I'm opposed to capital punishment as a general principle. So I'm opposed to it in this case as well. Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty, and even though this is a federal case, it would be nice if the federal courts honored the laws of state in which the crimes were committed.

I'm pretty much against the death penalty, but I feel imprisonment should be a harsher punishment than death in the instance of people like him. Would the families be more at peace if he eventually appologised? Perhaps that is a good reason for keeping him alive. But I wouldn't allow him to live on the principle that he might "realise" what he had done and somehow come to terms with it. Does it matter if he is a changed man if he dies behind bars anyway? There's a time and a place for rehabilitation..

As everyone else has said, I don't think anyone is taught anything by death; not the executed, not other criminals, not the public. Besides, people who sit on death row stay there for years in many cases, on those same tax dollars.

Dude, it isn't Christmas anymore.

I'm jolly all year round, as you can tell by my discussing prisoner death.

Hey wait that isn't even relevant.

I love people who can't wait to bash others for talking about how tragic something is, because they should be more outraged about some other tragedy which they believe to be more tragic.

"How can you even say this is bad? 3 times the amount of people died in something else that happened!"

The expectation that we should have an emotional response to everything is as unreasonable as it is stupid. The quantifying of tragedy is both insensitive and obnoxious. Not everything is a competition, especially senseless violence and people comparing them and attempting to place values on them should be ashamed of themselves.

Finally, I should mention that regarding the Boston Marathon, theres a great deal of symbolism associated with it. If people are giving more media coverage to it, its not because we think that the lives in Boston are worth more. Its not because a fertilizer plant means less. And I think people know why Boston is getting more media coverage but would rather appear to be more knowledgeable and "correct" about things more than they would prefer to appear to have some sense of class and (yeah, I'm writing it) tact.

I say this a lot here, but people on the internet love to pretend they're smarter and more informed than everyone else. Apparently its a badge of honor but you'd be better served trying to figure out how to conduct yourself like a civilized person, rather than Googling things and trying to be the smartest person in the world. Being smart is a nice thing, knowing how to use that intelligence is better, and knowing when your intelligence is irrelevant (like in the face of a tragedy) in best.

I want to write so much more, but its going to end up off topic. Intelligence is like strength; there a many different ways to measure it, and in the end its how you use what you have. Countless people, who raised a lot of money for charities of all kinds were bombed in Boston. Children, seniors, and by-standers were bombed in Boston. Those bombs went off well after the elite runners finished. They weren't aiming for the best, they were aiming for the most. My roommate had finished. She had a **** time. 3:05:19. She was already done. The people who came in after her got maimed - and those people helped raise money for charities and memorial funds, and kids who are dying of terminal illnesses in hospitals who came to Boston to either get through it, or die in comfort. The measure of the tragedy last week is beyond our comprehension and its sprawls beyond just some people running a race.

Well, it looks like they're going to try him as a U.S. Citizen, with all the rights that comes with, so good luck getting anything out of him. He won't be required to incriminate himself or anyone else outside of what would be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

As far as I know, nobody here (on MB) has said that the Texas explosion is more outrageous or more tragic than the Boston bombing.

Obviously the bombing has more media attention because it was a deliberate act of violent religious terrorism committed in the US. Other than that, I really don't know what you mean about symbolism, knowledge, correctness, classiness, or tact.

Well he should be tried as a U.S. citizen - he is one.

Also, the overwhelming evidence stacked against him is going to most likely finish things off anyway. His brother seems to be the brains of the operation, and one former FBI Director already said this is more like Columbine than 9/11.

He's an idiot kid who got wrapped up in some idiotic ideology (like every other 19 year old does, including the ones that post here) and he hasn't got the wherewithall to be as savvy as I think you're suggesting he will be.

Agreed. I believe in due process, it's not always convenient but that's the entire point. It's the same laws that keep law enforcement from deciding they don't like you for some reason and battering down your door and hauling you away.


I agree with this too.

Mark Wahlberg -- I'd Reunite w/ the Funky Bunch ... FOR BOSTON! | Celebrity Videos | TMZ.com

The only time I would pay to see Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Good for him.

Fail the pap didn't even get the name right and you can tell it still bothers him. I don't think that concert would happen. lol

Yeah he pretty much ShOt it down a month ago, but anything for charity would be cool.

So apparently their mother was arrested last year for stealing over a thousand dollars worth of clothing from Lord & Taylor. What a lovely family. It's kind of fitting that it turned out to be a Lord & Taylor camera that exposed her sons.

