I can’t know what it’s like for others, I get that, but reading that the mother of the murdered 19 year old is upset that the execution was halted hits me sideways. A crime that took place 30 years ago by an 18 year old and this mother who is likely in her 60s at least thirsts for the blood of the woman who committed the crime at age 18. And it’s not like they are releasing her, if she is not executed she’ll be imprisoned for the rest of her life (as she doesn’t currently have the possibility of parole). How can this possibly be a positive benefit in her elderly years? That said I am as far removed from this as you can be. Although we have had murder in my family (a minor cousin killing his sister) and I had no desire to see him executed. I know it’s not the same.
American ethos is one of violence and vengeance. It’s built into our laws, our media, our culture.
Honestly, this is a huge part of it.
I once talked to a guy about my car crash involving a drunk driver. I got pretty fucked up and basically lost a year of my life to recovery. I was pissed the dude who impacted my life so much received 2 years and was out in 18 months because he was a “good boy” until that point. I mentioned that all I wanted was more time and impact on his life for doing so much damage to mine. The guy actually said to me “I think he should get a death sentence for what he did to you”. I just sat there like 😐
Even I don’t think the drunk should die for it, and I was the one who was irreparably harmed.
Username checks out
Come on Lemmy why do I have to be the guy to call out American defaultism. Fuckwits all round be better
Comment is about a mom in Tennessee, the US state, wanting her daughter’s killer dead and I offered an explanation, I don’t think it was out of place.
Revenge is not exclusively American, it’s not American ethos. Especially when compared to some places around the world such as the Middle-East and Europe and Asia. Yes those are large swaths of the Earth that in general take blood feuds far more seriously than Americans.
We don’t have a legal system. We have a punishment system.
In places in scandinavia, where they treat prisoners with respect and like humans and focus on rehabilitation rather than straight punishment, they have a very low recidivism rate.
I have to agree with the other commenter regarding vengeance being very big part of American society. I think part of it is likely also the severity of pain her daughter likely suffered during the attack. If this was the result of an accident or potentially a more immediate death for her daughter, I’m not sure the desire would be as strong. In the article she mentions as much, but I truly cannot imagine how it must feel to know that your child was essentially tortured to death. Regardless of how long it lasted, she likely died in pain and in terror. I can imagine that her mother thinks the perpetrator should not be granted a potentially peaceful natural death. I’m not saying it’s right, but I think it’s relevant to note that it wasn’t just a matter of immediate death.
How can this possibly be a positive benefit in her elderly years?
I’m not a parent, but I’ve seen something in parents that lose a child (that grew up enough to have a personality and experiences). They are forever injured. Its something they never heal from. The hurt never goes away from the loss. I can only imagine the child being murdered would amplify this.
I am not a parent, which means I’ve never been in a position to lose a child to murder, but your question does come across with, I believe, an unintended arrogance, to tell an elderly parent that it “[isn’t] a positive benefit” to be focusing on the murderer of her child.
So what, mom should just get over the fact that her kid was tortured and beat to death? Easy for you to say.
I don’t think it’s about getting over it. It’s been 30 years. The woman that murdered her child 30 years ago isn’t the same woman anymore. Eye for an eye leaves us all blind. There is no justice at this point executing her.
So you don’t disagree with hte death penalty, just that it took a while? So it, like, expires?
The situation is complicated and should be reapproached. According to otger comments she’s experienced extreme mental strain from being a toddler. She fully acknowledged that she did murder her but didn’t do it with the intent of killing her. I don’t think executing her will benefit society as a whole.
My wife was just explaining that the body of her child is being held for evidence. Theoretically, the case would be closed after the execution and the body could be returned and buried.
I’m no expert on the case, but I could imagine the frustration of waiting for that for 30 years, only to have it yanked away minutes before.
All I’m saying is it might be bloodthirst, but it also may be just general frustration at the long, drawn-out process.
Not the body, the fragment of her skull that she broke off when she killed her.
Also it has been returned.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, confirmed that after sixteen years of fighting and writing letters, she had received the missing skull fragment from the state of Tennessee.
Moving to have this as just life in prison would also accomplish this though. She could have asked for that at any point in this 30 year stretch.
Don’t judge what losing a child in a horrific way feels like. This is the sort of thing you only know with experience. Whatever she feels will give her closure.
Whatever she feels will give her closure.
Spoiler: Having that woman killed wont.
I read yesterday that her boyfriend got life with the possibility of parole for the same crime. He was 17. I know our justice system isn’t a precision machine and two trials are likely to vary wildly in procedure and outcome. But still… that’s got so sting.
I’m not sure why the court has decided this now rather than at some time during the preceding decades that she spent on death row.
No kidding. This should have been reviewed over the last 30 years or more. Not 1 hour before the fucking execution is set to take place. How was that not cruel and unusual punishment?
Pike does not deny committing the killing, but her supporters argue the state should consider Pike’s age at the time, mental illness and a history of severe sexual abuse that included being raped from the time she was a toddler. Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike’s death sentence is an outlier because other 18-year-olds in Tennessee have had such sentences vacated.
After the killing, Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In her clemency petition she said she only wanted to fight Slemmer but killed her in a frenzied attack when she couldn’t “put the brakes on.”
