http://www.wral.com/richardson-sentenced-to-death-for-teghan-skiba-s-murder/13536926/

The first time I read the details of what Teghan went through I cried. I cried again a few minutes ago after reading this.

As much as I normally feel absolute rage at the perp (and I do), my mind continues to be stuck on the image of a little girl being tortured for absolutely no reason.

goddamn i'm depressed right now.


tww is a blog.

4/4/2014 11:40:07 AM

Disgusting.

You're right, you can't help but imagine what that little girl went through

4/4/2014 11:48:37 AM

Fuck the death penalty.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 11:54 AM. Reason : V inorite]

4/4/2014 11:50:37 AM

probably the best thing that could have happened to this guy.

4/4/2014 11:52:34 AM

He'd probably die a lot quicker if he got life in prison.

4/4/2014 11:53:41 AM

I just don't understand why we refuse torture for some criminals. If the justice system is sure enough they did it that they'll end a life, why stop there?

4/4/2014 12:02:54 PM

because we're a civilized society?

(i mean, in cases like this, i get a little blood-lusty, and almost wish he was subjected to the general prison population. but i'm glad we don't live in a society with a taliban-like government that condones torture as punishment)

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 12:13 PM. Reason : V relatively speaking, yeah, of course.]

4/4/2014 12:06:32 PM

are we?

4/4/2014 12:11:43 PM

Quote :

"I just don't understand why we refuse torture for some criminals. If the justice system is sure enough they did it that they'll end a life, why stop there?"

I'm anti-death penalty, but you can't equate those two things.

4/4/2014 12:18:05 PM

ive always wondered why executions happen the way they do? the way they are often botched with lethal injection makes no sense to me at all.

why not give them a lethal overdose of some barbiturate? OD them on any number of painkillers or heroin or something?

painless and guaranteed right? i mean why not since its not medical personnel performing it anyway.

we try to be "humane" and we come up with gas chambers and three-drug cocktails etc...

thats another thing. the gas chamber? why did they decide on cyanide? why not put them to sleep and pump CO2 in there?

no sense at all, so therefore you might assume the justice system IS trying to get even / torture them a little bit.

4/4/2014 1:04:43 PM

I'm torn between not trusting this justice system at all (and thus the death penalty), and thinking the death penalty is too good for this scum. I wish he were tortured every day for the rest of his life for what he did to this precious girl. It doesn't help that I have a four year old niece and I cannot fathom someone intentionally hurting her.

4/4/2014 1:07:15 PM

i think being on death row and knowing that your days are numbered until you are led to the execution room and having to make your peace with god before taking your last breath and gaze upon the world is punishment enough.

like someone said before, we are a civilized society and the purpose is to remove a crazed murderer from this earth, not become ones ourselves.

4/4/2014 1:27:21 PM

^^I believe they do put them to sleep before injecting the second shot that ultimately stops the heart. But I'm not sure.

4/4/2014 1:27:51 PM

sleep -> paralysis -> heart attack

4/4/2014 1:30:17 PM

ah ok. I imagine once asleep the conscious brain won't feel anything.

4/4/2014 1:32:46 PM

that first drug doesnt always work (not enough), and the other two are painful (again if they dont use enough).

which is why they should just OD them on a narcotic.

no pain, no chance of botching. doesnt matter if they are fat or skinny; give them a dose that will take a moose.

4/4/2014 1:33:10 PM

why should you get to experience a euphoric, orgasmic high before passing?

4/4/2014 1:35:40 PM

Quote :

"I wish he were tortured every day for the rest of his life for what he did to this precious girl. "

The punishment you propose is wildly excessive by any standard. At the very most, he deserves to suffer 8x as much pain, say, as he inflicted. But he sure as fuck doesn't deserve to be tortured for the rest of his life.

Honestly, sentiments like are precisely why we do NOT allow criminals to be tortured (no matter how heinous their crimes might be, or how much they seem to deserve it): because some people will go overboard with their punishments. If the sentence you propose were actually inflicted, that would be a horrible perversion of justice.

In fact, torturing this guy every day for the rest of his life (i.e. every day for decades) would be a far greater crime than anything he has committed. Not saying he doesn't deserve to suffer, but a lifetime of actual torture is way, way, way too much.

And no, I'm not defending the motherfucker...I'm just saying he doesn't deserve to be tortured for thoousands of days in succession.


[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:41 PM. Reason : 8x seems reasonable]

4/4/2014 1:36:20 PM

I think that assessment is pretty subjective

4/4/2014 1:38:45 PM

Quote :

"I just don't understand why we refuse torture for some criminals."

It's in the constitution, is probably the main reason.

