I’ve noticed over the years that local opponents of capital punishment are usually very quiet when some horrific crime occurs here…
In the last few years there have been a number of local murders, in particular, that are so shocking that even the Kansas City Star has been stunned into silence.
In 2009 a 46 year-old woman lawyer from Lawrence was killed one summer night while driving home from a performance at Starlight Theatre. She was hit by a stray bullet at 59th Street and Bruce Watkins Drive on Kansas City’s east side. (When she was shot, her car crashed, also injuring her 13 year-old daughter and elderly mother-in-law.) The alleged assailant said he was shooting at another car, whose driver had “dissed him” (i.e. looked at him in a disrespectful manner). The victims were white, the suspect African-American.
There was no editorial comment or reaction from The Star at the time as I recall.
In October of 2014 (less than three months ago) a 6 year-old girl was killed in a drive by shooting at a convenience store in South Kansas City. Ten days after that incident, a 10 year old girl was killed in her front yard in Kansas City, Kansas. Just this weekend, a 6 month-old baby girl was killed at her family’s home in Kansas City, Kansas.
All these victims were African-American.
And while there was both anger and anguish expressed here locally about these senseless killings of innocent children, I don’t recall any appearances by Reverend Al Sharpton or Attorney General Eric Holder – or even any comment by President Obama.
Michael Brown
No federal prosecutors threatened to intervene to uphold any one’s civil rights. Nor was there any call for “a national conversation” about race (or anything else) from The Star or any other local liberal voices, even though what happened to these little girls was to me-and to most people, I would submit-far more disturbing than what happened to Michael Brown in Ferguson or Trayvon Martin in Florida.
Compare and contrast these incidents with one that took place in the Red Bridge area of south Kansas City in September.
Someone broke into a house on a cul-de-sac in a modest neighborhood right off Wornall Road and bludgeoned to death the octogenarian couple who lived there. Leaving the couple’s house in their stolen car, the assailant shot three of their neighbors. A 34 year-old African-American man was arrested that same day and charged with the murders. All the victims were white.
The Kansas City Star did take editorial notice of this incident.
Two days after the incident, Mary Sanchez called for mercy towards the killer. She argued that the last thing we should do in these situations is to give in to the desire for “vengeance” and “retribution.”
More recently, The Star used similar reasoning to argue against the State of Kansas seeking the death penalty for F. Glenn Miller, Jr. (Miller is the alleged killer of three innocent by-standers at the Jewish Community Center and Shalom Geriatric Center in Overland Park last spring.) The paper reasoned that the defendant’s age and ill health made it impractical to seek capital punishment in his situation, but conceded that they believe it is never justified, regardless of the circumstances of a particular case.
It’s instructive to consider the Star’s reasoning.
One rationale is that there is a disparity in sentencing between white and black criminals in the application of the death penalty. Since Mr. Miller is not only white but a white supremacist, it might behoove the State to right any perceived imbalance in this regard by sending his Aryan bad self to the gallows. If white criminals escape the punishment they deserve, the answer is not to let black criminals escape the punishment they deserve. All criminals should get their just deserts.
The other excuse, given by capital punishment opponents like the Kansas City Star, is that the far harsher sentence is actually life imprisonment. If we really want someone to suffer for their crimes, in other words, we should “lock them up” and “throw away the key.” (I thought the opponents were against “cruel and unusual” punishments and didn’t want “vengeance” or “retribution.”)
This ignores the Star’s own article from March of 2014, which described how 19 people previously convicted of first degree murder were released from prison in Kansas this year. A sentence of life imprisonment does not actually mean imprisonment for life, at least not in Kansas.
Regardless of the soundness of their reasoning, the Star should get credit for being consistent. The problem is that having staked out a wildly unpopular position in this regard (i.e. society would not be better off permanently removing these vicious killers from its midst), they don’t want to be criticized. In fact, if anyone calls them on it, they react with outrage.
In July liberal Kathleen Sebelius appointees on the Kansas Supreme Court, set aside six of the eight capital murder convictions of Wichita murderer/rapists Reginald and Jonathan Carr. The two counts that were not vacated had the death penalty overturned. (Every death sentence has been set aside by the Kansas appellate courts since it was reinstated in 1994.)
