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    sizor_sisterHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:19pm

    I don't really care what this man did, the fact that the "justice" system is about to kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and horrifying.

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      billsizor_sister
      3/04/14 3:25pm

      I wonder if the victims family was absolutely heartbroken and horrified? yeah probably....

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      Foxstar loves Bashcraftsizor_sister
      3/04/14 3:32pm

      Of course you don't care.

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    benjaminalloverHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:51pm

    Rather than the specifics of his own case, I prefer to focus on what Mr. Jasper says about the justice system in general, because he makes some very valid arguments. The current for-profit system doesn't serve the victims of crime, the perpetrators of crime, or their larger communities.

    Laws are being changed that enable people to profit from writing off generations of black men almost by default. This profit-driven and well-connected industry doesn't exactly provide political incentive to put resources into communities, into education and other civic goods that prevent crime in the first place. That isn't just a problem for those who end up on death row, that's a problem for anyone who is generally interested in social and economic stability.

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      shoeflypiebenjaminallover
      3/04/14 5:17pm

      Only on Gawker is an incoherent stew of "Black Panther capitalism slavery racism" repeated over and over and over again considered an argument. Don't forget the newest seventh-grade-reading-level word that leftists on the Internet discovered for 2014, "empathy," which apparently means "identifying with the bag of garbage in the shape of a human named Ray Jasper and his grandiose delusion of being the victim here" but never, ever, identifying with the man he brutally murdered.

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      benjaminallovershoeflypie
      3/04/14 6:16pm

      I read the essay from the point of view of a victim of violent crime, and I don't really see what point in my comment makes you think that I don't empathize with other victims. I can simultaneously acknowledge this man's reasonable observations and think that he deserves his sentence.

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    awfullyfrothilyHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:22pm

    FYI, when he says he "didn't kill him", he means he cut the victim's throat and held him down while his accomplice stabbed him many times in the gut, which eventually killed him. It's not like he just happened to be in a car with someone who suddenly pulled out a gun and shot somebody on the street.

    All this time later, still zero remorse, zero responsiblity taken for his actions. Everything is about the injustice put upon him, no concern for the innocent life he took.

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      Venus_in_fursawfullyfrothily
      3/04/14 3:37pm

      Frankly, his attitudes toward capital punishment in any direction don't change the fact that the death penalty is about vengeance, not justice, and it's reprehensible that as a society we still condone it.

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      FrederickDouglassVenus_in_furs
      3/04/14 3:47pm

      Not to mention the fact that it kills innocent people.

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    Laura Ingalls Gone WilderHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:33pm

    No matter what you're opinion of the death penalty or of this particular man, the points he makes about mass incarnation of people of color are SO IMPORTANT. There are so many people of color being incarcerated for incredibly long periods of time for nonviolent drug offenses. We're putting people away for a profit, and it needs to stop. Prison should be about reform, but it won't be that way until we reform the justice system and prisons.

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      xdfgbdfgdLaura Ingalls Gone Wilder
      3/04/14 3:57pm

      Great point. But it has nothing to do with this guy, who set up and participated in a murder.

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      Laura Ingalls Gone Wilderxdfgbdfgd
      3/04/14 4:43pm

      I'm not arguing the innocence or guilt of this man nor am I advocating his release. I am against the death penalty, but I'm not here to argue that point either. I think this is an important read because this is a man who has spent many years in prison and has a unique and important perspective on who we incarcerate and why. That's the value in this letter.

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    Steven-AlejandroHamilton Nolan
    3/05/14 9:21am

    My name is Steven Alejandro. It was my brother David who was killed by Ray Jasper and his accomplices. I'd like to share my thoughts. http://steven-alejandro.kinja.com/a-discussion-o…

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      Hamilton NolanSteven-Alejandro
      3/05/14 9:43am

      Replying to promote this, thanks.

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      Funyuns for breakfastHamilton Nolan
      3/05/14 9:50am

      Can you link to this in the main post?

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    elaine layaboutHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 4:07pm

    that a black man accused of a crime can walk into a courtroom and find a sea of white faces and then, once convicted, walk into prison an find a sea of black faces is the naked truth of race-based injustice in this country ... and our acceptance of it is a tacit embrace of the lie that black men and white men are inherently different, that black men are inferior to white men

    white men in this country haul off and shoot if you disrespect them by texting during a movie preview ... imagine how they would react if, from the day they were born, every social institution and every circumstance of their lives deprived them of their dignity

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      Traceelaine layabout
      3/04/14 4:39pm

      Honestly, no matter what this guy did, that whole portion about his trial really stuck with me in this letter, and any time I hear about stacked juries like that. I realize the jury of peers thing doesn't technically include having at least one person of the same race in the group, but it seems like such a gross injustice every time I see it anyway.

      Do I think it would have changed the outcome? Who knows (probably not, tbh), but if we want to attempt to call our justice system fair, changing it to make it so something like what happened in his case can't happen again seems like a good place to start.

