Judge Who Ruled Death Penalty Unconstitutional Sentences Man to Death

BURLINGTON, VERMONT (AP) -- A man who kidnapped a supermarket worker and killed her as she prayed for her life was sentenced Friday to die, the first person to get the death penalty in Vermont in almost a half-century. Donald Fell, 26, was sentenced by a federal judge who once ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.

More:
http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5041614

even if he disagrees with it.

<<I understand that beating a grandmother to death as she prays for her life doesn't warrant a death sentence in most peoples eyes>>

I don't think you do understand. The man who killed this grandmother might deserve horrible things, its true. There are many reasons to oppose the death penalty that have nothing to do with whether or not someone deserves it.

Mr. Terry King, speaking in his own defense, used the word "deserved".

And I don't know what you mean by "might deserve horrible things", what did you have in mind?

My point was simply that he recognized the "fine" was in place, like it or hate it, it wasn't a surprise.

repsonse later in your post, YOUR words not the killers. And it is not one individual case that most people object to the death penalty over, it is the way it is imposed and carried out in this country that is objected to.

<<I understand that beating a grandmother to death as she prays for her life doesn't warrant a death sentence in most peoples eyes>>

If these are not your words, my apology. What are you saying here? My point is seperating what someone might or might not deserve from the death penalty itself.

<<what did you have in mind?>> That's clever; see above.

than keeping a prisoner for life. In the most heinous cases, a life sentence with no chance of parole is more cost effective, protects society, and doesn't lower society to the level of killing. The US is quite uncivilized in allowing the death penalty to exist.

The problem here is that the death penalty is allowed - not what the judge did.

You don't have to watch a dead man 24/7
You don't have to feed a dead man.
You don't have to house a dead man.

...So why would it cost us more to keep him alive?

"$ Kansas Study Concludes Death Penalty is Costly Policy
In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases. The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The costs of appeals were 29% of the total expense, and the incarceration and execution costs accounted for the remaining 22%. In comparison to non-death penalty cases, the following findings were revealed:"

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7#From%20DPIC

But for me, it's not all about the cost. I refuse to want the state to lower itself to killing.

penalty cases, the legal fees tend to outweigh the price of life in prison.

If you went through the records, you could probably find people who had been burnt by the Inquisition who thought the judgement was fair when it was handed down. The rightness or wrongness of a judgment goes beyond what the people actually involved think about it. That's the basic principle behind the notion of the rule of law.

that beating a grandmother to death doesn't merit the death penalty?

I am always against the DP.

no death penalty even for Bush.

This jagoff certainly deserves the DP and he himself acknowledges that fact. So why not just take him out and hang him now? Saves time, money and resources better used on deserving people.