When several family members of the victims were upset by the Supreme Court’s decision, they started a campaign to vote against the judges when they came up for a retention vote in November. Governor Sam Brownback joined in the criticism of the Court for its ruling, arguing that the decision proved his arguments about the need to change the way judges are selected. The state GOP crafted a series of hard-hitting ads, attacking the Court’s members as partisan Democratic hacks for overturning the Carr’s death sentences.
I said at the time that local liberals had just handed Brownback two Willie Hortons.
Outside of Barb Shelly’s, Yael Abouhalkah’s, and Mary Sanchez’s living rooms there are very few people who were happy to see these vicious criminals escape the hangman.
Expressing displeasure with the Supreme Court’s actions through a constitutionally mandated procedure is not an improper exercise of “partisan pressure.” Nor is taking advantage of your political opponent’s stupidity and stubbornness a “craven” act.
The Star’s hysterical reaction (“Sam Brownback should get down on his knees and pray to God to forgive him!”) says more about their reasons for losing than anything their conservative opponents have ever done.
Because the Kansas City Star was repudiated in November, as much as the Democratic Party, in large part because of its writers’ ill-considered, dogmatic, liberalism.
http://m.cjonline.com/news/2015-01-08/victims-family-sad-angry-shock-after-parole-granted-convicted-murderer-cook#gsc.tab=0
The picture you have captioned, “Michael Brown” is actually Joda Cain. He does look like Michael Brown, but he is a different thug, who, after living in KC, moved to Oregon and murdered his own great grandmother for her money and her car.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Boy-accused-of-killing-great-grandmother-friends-226982031.html
Before we all get to lathered up about how “Racist” the death penalty is, read this.
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/racism.htm
“too”
One more thing, the crime the Carr brothers committed, is infamously known as “The Wichita Massacre”.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fe4_1248892119
Is it election time? I had no idea it was election time already?
What we have “elected” to do, is seek per capita equal racial outcomes relating to incarceration in the face of dramatically, disproportionate, African American criminality.
Let’s get this straight:
Black people kill black people,no big deal.
White people kill white people,no big deal.
Black people kill white people,no big deal.
White people kill black people,VERY BIG DEAL.
This is the unmistakeable lesson of the Star’s coverage. This is true,regardless of whether there is an election going on. (I will admit they are a little more sensitive if it makes their favored candidates vulnerable at the polls.)
Just a question. Are you advocating the star cover white on black crime less or black on black crime more?
Neither. I’m saying the tone of the coverage should be the same,regardless of the race or ethnicity of the perpetrators or the victims. I just want to be spared the selective indignation that reflects the paper’s politically correct world view.
southy….don’t read the star.
your blood pressure will go down 50 points!
You will get my bill in the mail.
Dr. Harley
Harley,what would I have to write about if it wasn’t for the Star’s intellectual dishonesty and slovenly journalism ? What if we had a boringly competent and persuasive paper that you could respect,even as you disagreed with them philosophically? Even worse,what if we had a paper with some semblance of balance in its editorial and opinion piece offerings? As things stand now,it’s an embarrassment of riches! Long may she wave!
I love your stereotypical conservative hypocrisy when it comes to wanting to burn all criminals at the stake but by no means allow any type of abortion or assisted suicide in terminal cases. Keep clutching those tired conservative pearls in abject horror for all privileged white people out there whitebread.
How does wanting to see the murderers of black children brought to justice make me a champion of white privilege?
By parroting the typical strawman conservative argument that black people do not care about black on black crime when people are trying to point cop on minority crime is bad. Of course they care about it but that does not sell well in the offices of der Star. They do like to gloss over things when it is convenient or does not fit their personal narrative, I’ll agree with you there.
