LonCray

That wouldn't work at all in the Sniper cases - nobody SAW them do anything - it's all circumstantial evidence. Granted that being in the car with the rifle and a hole in the trunk and a notebook PC with targeting info is pretty heavy circumstances, the fact that our Commonwealth's Attorney got them convicted on a new, untested terrorism statute will make Muhammad's appeal even more interesting.

bulabula

[quote author=LonCray link=board=10;threadid=22812;start=0#msg214030 date=1069778469]
<snip> .... I agree that just killing them at capture would be cheaper, but it's not the American way! [/quote]You weren't around here when we had a jumper on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge - he had traffic tied up for miles in all directions. It was a terrific mess. Soccer moms were volunteering to shoot him so they wouldn't be late at child care facilities to pick their kids up. Parents are arrested if they're too late.

Shovelhead

...Or the "Tractor-Man" in the pond on the National Mall for 3 days, or any one of a number of Loonies that make their way to the Nation's Capital.

LonCray

Nope, I was actually in the area for both Tractor Man and the guy on the Wilson Bridge. I know how bad traffic gets when stuff like this happens. The sniper case that was prosecuted here was at a Sunoco station a few blocks from my house, and I remember looking around every time I pumped gas for weeks. Doesn't change my view - we cannot allow for vigilante justice in this sort of thing. We are a better nation because we arrested Muhammad and Malvo and are trying them under the law of the land. Think of it another way; if you let vigilantes just kill the snipers without a trial, then you leave yourself open to be killed for committing a crime later on - you'd never commit a crime you say? Too bad your right to a fair trial didn't exist and nobody had a chance to ask you.
I'm a death-penalty advocate, but only if it's absolutely clear that those we put to death are indeed guilty, and found so legally. I'm troubled by the Illinois findings that innocent folks there may have been executed. We have to make our justice system more cautious in these cases, not less.