Scott Peterson gets death penalty

[brubeck]

There is justice.

[McQ]

The bastard deserves it.

Allison
~ mama to Declan 3.24.03 and Meghan 8.26.04

[MelissaTC]

I can't believe it. I didn't think they would give it to him. I hope Laci and Conner can rest in peace now that justice has been done.

[Melanie]

You know, I just don't know that "justice" could be served. Nothing he could ever be sentenced to would bring justice or remotely match what he did. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he didn't get off like OJ, but I just don't know what he deserves.

[NancyJ_redo]

Such a sad, sad case. Finally there's closure, but of course the worst part of it is that there's no Laci and no Conner. I can't imagine how her family can ever move past this, but at least the trial and sentencing is done. Well, until the inevitable appeal gets filed.

[aliceinwonderland]

I'm in principle against the death penalty, but I can't say I'm too sorry.

The whole penalty phase was driving me nuts (CAN'T imagine what it was like for Laci's family): 36 witnesses to say what a great life the bastard had? Ok, what is your "excuse" then??? Abused as a child?? really traumatic background?? Nope, just clinically selfish...

I can imagine the penalty phase made it so much worse for Laci's family...

[momathome]

In all honesty, even though I am pro-dealth penalty and think tht no one deserves it more than him, I am having a mixed reaction on this case. From what I understand, the appeals process in CA is ridiculously long - since the death penalty was re-instated in CA in 1978, only 10 executions have been carried out. There are over 600 inmates currently sitting on death row in CA and they said that the appeals could drag on for decades - I also heard some statistic that said that you have a better chance of dying of natural causes on death row in CA than you do of actually being executed. He will also be in solitary confinement on death row, which I don;t think is neccessarily a good thing. If the sentence was life in prison, he would be thrown in with the general prison population, which means he would have the opportunity to get the crap kicked out of him on a regular basis - I like the sound of that. }(

[bostonsmama]

I'm so relieved knowing Scott is going to prison and eventually to his death, but I recently heard on a news radio station that there were other girlfriends or known "mistresses" he dated that have gone mysteriously missing. Has anyone heard of anything like that from a more varifiable news source?

RE: 16 years on death row--- I'm pro-death penalty for the most aggregiuos cases (this being one of them), so it surely is upsetting to know that Scott will have access to all the appeals. But for everyone else case, the ten-year wait gives me confidence that if there are any truly innocent people who are wrongly convicted by overzealous prosecutors, they do get weeded out by the time the injection comes. Just recently, a man was released from a Texas prison after sitting on Death Row for 16 years for a "crime" that never existed. Although this case is extremely rare, I'm glad there are safe-guards. It just sucks that CA tax payers have to put 3 meals/day into that murderer's belly for the next 15 or 16 years!

[tinkerbell1217]

Sure, the whole appeals process will be long and drawn out, but on the ++ side, Scott is pretty much out of $$ so unless he has a stash somewhere or someone else pays for an appellate lawyer(sp??) he will end up with a Public Defender, which in most cases are overworked and underappreciated lawyers with no real time to spend on things like this. I really don't think it will go much of anywhere unless he comes up with some serious $$ to fight in appeals court. Either way, he will be on death row, thinking every day about Laci and Connor and what put him there and how the whole world(practically) wants him dead! Like a PP said, too bad the CA public will have to support Scott Peterson in jail until his death penalty is carried out. I wonder if he may fall victim to jail justice and someone on the inside do away with him before he is put to death. Its a possibility! In any case, justice was done as much as it could be. May Laci and Connor rest in peace finally.

[ShayleighCarsensMom]

I couldnt agree with your post more! Being that I live in CA (about 45 minutes from Modesto!) I see the death penalty here as being a glorified hotel stay until you die. 3 square meals a day, exercise time, your own room, radio....blah blah blah.
I really wanted him to get life in prison for one reason only...he would then be mixed in with the general prison population and I'm surew a few thugs would have beat him to death, slowly and painfully...thats what I think he deserves!
Either way, his life is over...arrogant SOB!

[houseof3boys]

I am thrilled over this. He deserves it. I only wish it were tomorrow so tax dollars wouldn't be wasted on such a liar.