I’m not saying people in the black community don’t care about black on black crime. That’s like saying that the Willie Horton ads only worked because the attacker was black because we all know that whites don’t mind being raped or murdered as long as its by other whites.(Another favorite liberal theme in recent years !) I’m saying the Star cares more about white on black violence because they can use it to stir the black community up for the political advancement of the Democratic/Progressive cause. As local author Jack Cashill explained in his book on the Trayvon Martin case,it’s always a search for the “usable political moment”. The local story of the college kid who drowned after being arrested at The Lake of The Ozarks is every bit as disturbing as what happened in the Martin/Brown/Garner cases if your concern is dangerously excessive use of force by the police in arresting a young person. We all know why it didn’t get the attention these other stories did. There was no mileage in in for the Black Grievance Industry,aided and abetted by The Kansas City Star.
“Black Grievance Industry”.
Daniel Kahneman in his book “Thinking Fast and Slow”, delineates these types of vultures “Availability Entrepreneurs”.
It starts with an “Availability Cascade” which is “…a self-sustaining chain of events (Incessant searches for White Racists.), which may start from media reports of an event and lead up to … public and government action (Hate crime Legislation for the “Protected Class” who, actually commit the lion’s share of Hate Crimes against whites.). A media story about risk (White cops seeking to kill black youths.) leads to an emotional response, which in and of itself, becomes a story in itself, prompting additional coverage in the media, which in turn produces greater concern and fear. This cycle is sped along by “Availability Entrepreneurs” like Sharpton, Obama, Holder, deBlasio, the Liberal 4th Estate, the halls of Academe, and the entertainment industry.
The emotional tail, wags what is left of the rational dog and then, before you can say Taco Tuesday, our “Pen And Phone” Dear Leader thinks his would be son’s look just like Trayvon and we have 10 million new citizens who are definitely not worried about any “smidgens” of corruption.
SOUTHY…LETS GET ONE THING STRAIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have probably never read a kc star editorial.
I have never thought they new sh*t from shinola.
I see this bearded dude on tv and he makes no sense…
Really…you know what you get with these people…be they
liberal or conservative….the fact is that NO ONE CARES!
maybe a few people do….but the opinions in the paper
mean nothing to most people. Seriously…only to those
who believe these people know more than they do.
And they don’t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hearne is always attacking the star editorials.
Why? Their record makes glaze look like albert Einstein.
What person in their right mind would not seek the
death penalty for this miller dude a white supremacist
who killed people at the jewish community center?
You and hearne take these people way to seriously.
You should listen and read what Harley says because those
people don’t know anything about the real world.
They get their info from reading other papers or watching
news….they’re not in the streets…they’re not getting the
pulse of the city.
Maybe you read those editorials along with those phony
know nothings on shows like ruckus or week in review.
Have you listened to these jokers. 90% of what they
say is factually incorrect. No fact checking.
They are wanna bes on tv….but they have no idea
what’s happening in the real world outside their
little offices.
I’m pretty certain few if any of hearnes readers actually
take the star or even read those ridiculous editorials or
even pay attention to yahoo and his Hispanic cohort.
They’re irrelevant.
But let me make this true statement…the democrats were
not repudiated in November…they got lazy…didn’t vote.
Had you had the same turnout in 2014 as you did in 2012
it would bea whole different story.
but get ready for another 8 years of democratic
presidency….hilllary is going to wipe up all those repubs
in one swoop and the dems get back the senate.
As far as black on black crime…the majority of law abiding
blacks (99%)…are scared todeath of crime intheir
areas….its the bad element that ruins everything.
yet we were down dramatically in homicides in kc….
hopefully that continues!
99%
Really?
Damn, I really was unlucky.
Thanks for the research Harley.
I am a conservative. My train of thought and justification is this. I see abortion as murder. So the child is a victim like Machole. I find both equally disturbing. Neither Machole, nor an unborn child have a voice. I don’t protest at abortion clinics, I don’t try to shame the mother’s, but I do vote my conscience.
I no longer see a need for the death penalty (my faith believes in the sanctity of all life.) given that we have the ability to safely confine criminals forever. If we did not have that ability, as in days past like the death penalty is acceptable, kind of like the “Just War Doctrine”. Now how effectively does the state use this ability to confine dangerous criminals for life? Well that makes things less cut and dry.
One could make the same argument of hypocrisy by Liberals. Don’t kill criminals, but kill babies? I find this type of argument childish, and usually lead to people talking past each other.
