Politics Note; Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, was charged Friday as an adult with capital murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer, but cannot face the death penalty, according to a 13-year-old Supreme Court decision.
According to a report by criminal justice website The Marshall Project cited by USA Today, Texas has tried 17-year-olds like Pagourtzis as adults in state courts. But the Supreme Court’s 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision found that capital punishment was a violation of the Eighth and 14th Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.
Moreover, SCOTUS ruled in 2012 that juveniles cannot face life in prison, either.
In other words, the teenager accused of killing eight students and two teachers as well as injuring 13 others could be eligible for parole around 2058, near his 57th birthday.
“The courts ruled based on the idea that those 17 and younger don’t have the cognitive development to appreciate right from wrong,” Michael Radelet, a University of Colorado at Boulder sociology professor who often testifies in death-penalty cases, told USA Today.
“Cases like this that are especially violent and an enigma make some people think they are more deserving of death,” he added, “but the ruling is about the development of the juvenile brain.”
The 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama means that he likely cannot be held without hope of parole, either.
Hmmm…they can’t tell right from wrong at 17, but they can vote for democrats when they turn 18? Makes perfect sense.
“The courts ruled based on the idea that those 17 and younger don’t have the cognitive development to appreciate right from wrong,”
But by all means, let’s have them dictate the terms of the gun debate.
Yet there’s no problem with aborting a fetus.
I’m cool with it. Getting ass raped everyday for the next 40 to 50 years is sufficient punishment
Guilty on 10 counts of murder each should lock him up for the rest of his life.
“those 17 and younger don’t have the cognitive development to appreciate right from wrong,”
and whose fault is that ?
used to be you could get a job and get married and served in the armed forces at 16.
you can have an abortion at 13 but not vote until 18 but not buy beer until 21.
the left has turned this whole country into a nursery school.
if they can do the crime they can do the time !
Put him in the Pen with the
general population. They’ll
give him “justice”.
Well, let’s ask the little shit.
“Do you know what you did was wrong?”
If he says “yes, it was wrong,” or even, “no, it wasn’t wrong,” then there’s your answer – He has the cognitive ability.
Disclaimer: I am not a supporter of capital punishment. However, I would make an exception in this case – not only would I support capital punishment for this person, but I would establish a special trial court and special appellate court whose only case is this one in order to speed up the process and fry this guy as quickly as is legally possible.
Why the change of heart in this case? Because not only is this 17 year old evil, but the societal organs that promote and indirectly reward and protect these acts are evil as well. Mass shooters are in the news for a couple of days, and then the entire focus shifts to gun control and gun confiscation. There is usually little to no examination as to why pricks like this do what they do. There is no examination of the lack of parental supervision over supposedly minor children like this asshole. There is no discussion of the neglect of various agencies in not responding to obvious warning signs. There is usually no coverage of the role of government policies purposely designed to cover up the tendencies of dangerous jerkwads like this kid. We can’t even call evil people evil anymore. I would bet that less than a month after a mass shooting, most of the American public can’t remember the names of the shooters, including the fairly recent Las Vegas and Florida maniacs, because after perfunctory coverage of a shooting event, politicians and the media immediately turn their attention to guns. Leftists use preventable tragedy to play politics and push an agenda instead of promoting justice and seeking root causes.
So fry this kid as quickly as possible. Send a message to other wannabe mass killers; we will find you, and we will kill you. Send a message to our liberal politicians that we will deal with the killer first, and then maybe have a discussion on gun control as well as other issues like ignoring the mentally ill. Send a message to David Hogg and his co-morons; you cannot derail this tragedy to push your own agenda. Send a message to all of these people – this kid is being executed because of his actions and your actions. The shooter is responsible and will pay with his life, and part of his blood is on your hands as well. Watch it unfold.
Rant over.
When my wife gave birth to our second son, they went in thru a pre-installed zipper from the first kid as my wife lacked the ability to give natural birth.
It was all pre-planned, “fun” for lack of a better word. The doctors were joking with nurses, my wife was calm – I was the only one in the room that almost passed out.
Anyway, the head doctor says, “Jeff here is the anesthesiologist, he just graduated med school last week. But don’t let that bother you, he’s the smartest person in the room, the rest of us forgot everything he knows.”
That has obviously stuck with me, and you could arguably apply the same reasoning to this particular case. Isn’t the kid in school to learn? Shouldn’t he be taught right from wrong on a daily, hourly, minute, second basis? He should know better than anyone who has graduated years ago. yes, I get he hadn’t graduated yet, but he was far along enough in the school program to nail down rights from wrongs, especially something as serious as murder.