[amp]

Amen. I just wish he wouldn't get years of appeals, but I guess that's what will happen.

[ddmarsh]

It is my understanding that due to the backlog dealth penalty appelate cases in California, Scott would not be executed for 27 years.

[candybomiller]

I'm ashamed to admit that I cheered when I heard what the jury decided. I honestly don't know whether or not the death penalty is ever justified.

[icunurse]

I was a bit surprised when they found him guilty in the first place, as, other than some lies and a few poor choices in life, they didn't really have any hard evidence to link him to her murder. My gut told me he was guilty, but I don't think gut feelings are allowed in rulings. :) Based on that, I was even more surprised that they sentenced him to death. Of course, the speed at which they will impose it seems to be like he will have a life sentence and just have a safer place to reside.
Traci
~Connor's Mom~
http://lilypie.com/baby1/050204/1/0/1/-6/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[Vajrastorm]

I am always sad when the death penalty is handed down.

It solves nothing, and brings about no good. :(

[kijip]

He will likely end up with a probono anti death penalty attorney. Also defense attorneys in death penalty cases where the victim can't pay for representation are usually bid out to private firms on the west coast vs. just a typical public defender.

I won't go into the morality of the death penalty- I have mixed feelings. But a capital case is ridiculously more expensive than life in prison for the public dime. He is getting a lot more than 3 meals per day---he is getting 24 hour, lock down supervision in an expensive facility with an expensive staff and expensive transfers to and fro for court. Add that to the public cost of a trial and appeals and the public is shouldering a HUGE bill. Makes me dizzy. Wouldn't the money be better spent for victim's services?

[Melanie]

> I was a bit surprised when they found him guilty in the
>first place, as, other than some lies and a few poor choices
>in life, they didn't really have any hard evidence to link him
>to her murder. My gut told me he was guilty, but I don't think
>gut feelings are allowed in rulings. :) Based on that, I was
>even more surprised that they sentenced him to death. Of
>course, the speed at which they will impose it seems to be
>like he will have a life sentence and just have a safer place
>to reside.



I think it was just Karma for everyone-under-the-sun KNOWING with FACTS that OJ was guilty and he got off. This guy, no evidence but we all knew it.

[tippy]

I KNOW I'm going to regret this but here it is....

I am asking this with true curiosity not with sarcasm or to be baiting. I am wondering how some people can be Pro-life (read anti-abortion) and pro-death penalty at the same time, for example the President. Doesn't that seem incredibly contradictory? It's almost like saying; save them now...kill them later. Just wondering what others think about this. I'm glad Scott Peterson was found guilty. Not sure if life in prison would be a worse punishment though.

Teva,
Mom to AJ born 1-8-03

[himom]

I can't speak for anyone else, but here's my perspective. Oh, but first I want to point out that "save them now, kill them later" is an incorrect summary because you're assuming the lives in question are the same lives in every individual situtation. (For example: This child, if not aborted, will someday murder someone. We'll just let him live for now and wait for him to kill somebody. THEN we'll kill him.)

I see pro-life as being against extinguishing little lives that haven't had a chance yet; snuffing out little bundles of potentiality; destroying teeny, amazing creatures that could go anywhere and be anything. Not to mention what an emotional wreck abortions have made several of my dear friends. The whole process really screwed them up. My view is it's one of the worst things that could ever have happened to women, but that's a subject for another soapbox.

I see the death penalty for certain murderers as giving society permanent protection against those who have had their chance, but have used their lives to bring suffering, misery, sorrow, horror, fear, and agony to their fellow human beings.

Having said that, the death penalty still scares me because of its finality. I guess I don't want the responsibility of deciding when and whether someone lives or dies -- I honestly don't feel like I have the right to judge something that permanent. (This is one of the other reasons I'm on the pro-life side. If nobody can say for sure when a person becomes a person, I say we err on the side of caution and don't mess with it at all.) And with the death penalty, I can say I "believe" in it (and I do), but I don't know if I could personally hand it out to someone if I were on a jury. I probably couldn't, even for someone like Peterson, who inspires some pretty nasty feelings in me.