4/4/2014 1:40:24 PM

^^^Yes, clearly I am not actually advocating that he is tortured for the rest of his life. But I do think it's no less than what he deserves, and is what my heart says should happen. I have no sympathy for this man IF what the news report says is true.

However, I also do not trust the administration of justice in this country, and I cannot believe that justice actually prevails in any case, which is why I can't support the death penalty. I think the right result in this case is life in prison. That is not the result I think the child deserves, but if the world were about being able to give people what they deserve that girl would never have been tortured to begin with.

TO BE CLEAR - I would never advocate a legal system that allows for torture. I just think this man deserves it.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:41 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2014 1:40:32 PM

Quote :

" that he is tortured for the rest of his life. But I do think it's no less than what he deserves"

really? you think he deserves to suffer 1000x as much pain as he made this girl suffer?

4/4/2014 1:42:45 PM

Quote :

"It's in the constitution, is probably the main reason."

first of all, lol @ "it's in the constitution" as if that means much of anything nowadays.

secondly, my comment was rhetorical. I get WHY we can't/don't, legally, morally, logistically, and otherwise.

Quote :

"TO BE CLEAR - I would never advocate a legal system that allows for torture. I just think this man deserves it."

I guess this is what I'm saying. And I, too, have a major distrust of our justice system and am not even in favor of the death penalty. Follow any state's "Innocence Project" on fb and you'll be a swift convert to anti-capital punishment.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:45 PM. Reason : k]

4/4/2014 1:43:13 PM

^^Yes.

You say he should suffer what he made her suffer -- but she didn't have a choice. He did. I stayed awake last night when I saw the verdict broken, just thinking about how awful those last 10 days must have been for that poor girl. 10 days of torture for a child, a child who must have felt the whole world had abandoned her. To bleed to death, slowly in a cold room. Nothing can make up for that.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:46 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2014 1:44:19 PM

^
I totally, totally disagree.

Does this standard apply only to really heinous crimes (rape, murder, torture) or to everyday transgressions, too? For example, if you cheat on a significant other in a moment of weakness, do you then deserve to be cheated on 1000 times (i.e. in every further relationship you ever have)? It seems to me that being cheated on in your next 3 relationships would be punishment enough.

Okay, nothing can make up for that (and I agree, really; nothing can make the situation right.) But does that entitle us to inflict as gross and long-term a punishment on this guy as we want? Does it mean that NOTHING is too excessive? I don't think so. And if it's not true that nothing is to excessive, then we can say "This is excessive, that isn't." And I think a lifetime of torture is excessive.


[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:50 PM. Reason : 5gdfss]

4/4/2014 1:48:16 PM

I think you're confused. I am not advocating for a standard here. I am saying this man, in this one instance, deserves to be punished. What he did was so egregious that nothing our justice system allows will make up for it. I am saying that if we lived in the days of vigilante justice, I would be at the head of the mob to make him pay. That's it. I'm not extending anything out to your straw man argument.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:51 PM. Reason : I've never said that he SHOULD be tortured, just that he deserves it. Big difference.]

4/4/2014 1:50:18 PM

It's not a straw man argument: I'm trying to illustrate that a general principle of justice which you're claiming to be valid (that in some cases, people should suffer 1000x what they inflicted) is totally flawed. Well, actually, I'm claiming that, if it's valid at all, I don't see why it should hold only in extreme cases.

Quote :

"I've never said that he SHOULD be tortured, just that he deserves it. Big difference."

I don't quite see a difference, really, unless you're saying "He shouldn't be tortured because it would violate the Bill of Rights and principles on which the United States is founded etc.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 1:58 PM. Reason : kljljelr]

4/4/2014 1:57:07 PM

Because I'm not claiming it to be valid. That's what you're missing. I'm saying "this is what I want to do, but it would never work, even though the scumbag deserves it."

And I would vehemently argue against implementing it. What I am describing to you is my emotional reaction to the crime, not my logical thoughts on the purpose of punishment. I would never agree to torture as a punishment because it doesn't complete the goals of our system, is not "justice" under any meaning of the word, violates our Bill of Rights, and our "justice" system is so screwed up, that we would be implementing torture in cases of plenty of innocent people.

From a gut check reaction, this guy deserves everything bad we can throw at him. But I don't want to live in a society where that is permissible. THAT's what I am saying.

We live in a society where people don't get what they deserve. Lots of people deserve to be punched in the throat. But if I did that, I would get put in jail.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 2:02 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2014 2:01:33 PM

so you're saying it's the punishment he deserves, but not the one he needs right now?

4/4/2014 2:03:00 PM

On the bright side of things, child molesters and murderers don't fair too well in prison.

4/4/2014 2:04:21 PM

If this were the days of vigilante justice, he would just be hung up in a tree and have his balls chopped off, then bleed to death pretty quickly.

