Discussion
  • Read More
    KittensAndUnicorns_v2_The UprisingHamilton Nolan
    9/11/14 1:18pm

    hamilton

    your death row series are the hardest posts for me to read. i can well admit they make me very uncomfortable. it is so much easier to dismiss someone as a monster. these letters help me remember 1. i'm wrong in how i think about the DP and 2. these are people, some who have made mistakes they truly regret.

    i welcome the discomfort though. it really forces me ( and i think others too) to be aware of my cognitive dissonance, regarding human life and the death penalty.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Agree2DisagreeKittensAndUnicorns_v2_The Uprising
      9/11/14 1:26pm

      How would you describe your stance now? Are you still for the death penalty, conflicted about it, or have fully changed your mind about it?

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      KittensAndUnicorns_v2_The UprisingAgree2Disagree
      9/11/14 1:31pm

      i think i am more on the path to getting rid of the DP, and yes still have hold some conflicted feelings. mainly....i think if someone killed someone in my family, i think initially my rage and anger would want that person dead. but i also know that sense of satisfaction is actually quite fleeting. i also think that putting someone in a tiny room is a helluva worse punishment than death.

      i dont know how i feel about sociopathic serial rapists, murderers, and the like. the more i read these DP letters, the more i know a more concrete opinion is being formed.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    MonaAamonsMonzanoHamilton Nolan
    9/11/14 1:22pm

    I don't have much to say except I love your Letters from Death Row series and it always hurts a little to learn another correspondent has been executed. Regardless of their legal situation, which I usually do not focus on when reading these letters, they come to feel like wayward old friends when I can read what they have to say. May Willy Trottie find some peace in his next phase.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      DNLMMonaAamonsMonzano
      9/11/14 1:37pm

      Yes good idea cut out all of the bad narrative when judging someone, it's a great way of going about things Fox News (for conservatives) or Gawker (for liberals) style!

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      MonaAamonsMonzanoDNLM
      9/11/14 1:49pm

      I'm not judging them, that's my point. I am fascinated by people and wht makes them tick and how their minds work. These are profiles of people.

      We've all done terrible things or we know someone who has, whether we're aware of what they've done or not. Maybe not double murder terrible, but you never know what could happen in the course of you life or the life of someone you love and respect. Clearly if I was on the jury I'd take their crimes into account. Sometmes I do when I read these letters as well and that can make it more interesting, to see the juxtaposition between the relatable and the truly evil.

      Your flippant response suggests you don't have a lot of empathy, which is at odds with the statement you're trying to make. The fact of the matter is you are not far from being Willy Trottie and neither am I. It takes one mis step to wind up on Death Row, either a terribly made decision or bad timing, in some cases. I am not even necessarily against the death penalty, although I would love to see the prison system reworked that's a debate for another day. I just think it's important to realize that these are not only convicted criminals on death row, many of whom have done terrible and unspeakable things, but they are human beings not too different from you and I. Learning about them and their feelings and pasts is a good place to start in order to understand and more properly deal with this type of crime.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    JosephFinnHamilton Nolan
    9/11/14 1:11pm

    Willie Tyrone Trottie Has Been Executed Murdered.

    There, that's fixed.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      lemonlighttwoJosephFinn
      9/11/14 1:16pm

      No buddy, it's called JUSTICE.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      JosephFinnlemonlighttwo
      9/11/14 1:22pm

      Sure, if you're living in a barbaric, 5th-century culture.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    HypnoCatHamilton Nolan
    9/11/14 1:18pm

    RIP, Willie.

    Reply
    <