[Deathpenalty]death penalty news --- ALA.;USA; PENN.

[Joerg Sommer]

death penalty news

September 23, 2005


ALABAMA -- impending execution:

Family Killer Execution Tonight

Death row inmate John W- Peoples Junior is waiting on word for the 
U-S Supreme Court with his execution only a few hours away.

Peoples is scheduled to die at 6 p-m at Holman Prison near Atmore for 
the murders of a Pell City couple and their ten-year-old son. Peoples 
appealed to the U-S Supreme Court to delay his execution after the 
Alabama Supreme Court rejected his appeal and Governor Riley denied clemency.

Peoples was convicted of killing Pell City businessman Paul Franklin, 
his wife, Judy Choron Franklin, and their 10-year-old son, Paul 
Franklin Junior, in 1983 and fleeing in their vintage Corvette.

(source: AP / WTVM9)





USA:

Pro-Life & Pro-Death Penalty	

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
	
	
RUSH: Here is Cher in Tampa, Florida. Welcome, Cher. Nice to have you 
on the program.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. It's nice to talk to you.

RUSH: Thanks.

CALLER: This guy that called a few minutes ago aggravated me so much. 
I listen to you on the road all the time, but this guy just warranted 
a call talking about the differences, "How can we be against abortion 
and for the death penalty?"

RUSH: Cher, Cher, Cher, Cher, Cher. Remember my advice? Don't argue 
with an idiot because people will not be able to tell the difference.

CALLER: I tell you, I just don't understand how people cannot see the 
difference between an innocent child and a murderer.

RUSH: You don't have to say this, everybody does. I'm telling you, 
this did not require any argument or debate. It didn't. I understand 
your outrage. You need to learn to be happy when this stuff happens. 
You need to learn to be happy when these people are willing to 
announce what they believe and how they lie about what we believe or 
what they stupidly believe we believe, whatever it is, but this is a 
new reason to celebrate. I know it's tough. I know it's tough to 
celebrate this --

CALLER: It's aggravating.

RUSH: Yeah, it's aggravating. It's offensive, but it's stupid.

CALLER: It really is.

RUSH: It's absolutely stupid. It's literally stupid.

CALLER: Well, it's not the only stupid thing he said, but that one 
just really stuck out. People can't actually -- you're hearing that 
more and more in the press, that comparison, and it's just -- they 
can't truly believe everybody is that stupid.

RUSH: Look it. The way I look at it, if that's the best the guy could 
come up with, they're hopeless anyway. Pro-life and pro-death? I 
mean, abortion and the death penalty is a... I'll take this one on 
because I do get this one a lot. People who are on the cusp, just 
learning about politics, just learning to follow the ebb and flow, 
and they want to get it right, and they don't quite know who to 
listen to and who not to listen to, people on both sides sound
persuasive, and this is a question that I do get frequently. "Rush, 
how do you explain the fact that you are pro-life, anti-abortion, but 
you're pro-death penalty?" And that to me is a softball hanging curve 
waiting to be knocked out of the park. Here's the answer. Why am I 
pro-life? Because life in the womb is the essence of innocence. The 
utter essence of innocence. Somebody who is to be put to death, not 
only does the Bible talk about it, not only does our Constitution 
talk about it (when they say nobody should be denied the right to 
life, liberty, pursuit the happiness without due process) someone who 
is condemned to death in this country has been judged by a jury of 
his peers and 14 years minimum of appeals, to have committed 
atrocious, unspeakable acts of mayhem and murder on at least another 
citizen and sometimes multiple citizens. There's nothing innocent 
whatsoever, and in terms of a just punishment, it fits.

People say, "Well, what about the deterrent factor?"

I don't care whether it deters anybody or not. I never looked at 
punishment of crime as a deterrent. I look at it as a punishment. But 
the whole argument fails when somebody wants to try to compare the 
utter essence of innocence that is a baby in the womb to a convicted 
murderer? That's why I say, had I engaged this caller this way, it 
would not have registered because, understand that you're not dealing 
with people who are acting on thoughts. It's pure raw emotion, and in 
most cases it's hatred and rage, and you have to understand this 
about them, too. They insulate themselves from these intellectual 
arguments and discussions by telling themselves they're superior to 
everybody else. They know more, that they're elitists, they've got a 
better handle on things and if we don't see it their way we're just 
unenlightened, we're just hopelessly stupid and dumb, reactionary 
racist, sexist, bigot homophobic, whatever. It's just the exact 
opposite. They're the bigots, they're the closed-minded ones, they're 
the intolerant ones, they're the ones that are incapable of thought 
and as such if we want to start talking about who's superior and 
inferior they clearly are the inferior, and to get beyond that, 
again, they tell themselves that they're of lofty heights and we just 
can't possibly understand them so it's pointless for them to even engage us.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Remember this, folks. When defining the difference between 
liberals and conservatives, particularly on a matter of life, 
liberals fight to the end to protect convicted murderers. We fight to 
the end to protect innocent, unborn babies. They favor bureaucracies 
and we favor people. They think they have the moral high ground when 
they ask the silly question, "Well, what about the death penalty? If 
you're so pro-life, what about the death penalty?" Truly, folks, a 
sad bunch of mental midgets, glittering jewels of colossal ignorance 
who think they light up the universe with their intellect.

END TRANSCRIPT

(source: RushLimbaugh.com)





PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty sought 	

At Monday's arraignment for Anwaar Malik Gettys the Delaware County 
District Attorney's office said they will seek the death penalty if 
Gettys is found guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Deanna Wright-McIntosh.

A plea of not guilty was entered for Gettys, who did not speak during 
the arraignment before Judge Charles Keeler.

Gettys, 23, of the first block of Linden Avenue in Lansdowne, was 
originally charged with helping his friend Lamar Haymes to dispose of 
Wright-McIntosh's body. Haymes, 29, of the 400 block of Hazel Avenue 
also is charged with murder, homicide, rape and a lengthy list of 
related offenses. He is due in court for a pre-trial hearing next Thursday.

Wright-McIntosh was reported missing by her mother on Dec. 3. Police 
believe the 15-year-old girl was murdered inside Gettys' home 
sometime between Dec. 3 and 4, according to police records. She 
allegedly was raped, beaten to death and her remains cut up, put in a 
trash can and burned, according to police.

The charges against Gettys were upgraded to include murder, 
kidnapping, homicide, rape and a lengthy list of related charges 
outlined in a police affidavit dated July 21. Lab tests from National 
Medical Services on various items of evidence from Gettys' home 
showed they contained Wright-McIntosh's DNA and several witnesses 
said they last saw the girl with Gettys, according to the affidavit.

Deputy Assistant District Attorney John F. X. Reilly cited two 
aggravating circumstances, the murder occurred during the commission 
of the felony of rape and/or kidnapping and the victim would have 
been a prosecution witness to those felonies, that will allow the 
district attorney's office to seek the death penalty. A pre-trial 
conference is scheduled for Oct. 24.

(source: News of Delaware County)