That's a moral level. On an emotional level, I'm GLAD, GLAD, GLAD for the decision and I hope he fries. How's that for a contradiction? :)

I guess I'm human!

Jodi

[tinkerbell1217]

ITA! It would be better spent that way, but, oh well. He DOES deserve to be put to death. An eye for an eye, pretty much. I don't mean literally, in every case, but in this case, definitely. That poor baby pretty much suffocated to death, fighting to breathe as his mother died. What would be justice for that? Someone who does something like that is selfish and has no conscience. Why would it be moral to let him sit in jail for 30 or 40 years to "think" about what he did?? He DOESN'T care! Sure he would be away from family and friends and the outside comforts of a home and job and money, etc.. But Laci & Connor will still be dead and he accomplished what he set out to accomplish. He is free of them, just not free to enjoy it. I still think someone in jail will probably kill him before the state can.

[tinkerbell1217]

Said well, Jodi. You nailed it right on for me!

[bluej]

Jodi pretty much summed it up for me. I am pro-life b/c abortion kills innocent babies. Babies who have committed no crime and have done no wrong. (this is my opinion and my belief as I believe life is created as soon as the egg is fertilized. I realize that not everyone shares this belief and I didn't write my sentence to offend anyone but b/c in my heart that is what I truly believe. I'm sure I will be ripped apart for stating what I did, fine, I won't come back to explain or defend it though b/c I did give great thought before writing it and I'm comfortable with it as it best defines my feeling on abortion). I am pro-death penalty b/c these are people who have committed heinous crimes and have no respect for life, so why should their life be given any respect? I will admit that as a Christian I'm not certain that God shares my view of the death penalty. I do struggle with that, but my human gut reaction to people like Scott Peterson is 'I hope he suffers a miserable death.' I suppose it would be more Christian to feel 'I hope he suffers a miserable life.' Okay, I know that's not true either. As I Christian I'm suppose to hope that he comes to know Christ and ask for forgiveness of his sins/crimes before he dies (I'm not trying to preach, I'm just stating what I know I'm SUPPOSE to feel as a Christian and what I do feel as a human and the struggle that I face with such issues).

[cuca_]

I agree with you Andrie. While I think that Scott Peterson is a monster, I am not celebrating the fact that he got the death penalty.

Carmen
DD May 2003
#2 expected in May 2005!

[KBecks]

I'm pro-life and anti-death penalty.

However, I used to be OK with the death penalty, and OK with abortion, but that was many years ago. I'm glad that our state does not have it, and I also think that life in prison w/o parole is a good enough punishment.

All life is precious. I do believe that people who commit crimes have the potential to reform themselves while in prison and come to understand the horrors their victims suffered.

I also believe that ultimate justice is left to the afterlife.

[papal]

I don't there is justice in this. I don't believe we get to decide when a person dies or rather give judgement to kill him.

He can rot in prison for the rest of his life, with no chance of parole.. to me, that would be justice enough.

We are all human. If in the 1% chance that the jury was wrong and he was indeed innocent, it would be a horrible miscarriage of 'justice'. And even if it was irrefutable that he was 100% guilty, it is barbaric, imo, to kill him. It does not bring Laci or Connor back and causes even more heartbreak to his family, who have done nothing wrong.

[mommd]

I agree. I don't think the death penalty is "justice". I think it just makes us as bad as the murderer. I don't think we should be able to decide who lives or dies.

Anyway, I never understood, and still don't, why this case has been such a huge deal to so many people. I agree that if he truly did murder his wife and unborn child, it was a horrible crime. But how many other murders take place everyday? How many other pregnant women and children are murdered by husbands and boyfriends? Why is THIS case so deserving of so much attention? I bet the families of other murdered victims would like to have media attention too, so why don't they deserve it? Is it because Scott Peterson is/was rich?

Seriously, I don't mean to belittle the crime, so please no flames, but can someone explain?

[aliceinwonderland]

DH and I were discussing this this morning on our drive to town--he disagrees with the death penalty in this case because of all the circumstantial evidence, I'm against state-sponsored murder on principle...I think it says a lot of (not so nice) things about us as a society... It is NOT even proven to be a crime deterrent, anyway. I don't know what the logic is...

