| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Supreme Court orders new trials for 13 murder convicts |
| 2004-11-20 |
| The (Washington) state Supreme Court has ordered new trials for 13 men convicted of felony murder. Thursday's decision stems from a controversial 2002 ruling in which the high court declared that assaults resulting in death don't amount to murder. That ruling held that prosecutors can't charge someone with felony murder when an assault leads to death, unless the attacker intended to kill. Felony murder is the charge used when someone dies as a result of another crime, such as arson, rape or robbery. The state Legislature quickly changed the law to include assault as one of the crimes that can be used in felony murder charges, but the change in the law cannot apply retroactively, the court wrote... |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #4 Hmmmmm. I'm a big fan of law and order, but if the legislature didn't put what they did as a crime, then it's not a crime. Or, more exactly, wasn't that particular crime. From what little is in the article, I'd say the court was right. You can still get them for assault and a lower-degree homicide, right? Since no one's ever executed and even a "life" sentence gets you out in 10 years, what's the difference? |
| Posted by: jackal 2004-11-20 8:04:09 PM |
| #3 The republic I'm referring to was the one we had prior to the 1960s before the court hijacked the 14th Admendment to expand their powers into the everyday lives of the citizens. While some will post that those powers where needed to protect the civil rights our some of our population, the key protection came through legislative works like the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. As it has evolved, the rights of even more citizens have been abridged by the fiats issued by the courts since then. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-11-20 10:37:28 AM |
| #2 Give us back our republic. You never had that republic, Don. Study some history and you will find that the founders had a well founded fear of excessive democracy. As Franklin said, "A republic, if you can keep it." |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-20 9:41:58 AM |
| #1 In 1913 the Constitution was amended to make Senators subject to the consent of the governed. Its is long past due for this country to remain a republic, a democracy that the final branch of government also become subject to the direct consent of the govern. The arguement that this would politize the judiciary ignors what is happening today in the Senate to nominations by both major political parties. The arguement of independence ignors that Kings were independent of the people at one time too. The arguement that it would lead to mob rule is basically an arguement against democracy itself. Give them a 12 years term which should be long enough to grant them a degree of security but also give the people the means to revoke the most outrageous attempts to hijack the Consitution. Our Congress is too cowardly to remove those justices which have sought to impose their vision of this country without the consent of the govern. Too often the politicians use the judiciary to do its work that they, the politicians, know would get them thrown out in the next election. Give us the power. Give us back our republic. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-11-20 9:34:58 AM |