^ She also defaulted on a court appearance related to the shoplifting charge, so there is a warrant out for her arrest.

Mother of Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects is Fugitive of Justice - Winchester, MA Patch

Oh good, maybe they'll arrest her when she comes back into the country.

^ I hope so, but I'm cynical enough to think the government might actually give her a pass on the shoplifting charge if she does come back.

After nearly a week denied internet access due to a faulty phone line ...

and I've read this thread (what I had read up to the last time I was online) with interest. Without getting into the rights and wrongs of the Pan/Janszoon argument, I'm a little surprised nobody has asked this question, so I will:

Janszoon, how are you family and who was hurt (hopefully not killed)? Answer if you want to, or not; I respect your privacy but would personally hope you haven't suffered an actual tragedy in the bombing. I hope you're ok.

I'd like to comment more but for now I think I will just hold my http://www.gypsyrose.com/images/T/ph0875-225.jpg

Everybody is fine, TH. Thanks for asking. :)

Okay, so what's this I hear about three new suspects being arrested? :confused:

Hmmm, so I just read back through my posts in this thread. Janszoon and I have different opinions on handling the conspiracy crap and I accept that.

I honestly didn't expect them to be white, the younger brother looks like one of my cousins, he didn't have a good time on fb that week.

I agree w/ their uncle, they are losers as human beings & based on the reaction of their mother that loser gene is apparently in their DNA.

they're apparently friends/acquaintances of the younger tsarnaev, and are accused of withholding evidence basically. one of them (can't remember his name) seems to be more involved than the other two, in that he apparently found some emptied-out cylindrical fireworks in a backpack in tsarnaev's room, so he took off with them, the backpack, and a laptop and disposed of them (he took the laptop because tsarnaev told him via text that he could take whatever he wanted, and also it was a good cover to pose in front of tsarnaev's apparently oblivious room mate... somehow). they were all questioned several times and their stories were allegedly not lining up. i'm still pretty fuzzy on what the other two did wrong exactly, but apparently they stand a chance at some significant time in jail/prison and a quarter-million dollar fine... each.

Unbelievable. Thanks guys. Don't in any way buy the story that they "didn't realise how serious this was". Oh they're 19, they knew all right. Who couldn't? Stupid idiots at best, guilty co-conspirators/abbettors at worst.

^ I'd like to see them do some serious jail time for what they did. Giving false statements, attempting to destroy evidence (the bomb making supplies) and hide evidence (the laptop.)
They knew who the suspect was and instead of calling the cops like they should have, they decided to help the murdering, maiming, vile POS!
If they had made the call to police, the MIT police officer who was executed would probably still be alive, the MBTA police officer wouldn't have been shot and seriously wounded and the guy they carjacked/kidnapped would have been spared that horrific ordeal.
It's not only unbelievable, it's evil.

Although I definitely expected this response, I guess I should also inform you that my reply was to a comment that said "at least he's well enough to speak", as though he would be compelled to say something of actual merit. And unless we're wishing him to speak solely for some selfish comfort, then we're obviously wishing for him to shed light on something of more substance that might save a life or two, or bring someone else involved to justice.
Of course, he's a citizen. And that should not be denied. I wasn't even making the argument that you assumed I was.
I was just pointing out the fact that because he is a citizen, and will retain the protections of one, like a lawyer and due-process (since we don't see kids defending themselves in court), the relief of the fact that the kid can speak isn't likely to be more than a misguided comfort.

Even court-appointed lawyers aren't going to compel their client to further incriminate himself. His cohorts? Maybe, for a lighter sentence.
But If that's all about understanding and preventing the situation from happening again, then it's probably worth it. But if it's about justice, then I hope it's a really sticky band-aid you're putting on that wound.

It is.

I'll just randomly ask this:

Would you place higher value on justice, or prevention, or both to what measure, assuming any level of prevention would involve the removal of rights?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Its not a zero-sum game between prevention and justice. Also, I didn't understand much of your last post (i.e. what I assumed your were saying - or that it was an attack on you at all).

In the interest of furthering the conversation in the meantime, I'll say this:

We have a history of repealing rights in a time of war. Internment camps, the suspension of habeus corpus, the wire-tapping freedoms the Federal government has enjoyed recently - I'm fine with that.

I'm not sure if this gives you more insight into where I'm coming from, but I'm happy to go into detail, I just don't know what your position is. Or why mine was taken as hostile as it was.