[egoldber]

I have also wondered why this case has garnered so much attention. Sadly, many women (including pregnant women) are murdered every year, usually by their husbands or boyfriends. I don't see how her case was any worse than any other of the sad cases out there.

And I have never understood as a civilized society how we can say that any individual deserves death and then cause that death in a deliberate manner. Its incomprehensible to me that we can do this and call it justice. I don't care if that person if guilty of the crime or not, although the possibility that even one person could be executed for a crime they did not commit is just mindbogglingly horrendous to me.

[stella]

Because Laci was pretty, because it happened on Christmas Eve, because she was so advancedly-pregnant (is that a word? I don't think so, but it is meant to be descriptive), because they were educated, because he was cheating on his pretty pregnant wife, because they were an attractive, middle-class couple - the family next door.

If it's possible for someone as good-looking as Scott Peterson to murder the other half of his (presumed) perfect family, then what is wrong with this world, and more frightening than that...what are any of us normal people and our "normal" family members capable of?

A prosecutor/speaker at my seminar last week noted that we are so familiar and irate over the murders of Laci and Conner, but what about the victims of elder abuse and homicide (his jurisdiction)? And apparently some guy in Pennsylvania has recently been found responsible for the deaths of 30 elderly hospital patients. He was killing them by lethal injection.. Where's the outrage?

I agree with him, but I also know that there is only so much pain that the human heart and mind can process before you just can't muster the energy to be affected by it. And if you were, you would become so severely depressed that you couldn't function.

But sometimes the facts can just trigger something in you - and this case was so close to home for so many - look at all of us - the recently-pregnant. We are just furious at his deceptive behavior. Heck, to me the murder is almost overshadowed by his duplicitousness in having the affair. And in acting concerned about their whereabouts when he had really killed them.

It doesn't really make a lot of sense - this is just my stab at answering very good question!

[papal]

From what I understand (there was a piece on the Nightly News last year), it is possibly because they were a beautiful, affluent WHITE family. There was a VERY similar case of a poor black woman in Chicago (i believe) who was murdered by her cheating husband. It got a minute or two on the local news.

As in the case of Elizabeth Smart.
If you are beautiful, rich and white or a celebrity, the media will pay more attention to you.

[tinkerbell1217]

Jen, I am not well versed in the Bible but I do remember learning in Biblical times "An eye for an eye" was the norm. So, a life for a life would be the same. Yes, things are more civilized nowadays, of course, but a crime as heinous as this one deserves a punishment just the same. I find many hypocrises in Christianity and most religions so I don't belong to any one. I just have my own beliefs. As for pro life and pro death penalty, I am pro life, yes. I am pro death penalty too. Innocent babies who never got a chance are what is being terminated in an abortion. Men and women who have no regard for life and have committed terrible and unspeakable acts of violence and KNOW what they are doing is another story. Two completely different areas.

FWIW, even though I am pro life, I would never judge another for having an abortion. I don't impose my beliefs on anyone and would never chastise (sp?) or look down on someone if they revealed to me they had an abortion. I have two friends who have had abortions and they are still my friends. It was right for them and they are the ones who have to live with it. Not me.

BTW, this entire post is not directed towords Jen, just that first couple of sentences! I just kept going!

[aliceinwonderland]

Have you read "American Tragedy" (Theodore Dreiser)?? This case reminds me very much of that general idea...
But yea, the reasons for the celebrity have already been mentioned, pretty smile, "all-American" girl vanishes on Xmass eve, etc etc...

[egoldber]

I agree that the race, class issue was likely a factor. But its not just poor women of color who are murdered by their husbands and/or boyfriends. Maybe it was just a strange confluence of events that caught the national attention at the right time.

I found an article about homicide of pregnent women on the NOW website. It was actually written in light of the Peterson case. Here are some excerpts:

"Nationally, homicide is a leading killer of young women—pregnant or not. In 1999, homicide was the second-leading cause of death among women ages 20 to 24. It was fifth among women ages 25-34. Accidents are the top cause of death in both age groups."

"Police records show that homicidal violence cuts across all races and classes."

