Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty in 'American Sniper' Murder Trial

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

I disagree. End him. Why should we (tax-payers) keep spending our money to keep him alive? He will never be a contributor to our society, so I don't think we should spend money keeping him alive. Quite simply, it's bad economics.

Because you are going to spend at least as much if not more to "end him." It is "bad economics" either option with this guy.
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view....stionID=001000

What would YOU rather have if you did something horribly wrong? Decades of confinement, guilt, surprise buttsecks, miscellaneous prison fights from zero-liability humans, or a quick end?
I know my answer.

[Fentonite]

Because you are going to spend at least as much if not more to "end him." It is "bad economics" either option with this guy.
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view....stionID=001000

What would YOU rather have if you did something horribly wrong? Decades of confinement, guilt, surprise buttsecks, miscellaneous prison fights from zero-liability humans, or a quick end?
I know my answer.

I clicked the link, kinda interesting. Thanks for posting it. Seems like most (not all) of the opinions stated there were regarding the cost of the initial trial, not necessarily the entire cost of lifelong incarceration, multiple repeated appeals from a bored inmate, etc. There were reasoned arguments on both sides. Maybe my "bad economics" argument doesn't hold water, maybe it does, I'm not convinced either way now. I get your point.

Regardless, I still prefer that scumbags like this are put down. Granted, if I was in their shoes, I (like you) would prefer a quick end. But I'm not convinced that psychopaths think like you or me. Many times they have agreed to a life sentence without parole, so that they could avoid the needle. These scumbags are so megalomaniacal that their own existence is all-important. I don't think that they have the capacity for self-reflection or meaningful feelings of guilt, let alone actual rehabilitation.

Besides, prisoners in the US have way too many rights. If we could send him to a Mexican or Turkish prison, that might be suitable. Sure, he's gonna have some miserable times in a US prison, but he's also gonna still be alive. He's gonna watch tv. He might make a friend. He will probably be a pain in the ass to a C.O., just for fun. The thought of him even laughing at a tv show one time, or being even a little bit happy that he gets Cheetos from the commissary, bothers me. He should never again have even the tiniest thing to find pleasure in.

That's just my opinion. We both agree that he's a POS who deserves nothing but badness in his future; we just see the details differently.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

I clicked the link, kinda interesting. Thanks for posting it. Seems like most (not all) of the opinions stated there were regarding the cost of the initial trial, not necessarily the entire cost of lifelong incarceration, multiple repeated appeals from a bored inmate, etc. There were reasoned arguments on both sides. Maybe my "bad economics" argument doesn't hold water, maybe it does, I'm not convinced either way now. I get your point.

Regardless, I still prefer that scumbags like this are put down. Granted, if I was in their shoes, I (like you) would prefer a quick end. But I'm not convinced that psychopaths think like you or me. Many times they have agreed to a life sentence without parole, so that they could avoid the needle. These scumbags are so megalomaniacal that their own existence is all-important. I don't think that they have the capacity for self-reflection or meaningful feelings of guilt, let alone actual rehabilitation.

Besides, prisoners in the US have way too many rights. If we could send him to a Mexican or Turkish prison, that might be suitable. Sure, he's gonna have some miserable times in a US prison, but he's also gonna still be alive. He's gonna watch tv. He might make a friend. He will probably be a pain in the ass to a C.O., just for fun. The thought of him even laughing at a tv show one time, or being even a little bit happy that he gets Cheetos from the commissary, bothers me. He should never again have even the tiniest thing to find pleasure in.

That's just my opinion. We both agree that he's a POS who deserves nothing but badness in his future; we just see the details differently.

I would agree that this guy is probably sick beyond our comprehension. I also agree that prison in the US has probably swung too far the other way from the days of Alcatraz. Let alone TVs and cheetos, this guy will probably be working on a college (law?) degree like so many others.

I'm not against the death penalty per se, I'm against the unbelievable expense, the drama, the years to achieve, etc, etc. I agree that putting this guy in prison for life is costly. It also seems that the costs associated with a capital punishment trial would be heavily front-loaded by design, but from what I'm reading, it seems more expensive. There must be some sort of balance between the Chinese instant firing line and the current American system of 50 appeals and then 20 years later and injection. If the economics and system weren't what they were, I wouldn't be as anti death penalty as it stands.

The arguments on it being a deterrent don't mean much to me. Besides, he may get swifter justice in jail, much like Dahmer. I do know I don't ever want to hear about him again, as we are certain to never stop hearing about James Holmes for the next decade.

[TFOGGER]

Besides, he may get swifter justice in jail, much like Dahmer.

One can only hope someone tries to feed him a urinal...