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      elaine layaboutTrace
      3/04/14 4:49pm

      yes, it would ... and we should do what we can to make sure that judges and lawyers are more likely to be people of color ... because when the jury looks out of their box, and the only black person they see is the defendant, i think that confirms any sense of his "otherness" that jury members, white or black, may have

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    Defender90CAHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:38pm

    The fact that this may be Jasper's final statement on Earth just makes it that much sadder. It's eloquent and well-thought-out and holds a lot of truth.

    The prison-industrial complex does have a vested interest in making sure more people are put in jail and more who are put in jail are kept in jail - and that interest is not about public safety, it's about financial profit - which is obscene.

    Our country does care more about punishment/revenge than it does punishment/rehabilitation. It's laughable to think someone being sentenced to most prison systems in this country might possibly come out of that experience having learned anything that could help them adapt to life in greater society. That means they're likely to commit more crimes - rob or kill more people, etc. We're so bent on "caging those animals" that we don't even recognize the choices we make in that regard hurt not only those convicted but those who may be future victims of theirs. It's entirely possible to have a reasonable punishment for crimes committed and, at the same time, realize that many convicted felons will be released back into our communities at some point.

    Finally, he's right in suggesting that very few politicians have the balls to suggest we take a serious look at prison reform because being seen as being "tough on crime" is a no-brainer in terms of winning an election.

    We're myopic, even savage, in our disregard for how we treat those who are convicted of felonies in this country. The concept that it can be done in the name of any religious teachings is sick-making. Jesus wept? Indeed.

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      wilkomenwelcomebienvenueDefender90CA
      3/04/14 3:48pm

      I disagree that he should be executed based on morals, but I am fine with his other complaints about prison regarding specifically him. He almost decapitated a guy for Christ's sake. I am fine with someone spending their entire life, miserable, rehabilitated and punished when they will never see the light of day. Focus the resources on people who will be joining the population at some point.

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      Defender90CAwilkomenwelcomebienvenue
      3/04/14 3:55pm

      My post wasn't in response to King's conviction itself but our prison system in general. I also said I think it's possible for people to be held responsible for the crimes they commit. The problem is what you suggest be appropriate punishment for King many people seem to feel is appropriate punishment for pretty much anyone who gets convicted and sent to prison - except they don't give a shit about whether they get rehabilitated.

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    owenmichaelatlHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 3:20pm

    Not to sound insensitive.. but have you looked up what this guy did? He slit a guys throat! His Defense was that he didn't technically kill him because another wound killed the victim before he bled to death from having his throat slit.

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      hiddeninlooksowenmichaelatl
      3/04/14 3:23pm

      That doesn't make it right to kill him too. An eye for an eye is pretty barbaric, no matter the circumstances.

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      wilkomenwelcomebienvenuehiddeninlooks
      3/04/14 3:25pm

      I am fairly certain he isn't going to get his throat cut, then stabbed many times in the stomach and chest over some stereo equipment so it isn't really an eye for an eye.

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    Seneca the Younger(er)Hamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 4:16pm

    Ray L. Jasper, the third. You left out his generational suffix.

    I shouldn't mock his parents for naming him that, but I feel this way about anyone with enough hubris to name a child after themself. Is there a national dynasty involved? Then you get to use generational designation. Otherwise forget it. On an unrelated note of pertinence, He is absolutely correct that empathy breeds proper judgement. It's a shame that no one took the time to teach him that before he was involved in the death of another human being who was just trying to go about their business. The rest just sounds like standard prison yard rationalization. As long as it was, I very much doubt it will be his "final statement on Earth". He probably is making a flurry of personal statements to anyone who will open the envelope right now.

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      booktartSeneca the Younger(er)
      3/04/14 4:59pm

      So would you prefer Ray L. Jasper the Younger(er)? I think that's what the grandchild of the original RLJ would be, right?

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      Swarles BarkleySeneca the Younger(er)
      3/04/14 4:59pm

      So, you read all that, and what you choose to comment on is his parents' choice in naming him?

      That is a pretty good illustration of the issues we're facing in this country. We just don't give a shit about the important discussion. It's the meaningless details that matter.

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    Free Market Party CompanyHamilton Nolan
    3/04/14 6:05pm

    These discussions about capital punishment keep focusing on the offender and what he might (or might not) "deserve". And the real, moral, ethical argument against capital punishment has absolutely nothing to do with that.

    The first notion we should disabuse ourselves of here is that "punishment" is a worthwhile goal. It isn't. I get that the idea is that the harder a time an inmate has in jail, the more he'll appreciate his "freedom" when he finally gets it. In fact, the more difficulties an inmate faces, the more resentful he becomes of the system, and the more likely he is to ally himself with fellow prisoners. This actually increases recidivism. Know what does work? A tightly-regulated institutional life where an inmate gets opportunities to work constructively, possibly train for new skills, and maybe even complete an education. It's not perfect, but it's much more effective.

    As far as capital punishment itself is concerned, there is one very simple argument: it's discretionary. It is the one form of legally-sanctioned killing that's done completely by choice. We, as a society, don't HAVE to execute people, and there's no evidence that it actually accomplishes anything. In fact, when the state engages in discretionary murder, there's evidence that it enhances the culture of violence in general (states that execute frequently also have higher violent crime rates).

    We engage in these punitive practices not because they actually solve any problems, but because they seem to satisfy an emotional craving for balance.

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