"There is no profile of what these men look like," Sharps said. "Many are educated, upstanding citizens." "

Here's the full article:
http://www.now.org/issues/violence/043003pregnant.html

[deenass]

Laci was also from Modesto, CA, which is also where Chandra Levy was from (the young DC intern who was apparantly murdered in a park in DC), so the media was pretty familiar with "selling" a story and the community was used to the publicity.

[slknight]

>I have also wondered why this case has garnered so much
>attention. Sadly, many women (including pregnant women) are
>murdered every year, usually by their husbands or boyfriends.
>I don't see how her case was any worse than any other of the
>sad cases out there.

Yes, sadly, this is very true. One of the students at the highschool where DH used to teach was just murdered by her boyfriend. She had just told him that she was pregnant, and he stabbed her to death. :-( It's terribly tragic, but all too common.

[papal]

I remember also reading that homicide is the leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country. That is quite an astounding fact.

[pixelprincess]

If I had to act on emotion alone...I'd say he deserves the death penalty. I am not completely comfortable with it, but if there was 100% certainty of his guilt it would serve some form of justice. But the lack of hard evidence does cast reasonable doubt so I'd rather let him rot in prison.

[Phoebe]

>Is it because Scott Peterson
>is/was rich?

He wasn't rich! He was a stinkin' fertilizer salesman living in Modesto. (and yes, the pun was intended ;) )

The case received lots of attention because we don't expect middle class people who are living a responsible, modest life to meet such a terrible end. Contrast that with a member of society who hangs out with losers, abuses drugs, and makes one bad decision after another. In other words, lives a "high risk" lifestyle. Not only is the public not particularly interested when someone like that meets tradgedy, I think the authorities have a much harder time solving those crimes.

Phoebe,
Susan 4/01
David 6/03

[lisams]

I read or heard somewhere that the most common cause of death for a pregnant woman is murder (more common than medical causes) - it happens more than we could imagine. I wonder why this case was followed so much by the media, but am glad as it raises awareness of what a horrible crime this is.

I don't know what I think of the death penalty. I don't think there could ever be justice for what he did.

Lisa

[NancyJ_redo]

I don't necessarily agree with the "rich, beautiful, white" reasoning, at least with respect to why I was interested in this case. During the Peterson trial recall that Lori Hacking (woman in Utah) disappeared. Not to be rude, but I did not find her or her husband particularly attractive (trying to make the distinction with the Peterson case, since I think both Laci and Scott were attractive). Nor do I recall there being any mention of the Hacking's social status. Instead, I was interested in the Hacking case because she seemed like the girl next door, she was a runner like I am, in my age range, etc. Basically, I could relate to that case, much as I can to the Peterson case, esp. bc I was pregnant at the time Laci disappeared. And as Stella mentioned, there's only so much a human heart can take (obviously not saying that as well as Stella did), so I think, at least for me, I become interested in certain cases because I can relate to them on some level. Maybe it involves someone in the same profession as me. Maybe it involves someone who lived at the end of my street (Nicole Simpson), etc. But for me, it's not as simple as saying it's because they're rich, beautiful and white.

[papal]

Nancy, I did not mean by us, the general public but by the media. I meant that the media was more interested because of the rich, white and beautiful factor. Of course, what they want us to be interested in is what they play on the television, which makes us pay attention to that particular case.. i am not saying it particularly well.. but i do believe in the theory that the media would be more interested in a white, beautiful family than a black (or minority), impoverished one. Especially in the case of Elizabeth Smart... it was very interesting to see that much attention on this girl.

[NancyJ_redo]

Yep, I totally agree, and that would have been my next paragraph had I more time to write the first time! I certainly don't scour the varous newspapers for crimes committed - I only see what the media decides to serve up to us, and you're right - they choose to serve up the people who are most-celebrity-like (rich, beautiful, etc.). And then, having that offered to me, I tend to take interest in certain cases for one reason or another. So yes, the media at large is deciding what gets offered up on the evening news or the newspaper, and they most certainly have a preference for victims or criminals who meet certain 'appealing' criteria.