In a judicial system which covets wins over justice, it is hard to support the death penalty. Not so much that it is racist rather than it depends on your bank account to get a “fair” trial.
But the reality is the gene pool needs cleansing from time to time.
Courtroom: A place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the betting odds favoring Judas. HL Mencken
There are actually two things that “Justice” has to do. We focus on the first, punishing criminals, but we forget the second, protecting society. We do what we can to rehabilitate, but our Justice system does not have to accept responsibility for failing its second mandate, the one I find most important, protecting society, and the rate of recidivism, seldom referred to, is horrendous. Even on a national scale, with a War still going on, we release the prisoners so they can return to the battlefield to oppose us again.
It has nothing to do with race, creed, color, sexual orientation, national origin, or domicile. It supposedly has to do with prosecutorial discretion, and the simple fact that black on black crime is really no longer news. We have come to expect it. The Sociologist tells us its poverty. The psychologist tells us it’s the inherent nature, and we watch it every night on the news on every channel, when all we really want to see is the weather forecast. What it comes down to is our trust in the Judicial System, the last vestige of peaceful transition, seeking “redress of grievances”, the last words of the First Amendment.
In the last week, I have seen more people seeking “conceal and carry” permits from both sides of the state line, a political statement that the police can no longer “protect and defend”, as it claims on the side of Denver police cars. Perhaps, I’d rather see the “3-7-77” , standing for 3 feet wide, 7 feet deep, and 77 inches long or the amount of time a culprit had to leave town, 3 hours, 7 minutes and 77 seconds. It tends to put an end to the concept of repeat offenders.
All in all, justice really should be blind, and with the concept of a melting pot, I am not willing to label a person on the basis of appearance. I do, however, label people on the basis of deeds, and, as for the news media, particularly print, their job centers on displaying the unique, the offender who doesn’t look like the others, the bull in the china shop. They take there cues more from P T Barnum than from reporters who reported the who, what, where, and when of the news. I like editorials too, or I wouldn’t be here.
The second is indeed, “protecting society”.
Eric Holder, the top law enforcement agent in the land, seeks to change the way America enforces the law. De facto permission to no longer “comply” with law enforcement, is the genesis of our most recent spate of intrepid “protestors” insisting that “Black Lives Matter” in an absurd hypocritical hierarchy (The 140 or so black lives taken last year at the hands of the police, seem to matter a great deal more that the 350 or so white lives taken by the police and in the aggregate, the 7,000 to 9,000 black lives taken every year by other blacks are not worth mentioning unless the terms “Industrial Racism’ is not peppered into the mix.
“The single most important job of the government is the safety of the people. It’s sad that we have a higher percentage of people in prison than any other country, but sadder still would be a policy that opens the cells and makes all of us more vulnerable to attack. Holder tells us that states and localities are laying off teachers, cutting back on public health and cancelling after school programs for our children, but, in almost all cases, spending on prisons continues to rise.
Other cutbacks don’t result in murders and rapes. The AG might check out the amount of money wasted on amenities for prisoners before he complains about the cost of keeping them locked up. In addition, a no frills prison system might be the best deterrent to crime. How many recidivists would we have if prison was a place that actually frightened offenders, instead of a place that seems like old home week to many?
Yes, there’s no doubt that the prison population has grown during that period, but it’s also true that its impact on crime has been substantial. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Americans experienced 44 million crimes in 1973. By 2007, that number had dropped to 23 million, even though the population grew by more than 75 million. In other words, those “tough on crime” policies reduced crime by almost half, while the country grew by about 30 percent.
Some researchers have estimated that for each additional criminal locked up, there is a concomitant reduction of between five and six reported crimes. The Sentencing Project may insist that incapacitating criminals through more and longer prison sentences has made little impact on crime, but those sentences have spared countless innocent people from being assaulted, robbed, raped, and murdered. When the AG talks about the social and fiscal costs of a burgeoning incarceration rate, he should also address the number of lives that were not taken by violent criminals; the number of sexual assault victims that have been spared the physical and emotional trauma; and the number of others who have not been victimized because there are fewer predators on the street. ”
The Carr brothers should be put to death poste haste.
PS. You can find 3-7-77 on the patches and doors of the officers of the Montana Highway Patrol.