He’ll have a lifetime in stir to dwell on what he did and secondly, they’re pretty rough on young teens who enter the prison system. What he’ll be facing might just be worse than death.
Seems I remember conservatives were using this same point, to counter liberal calls for lowering the voting age.
Do I think he should fry? Not so sure. life without a chance of parole? Absolutely.
For this old fart, this whole thing is another matter of absolute, reflexive and institutionalized madness. Perhaps if the headlines began to read, “Unknown mass shooter shot dead on site” for every actual or attempted mass murder, no matter the weapon, the frequency of these events might decline. No more details about the real or attempted mass murderer, no mindless and endless discussion of his/her “motivation” or “sad childhood” – just the fact that he/she is dead, killed in the act. Most Western civilized human beings I remember learning years ago, have learned the “rules” of right and wrong by age 11 or 12. These murders are the equivalent of acts of war and should be responded to as such, in my opinion.
My dad joined the Marine Corps in February 1945, two weeks after he turned seventeen.
Let’s Look forward to a short life for this a-hole in prison.
If he killed my daughter I would find a way to get a gun into that courtroom.
Game over.
Fucking Texas will be California by 2050.
Time to send a test case to the SCOTUS to overturn Roper v. Simmons.
We are all friends here and can have a polite discussion about capital punishment. As for me- 1st degree murder (premeditated) should be met with a swift response from the state via execution.
I concur with LocoBlanco; “If that were my daughter” I would find a way to put that animal down if the state refused to do the same. The 6th amendment calls for a “speedy trail”. I think that should work both ways. No waiting 3 or 4 years to have the first trial and then another 15 to 20 years in appeals.
As Wyatt said- establish special courts to fast track capital offenses. I’d like to see the start to finish to be a year plus a day.
As for all the picking and choosing of age of accountability- 13 year olds getting abortions without the consent of their parents but having to wait till they are 21 to buy a beer. Pick an age of legal adult hood and stick with it. If one is old enough to vote then they are old enough to buy a beer and a gun. If your not old enough to do any of that you need your parent’s permission to have an abortion and the guy who knocked you up should be charged with rape (minor’s can’t consent). This logical consistency is something utterly lacking in the libtard world view and that is why I could never be a libtard.
Jack Ruby was shot to death, while under police protection. Miracle can happen.
“Texas Shooter Cannot Face Death Penalty”
But his victims could, and did…
The State can’t execute him. Who is the MSM gonna interview every year on the anniversary of the worst (second worse, third worse, this will keep changing) school shooting?
Well, Mr. (sociology prof) Radelet, today’s college students and beyond “don’t have the cognitive development to appreciate right from wrong,” either.
@Pelopidas May 21, 2018 at 12:38 pm
> We are all friends here and can have a polite discussion about capital punishment.
I’ll take that bet.
“Will I always, always, trust the government to do the right thing? To never lie. To never hide evidence? That might make their show star look innocent? That might simply prove how corrupt they, themselves, are?”
No.
“So, when will I trust their story? So some of their soldiers, too frightened to face a loose, let alone wild, animal, can still get the tingles and a trophy?”
Well, since I put it that way…
@ Anon: May I humbly suggest that you substitute an “ever, ever”, in between “I” and “trust” in your comment?
@really enraged May 21, 2018 at 3:29 pm
It’s a… point. But the topic was capital punishment. There are many Party propagandists who insist you pray the article of faith that “Paying the Party to attack you for ‘crimes’ you did not commit is a cost of living in a Just™ and Free™ society.”, or it’s red letter day variant “Take the beating, thank your attackers, pay the ‘not a bribe’, and see if you can ‘not bribe’ one of the better juiced Party members to give you some of ‘your’ money back. (Taken from your neighbors. Less handling charges.) Amen.”.
Capital “punishment” doesn’t come with an “oopsie… do over… on somebody else’s dime, we’s still gets paid!” option. In that case, is anything less than mathematically guaranteed, good enough (even for government work)?
I don’t have to convincingly answer “Should I ever trust the people paid to tell a story that I might believe? Especially if my loyal neighbors stand before their doors and chant ‘We believe! We believe!’.”, when any threshold of failure is unacceptable.
So try each murder separately and every sentence is served consecutively, not concurrently. It’s not a ‘life’ sentence if you get 20 years for each murder.
Bullshit………How about a “go fund him” to make sure he gets IT early!!!