rule of people, not the rule of the state, hence it is always anti-authoritarian.
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