[mamagoosie]

I'm also anti-death penalty. Life in prison without parole removes him from society, and essentially takes away his life. For me, the announcement that someone is going to be put to death is never a cause for celebration--we're all God's children and I think that as much as possible, it should be up to Him to decide when our life ends.

I understand the distinction made between abortion and death penalty. But that just means being anti-abortion. Being pro-life should mean respecting all life God creates--be it an embryo or a murderer--not just the life we as mere humans decide is worthy of living. It means respecting life even when killing seems easy, convenient or justified--for the simple reason that life is sacred. I have my issues with the Catholic church, but I do admire and respect their consistent anti-abortion, anti-death penalty, anti-war stance.

Everyone who takes a life thinks they had a "good" reason for killing--that they were somehow "justified." If he's guilty of these crimes (as I believe he is), Scott Peterson is a horrible person, and I have no doubt God will deal with him in His infinite wisdom--much better than we ever could. I'll be saying a prayer for everyone involved in this sad, sad situation, particularly Laci and Connor's family.

[kijip]

Virtually no one on death row is murdered in prison- death row inmates are mostly kept segregated from the rest of the prison population and are often all alone in their cells most of the day.

An eye for an eye is not the approch that I take to the subject. While most of me agrees with my staunchly Catholic upbringing (no death penalty) there is a vengeful part of me that reluctantly agrees that death is justice in some cases. So as I said, I am ambivalent.

[kijip]

ITA!

I was raised Catholic and pacifist. As such I was taught that only God creates and ends life and that ultimate justice belongs to God alone.

Now I lean to the athiest side of the equation but I have great respect for those that are consistent in their beliefs. I will always support those who stand for all life and are accordingly against abortion, the death penalty, assisted sucide, sucide and war. However, my views have come to differ since I am conflicted on the death penalty and very pro-choice.

As a child I asked my parish priest why the death penalty was wrong since after all these people have killed and hurt people. I was told that since I was Catholic, I did not need to be for the death penalty since I could trust that God knew what, if any, eternal punishment anyone needs. It was simply not my place to play with life. This was reinforced by my parents. I was also taught that forgiveness is critical and that when you forgive, you set yourself free.

I assume that if the reason someone is against abortion is that they believe life to be sacred, then that they believe that all life is sacred and belongs ONLY to God. I go so far as to think that being for in vitro and againist abortion is a contradiction. I find that more Catholics have the view that life is sacred from beginning to end but I know more about Catholism than I do about Protestants.

[bluej]

The Bible also teaches of turning the other cheek and forgiveness and I feel that's what God wants us to do. I really should think long and hard about my stance on the death penalty. It's one of those things I really don't think too often about and the only time I say 'yes, I'm for the death penalty' is when the talk is of some big case and scum like Scott Peterson and I've heard about it on the news for months on end. And being I only know of a handful of those cases and not all of the others on death row I imagine my reaction is that of I just want the guy gone. I don't want to hear about him any more on the news. And since the death penalty doesn't really make him gone, but keeps him in the news it really does not support what I want done. Which is I just want him to be forgotten. I want the focus to be on his victims and what their families lost and how they are moving on. Not on HIS family and how they are now grieving their 'loss' and how he's doing in prison. He just does not deserve the attention and time the media spends on him.

[kijip]

I agree with you Rashmi about the race issue but I think that we (the public) have to take responsibility for the media. Art (in this case the media) reflects culture. If we did not watch or if we did not buy (magazines, newspapers), they they simply would not exist becuase of lack of advertising $$.

And yes I will say it with you---it is becuase she was WHITE that it dominated the news. The other factors - girl next door, good income, considered attractive all are in themselves made MORE LIKELY because she was WHITE. Add the advanced pregnancy and the whole Christmas think and the whole loving to hate the cheater thing and you have quite a story. Culture and media are not generated seperately from the population and then shoved down our unwilling throats.

But we only have a story if we make it one by watching...

We live in a racist society and we all contribute to racism on a daily basis. Only by realizing that it exists and working to not be racist can we rise againist it.. I am the WHITE sister of a BLACK brother and I can tell you story after story about our country's racism. No one should think I am say that they are racist or evil, I am just calling for some self reflection.