Moussaoui Trial... What do you think?

[MacFan782040]

I've actually been following this trial very closely...It's the determination of Zacarias Moussaoui, who was part of the masterminds of 9/11. He was in jail at the time of 9/11, but still contributed to much of the attack planning.

Basically, he either gets the death penalty or life in prision without possibility for release. Prosecuters say he should die, because of so much pain he has caused. Defenders say giving him the death penalty would only give him "what he wants" and die in the name of jihad.

"Confine him to a miserable existence until he dies and give him not the death of a jihadist he wants, but the long slow death of a common criminal."

I am not sure what I would do if I was the jury... I think giving him life in prision may be better because I think his fellow prisioners would kill him anyway...by using more painful means. If not, he rots his life away slowly.

Sorry for the grusomeness, but when he laughs and says he wishes there was "more pain", and that he's not even a bit sorry for what happens, mocks a military officer, ect ect, it makes my blood boil.

What do you guys think?

 

[QCassidy352]

I am not sure what I would do if I was the jury... I think giving him life in prision may be better because I think his fellow prisioners would kill him anyway...by using more painful means. If not, he rots his life away slowly.

Well first, I don't think he really knew about the attacks. This guy is a pathetic wannabe terrorist.

Second, even if he did know, it's a joke to say that he "caused" the deaths of 3,000 people. The evidence continues to mount that the government had ample warning and blindly ignored the signs. So to say he "caused" the attacks, you have to believe that he not only had the requisite info to stop the attacks but also that his disclosure of that info would have thwarted the attacks because the government would have acted. Which I think is rather implausible.

Third, I'm sure he'll be held in special protective custody so other inmates killing him is pretty unlikely.

Fourth, I'm categorically against the death penalty.

Basically, IMO, this is a show trial being put on because the government doesn't have any of the real perpetrators (obviously) or masterminds. Moussaoui is kinda pathetic, and if we had anyone of significance to try, nobody would give a damn about this guy. Oh, and I think this should/will be in the political forum...

 

[obeygiant]

life in prison....or mental facility.

 

[dsyntax]

The only thing I have to say about the trial is that I think its sad the way the prosecution in cases like this trots out ridiculous appeals to the emotions of the Jury. The facts are that 3,000-ish people died on 9-11. They should state those facts, not play the black box from fligh 93 or have Rudy tell of watching bodies falling, or have family members describe those lost.

The US criminal justice system is based on reason and rational decisions, not on appealing to the sympathy or revenge of juries.

Just my two cents

PS Complete disclosure ... I HATE the death penalty.

 

[Airforce]

I say get it over with. Kill him, nevermind what he wants.

 

[Deepdale]

... The US criminal justice system is based on reason and rational decisions, not on appealing to the sympathy or revenge of juries.

Ideally so. However, the direct emotional appeal made to influence the decisions of jurors is routinely a part of the process. In a trial like Moussaoui's, the government clearly goes over the top and risks numbing people too much.

Also, in a medical malpractice case, attorneys for the injured party typically show photographs that are unsettling, and couple it with heartwrenching testimony describing how one's life has been altered forever, etc. It is part of the strategy to win and playing with emotions often results in a favorable verdict if skillfully done.

 

[idea_hamster]

In general, there are five basic theories of punishment in legal theory:

1. Specific deterence (if we put people who steal in jail, people are less likely to steal);
2. General deterence (if we put people who steal in jail, people are less likely to commit crimes at all);
3. Sequestration (if we put people who steal in jail, they can't harm the public any more);
4. Rehabilitation (if we put people who steal in jail, they'll learn not to break the law); and
5. Revenge

IMHO, the only item on this list that is better served by a death sentence than life in prison is revenge -- and I don't think that revenge alone justifies killing anyone, even terrorists. As a matter of fact, especially terrorists -- after all, it's the hard cases that measure our commitment to principle.

Besides, the legal underpinnings of applying the death penalty to "lying to federal investigators" (what Martha Stewart was convicted of) shines the light on just how thin the case for the death penalty is.

Mods -- although this topic is a "current event," do we think it might go better in the "politics/religion/stuff-that-gets-people's-dander-up" area?

EDIT:

I say get it over with. Kill him, nevermind what he wants.

I guess in a nihilistic sort of way, "get it over with" means that he'll die eventually, so we shouldn't worry too much about killing him now? Let me say, I respectfully disagree.

And "nevermind what he wants" means that Moussaoui's aversion to death is the only reason we wouldn't kill him? Again, I disagree.

 

[redAPPLE]

it is a case in which, do this? it is somehow wrong. do that? it is somehow wrong.

i would say, show the guy some love (be it manly). show that there are human beings still living in this earth. just don't set him free.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Why do I see this going to the PF?

I too have been following the trial. It raises true questions on our governments intelligence operations. Regardless, I believe that Moussaoui should be sentenced to prison.

Personally I would love to have him go to Rikers Island in the general population. But hey that is me. No virgins for him in the afterlife.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Political Forum material here.

I disagree with the prosecution. I am not 100% anti-death penalty, although if it came to a vote I would prefer to replace excecution with life in prison without parole. As always, we should examine what punishment would best fit the crime.

In this case, excecution of Moussaoui would be a symbolic excecution of the 9/11 terrorists by proxy, and while it may satisfy some I think it is questionable. We do not need to create any more martyrs, for one thing.

Also, the trial has been yet another indictment of the FBI and CIA, as well as the lawyers - sometimes they simply break the law and even when they operate within the rules they are often sloppy. I wouldn't feel justified killing Moussaoui, even though I would not feel morally troubled by his death.

One would think that such a high-profile trial would be done by the book, but lately it seems that the bigger the trial, the bigger the circus.

Moussaoui should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. He and his views are dangerous our society and his own as well. We cannot allow people like him to prosecute their assualt on the pluralistic society that we have built and continue to build after so many bitter lessons of our own. One of the big differences between the West and Islamic extremists should be the increased value we place upon a person's life. Killing Moussaoui doesn't demonstrate that well enough. War is one thing, but he is prisoner now, not a combatant.