Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Monday, Oct. 21, 2002 - 10:44 p.m.

Maybe it's me, but I'm thinking Hello, Kitty is a strange thing for a grown adult woman to have on her home page...

Stupid Quote(s) of the Day:
"The practice of executing [teen] offenders is a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society." -- Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, on the death penalty for teens, specifically, Stanford v. Parker, in which 17 year old Kevin Stanford abducted, sodomized and then killed a gas station attendant in 1982.

Yeah, coz leaving them free to rape and kill other people is a much better alternative. I mean, a year in juvie will break 'em of that urge, right? Stanford's lawyers dragged out that lame, age-old argument that the death penalty violates the 8th Amendment of the Constitution, which bans cruel and unusual punishment. Apparently, kidnapping another human being, sodomizing him and then killing him isn't cruel and inhuman in the eyes of lawyers. It has also been claimed that a juvenile defendant lacks the capacity to understand his situation and culpability.

Huh. When I was 10 I knew it was really, really, really bad to kidnap, sodomize, and kill another human being. By the time I was 17, I damn sure understood the ramifications of it. Nice try, buddy.

In addition to the opinion stated above, the Supreme Court today also refused to hear a second case, that of Florida inmate Charles Foster, who feels that in spite of the fact he slit a man's throat, 27 years is more than enough time to spend in prison, and that he really shouldn't have to deal with the anxiety of sitting on Death Row. In fact, Justice Breyer seems to agree with that assessment, so he filed a separate opinion which provides us with our second stupid quote:

"If executed, Foster, now 55, will have been punished both by death and also by more than a generation spent in death row's twilight. It is fairly asked whether such punishment is both unusual and cruel." -- Justice Stephan Breyer

You know, I have to agree. We should enforce the death penalty much more swiftly. Like, within 5 - 10 years. Fuck that appeal after appeal thing. You get one, and that's it.

Plus, it chaps me to have to agree with and grant the next part to Judge Clarence Thomas, just on principle, if nothing else.

Excellent Quote of the Day:
"[Foster] could long ago have ended his `anxieties and uncertainties' by submitting to what the people of Florida have deemed him to deserve: execution." -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

According to the AP, "Thomas went on to say Foster wouldn't be in his current situation if he hadn't slit a man's throat and then cut his spine when he realized the man was still breathing during a robbery." I have to lean more towards a Supreme Court judge with that dry a way of sizing up a situation.

That's it. I had a really long weekend and didn't get ANY of my homework done, so now I have to do an autoCAD drawing AND 3 form compositions. The FC's aren't due until Thursday, but I'm shooting a re-enactment all day tomorrow and then again either Thursday or Friday, so I don't have the time to get them done. Why? Because I spent my weekend on contract labor. ::sigh:: On top of that, there was oodles of cleaning and piles and piles...nay, *mountains* of laundry to do. So I had no time at all for cavorting. :(

AutoCAD beckons.

Peace out,

Katie

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Yesterday's News - Next Stop

In which Katie shares sad news - Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2015
In which Katie returns after a very long absence - Monday, Jun. 25, 2012
In which Katie pokes her head in and brushes some of the cobwebs away - Thursday, May. 06, 2010
In which Katie asks you to write your congressman again. - Monday, Jun. 02, 2008
In which Katie asks you to please click the link and send the message to protect the rights of artists - Wednesday, May. 21, 2008