You wouldn't get your wish of decades of torture.

4/4/2014 2:05:18 PM

Quote :

"What I am describing to you is my emotional reaction to the crime, not my logical thoughts on the purpose of punishment. "

Honestly, it sounds like what you're saying is "This is what I instinctively feel the guy deserves," not "This is what I actually believe the guy deserves, after considering the matter soberly."

4/4/2014 2:06:03 PM

^^ reminds me of how gerard butler dispatched the rapist in Law Abiding Citizen

4/4/2014 2:06:34 PM

I think we're arguing over the semantics of the word "deserves" and I don't think we will reach a meeting of the minds on that. But I think we both agree that implementing lifelong torture wouldn't be a good thing.

I believe he deserves it, but it still shouldn't happen.

[Edited on April 4, 2014 at 2:16 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2014 2:16:11 PM

Poor little girl.

4/4/2014 2:23:15 PM

^^
yeah, in retrospect it was starting to seem like our definitions of "deserve" weren't jiving. but for different reasons, it appears that we are in agreement. okay, fair enough.

4/4/2014 2:23:41 PM

that was the dumbest argument in the history of tww

4/4/2014 3:14:47 PM

fuck that, torture them, anyone being put to death should have to face the same thing they put their victims through.

4/4/2014 3:20:55 PM

and chop the hands off of anyone who's ever stolen anything in their life.

and stone to death women who were raped.

4/4/2014 3:22:55 PM

Why would you chop someone's hands off who stole something? Did they chop the hands off their victim before they robbed them?

4/4/2014 3:24:52 PM

that's just the sort of thing that happens when societies start implementing "eye for an eye" justice

4/4/2014 3:26:18 PM

I think we should institutionalize the evils that lurk in the hearts of men. Nothing bad ever came from that.

4/4/2014 3:26:27 PM

Reading what she went through was pretty brutal. I don't know how the lawyers defending this dude can live with themselves. They tried to blame his father for not discipline him correctly. Its just bullshit. I wouldn't hate the lawyers as much if they just made sure that procedure wasn't violated, someone had to represent him, but for fucks sake, what he did was indefensible, and the evidence was indisputable.

What I want to know is how the grand parents who's property this shed was one didn't know... Seems like its willfully tuning a blind eye.

4/4/2014 3:40:04 PM

People are largely products of their environment. I can't fathom being capable of what this guy did, but I don't have his brain or life experience.

IF you do believe in the death penalty, it should be for removing dangerous people from society, not for vengeance.

4/4/2014 3:42:15 PM

The death penalty was absolutely the right choice, but not for the reasons discussed here or presented by the prosecution. The kind of person who tortures a child for days and then murders them is the kind of person who would commit the crime again given the chance. The crime is serious enough that his death is worth preventing the possibility. It's also the only way to assuredly prevent it.

Any talk of him "deserving" the penalty is beside the point. Executing him is the surest way to prevent him ever doing it again.

Fucking and tormenting a kid for ten days is not the kind of thing that you come back from later and say, "Shit, what was I thinking?" You do that for a bar fight that goes too far, not for this. Stick a needle in him and hand the next of kin a box of ashes and move on.

4/4/2014 3:43:02 PM

^^with out a doubt, but ^ is a perfect response.

4/4/2014 3:48:05 PM

So, uh, if anybody is like fed up with their kid or needs to take off for a while, I will look after them for free. Activities will include: baking cookies, making paper fortune tellers, jumprope, and reading stories with characters who demonstrate empathy and compassion.

Together, we can break the cycle, guys. We can raise a whole generation of kids who bear no resemblance to this pathetic cast of losers.

Bake the cookies, jump the rope, read the stories...let's do this!

4/4/2014 4:12:21 PM

I'm just speechless. In cases like this, he should've gotten life. And then put in a cell with the biggest, meanest guy in the Pen. It'd be over by Monday.

4/4/2014 5:10:22 PM

I hate that kind of response. Anti-death-penalty people who say they want him to get life because he'll suffer more, but if a pro-death-penalty guy wants him to suffer, he's a neanderthal.

Making him suffer is beside the point. We want to remove a threat from society. So let's remove it. If anybody gets a certain pep in their step from the knowledge that he's worm food, all the better, but let's not make policy or sentences based on it.

4/4/2014 5:19:58 PM

^^ he wouldn't be in general population

^ the same thing can be said about life imprisonment, he can't get out... Its removal from society, for good. Death just accelerates the end game.

To that point, he's apparently been throwing his feces at guards and the like. He clearly doesn't give a flying fuck, and after what he did to the girl, accelerating the end game is not something I have a problem with.

4/4/2014 5:28:18 PM