By all means, don’t sully Joda Cain’s reputation with his family, friendsand authorities any further. No doubt he and Mr. Ward are queued up next for parole and will soon be joining millions of others who are “turning their lives around”.
Dwight; Good piece. As one of your acknowledged liberal voices referred to above, there is much truth in what you wrote. I know you will never pass up an opportunity to trash the Star and this topic is a valid path to do so. My own personal views on the death penalty have turned 180 degrees since college. While I am troubled somewhat that our justice system is not blind and responds to $, I guess I’m a hypocrite, having spent “liberally” in a few instances to get my way in legal entanglements over the years.
On a side note, I am also bothered by the fact that our resident intellect, whose contributions are so highly valued by our KCC readers, got immediately covered up by three ( count ’em, three) short offerings by the Robert Steele. Me thinks you may need to get a better agent representing your literary efforts.
Have a prosperous and healthy 2015, Dwight, and same to all other commenters here.
Why don’t you welcome Mr. Steele with a take or two on his writings – you’re going to hearing from him quite a bit actually, Stomps?
Not to worry, admin ( Happy Birthday by the way).
I will be commenting on Mr. Steele shortly.
oh shot….its hearnes birthday…..
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to hearne…
happy birthday to you…
now go with glaze and get some of that synthetic testosterone that will
eventually kill ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks H…
But I don’t require the T
Braggart.
Lunch on me when you’re ready, old man.
thought you and glaze used the groupon for buy one get
one free low t shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s not forget that serial killer Ted Bundy escaped from a Colorado prison and then killed many more in Florida. After he was zapped in Old Sparky, he never killed again.
A succinct explanation why capital punishment is needed! Also,the Star’s own article about the 19 convicted murderers released last year in Kansas points out in many cases they’d already been released before but had been returned for parole violations. They’re getting another chance at destroying others’ lives. We can have another year like the past one in K.C.,with six acts of horrible,unspeakable murder,for no apparent reason.
Let’s also not forget the innocent people on Death Row, or in prison generally.
Anthony Graves was convicted in 1994 of assisting Robert Carter in multiple murders in 1992. There was no physical evidence linking Graves to the crimes, and his conviction relied on Carter’s testimony that Graves was his accomplice, a claim Carter later recanted. In 2006 it was found that prosecuters elicited false statements and withheld testimony that could have influenced the jurors. A special prosecutor hired to re-examine the case said “we found not one piece of credible evidence that links Anthony Graves to the commission of this capital murder. He is an innocent man.”
How does the saying go? “That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved.” Whether you support with the death penalty or not, most individuals would agree with the statement above. Despite the United State’s innocent-until-proven-guilty legal system, there are several cases where a presumably innocent person is convicted of a crime, some even put to death.
And btw, Chuck, many of them are *gasps* white.
That’s good to know.
Yes, thanks for that really great information, I know it is a great comfort to me and my family.
http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/victims-mother-talks-about-brandon-howells-1998-acquittal-in-double-murder-trial
I am very sorry for your loss Brenda. We live in a world that is inherently dangerous. And that danger struck your family harder than most. While I sympathize with your intense emotion, Mr. Howell’s conviction would not have brought back your family. Previous generations saw fit to set a high bar for criminal conviction. They enshrined these protections within our Constitution. These protections help to ensure everyone’s freedom. I would remind you of the millions of service members who have died fighting for the sanctity of these very values. While your family’s death is certainly a tragedy, we need not compound their death’s with another tragedy. It would certainly be a grave tragedy to disregard the blood spilled and money spent, to sign away freedom, and invite tyranny for the immediate gratification of retribution. It is unfortunate our system cannot always provide both freedom and justice, but even more unfortunate would be to sacrifice freedom for justice.
How is a guilty person who committed a horrible crime escaping justice altogether a vindication of the American justice system ? Why are their victims’ loved ones supposed to feel good about a “hundred guilty persons escaping” as an abstract principle,if one of those escaping killed their family member or friend ,especially if it means the perpetrator is free to kill again ? With DNA testing the chance of the hypothetical you find so compelling has been reduced to next to nothing. If nothing else,this little exchange has exposed the shallowness and arrogance of your fashionably liberal posturing. I hope if the Carrs or Brandon Howell ever get out of prison,we can find them a nice half way house in your neighborhood. Maybe you’ll come forward and work with them to ease their transition back into society. We’ll see what you say then !(By the way, I love your insinuation that we would drop our opposition to the guilty going free once we realized many are white. Obviously, none of us white folks mind getting robbed,nurdered or raped as long as its by fellow whites !)
My insinuation was not that the guilty who go free are white, my statement was that many of the wrongly convicted are white. Like Ryan Ferguson. And even with DNA these are not “hypothecial” cases.
As for the Brandon Howell case, there was no question. The jury was not hung, all 12 jurors voted “Not Guilty.” Unless you are aware of some piece of evidence the jury was not aware of, I will trust my peers thoughtfully considered the evidence presented. Are you proposing we do away with jury trial?
I do take issue with your statement about abstraction. This is not an abstraction (def: drawing away from) this is a concrete principle echoed in the halls of our law schools and pulled from the founding documents of this country. The quote I used was taken from handwritten manuscripts of Benjamin Franklin. The took this principle and applied it in a practical way through the Bill of Rights.
I sincerely empathize with Mrs. Lamson. While I have not lost a loved one to murder, I have lost loved ones to war overseas. These people gave their lives in the furtherance of these very principles. While my comments may be harsh to those who have expereinced loss as a result of murder, your comments are equally disturbing to the memory of those that freely gave their lives to protect freedom. I may be misinterpreting your comments, but it certainly seems to me that you would disregard the lives freely sacraficed for millions to bring justice for those who have lost few.
I reiterate my closing point from the preceding post. It is freedom, not justice, that endures. Knowing the imperfect world we live in, knowing that freedom requires sacrafice and extreme protection, which would you choose? Freedom or justice?
Dwight,
Maybe this will help, I will address your two questions.
How is a guilty person who committed a horrible crime escaping justice altogether a vindication of the American justice system ?
It isn’t. It is a reminder of the sacrifices we make to protect against loss of freedom. As a people we have historically chosen to sacrifice justice to protect freedom. We could do away with 5th Amendment protections, and compel every person living within the vicinity of a crime to prove their whereabouts at the time of a crime. We could do away with the 6th Amendment and try accused before a professional judge. More radically, we could do away with the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments collectively eliminating the presumption of innocence. This would compel defendants prove their innocence. But in a practical sense these would be ineffective, and would have unintended consequences.
Why are their victims’ loved ones supposed to feel good about a “hundred guilty persons escaping” as an abstract principle,if one of those escaping killed their family member or friend ,especially if it means the perpetrator is free to kill again ?
Again, the family should not feel good. They should be disgusted, enraged, and saddened. This not to say that you cannot also recognize importance of the very protections that allowed Mr. Howell to walk free.
I will not be condescended to on the importance of our system of constitutional liberty as someone who has spent years defending indigent criminal defendants in the state and federal courts of Kansas and Missouri.I’m all too familiar with the mentality of law enforcement types who feel that once they’ve made an arrest they’ve solved a crime,even though there is no evidence tying a particular individual to that crime. That said,you have no right to speak pious platitudes to a mother whose sixteen year old disappeared,never to be seen again, only to have the accused surface years later,this time charged with FIVE ADDITIONAL MURDERS. What is this garbage about “life is inherently dangerous”? That is a mindless truism,a form of verbal flatulence designed to deflect her anger so you can launch into a rhetorical shuck and jive. The choice you pose is a false one. Freedom and justice are not mutually exclusive. To argue otherwise is to engage in bloodless abstractions,abstractions that are obscene compared to the sufferings of the people you so patronizingly lecture,like the mother of this murdered teen ager.
Well stated and defended ILA.
Thanks for posting.
As someone who has done more than a little bleeding in the streets, I think talk is cheap. My family also has done more than it’s share of contributing that “last full measure”.
Until the results of that Progressive jack boot is on your neck, rhetorical justifications and excuses for the urban abattoir is sanctimonious blathering.
Dwight is right on the location of those halfway houses.