RFK wife Ethel Kennedy says assassin shouldn't be released
Source: AP
BOSTON (AP) The wife of the late Robert F. Kennedys says assassin Sirhan Sirhan should not be released from prison, further roiling a family divide over whether the man convicted of killing her husband in California in 1968 should be freed on parole.
In a brief statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said bluntly Tuesday: He should not be paroled.
Bobby believed we should work to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of the world, Kennedy, 93, wrote.
He wanted to end the war in Vietnam and bring people together to build a better, stronger country. More than anything, he wanted to be a good father and loving husband, she wrote, adding: Our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence, he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again.
FILE In this June 5, 2018 file photograph, Ethel Kennedy, widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign, watches a video about her late husband during the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights awards ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington. In a brief statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said bluntly Tuesday Sept. 7, 2021 that her husband's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, "should not be paroled." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-ethel-kennedy-sirhan-sirhan-kerry-kennedy-e46c8714f35466e18dd6cf548093f3ff
I agree.
Casady1
(2,133 posts)This was not simply a murder this was to end a political movement and is different than normal.
BeyondGeography
(39,284 posts)If he needed one.
K&R
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)Not to mention that this was a political murder. So, yes, the rest of us were victims as well.
Paladin
(28,204 posts)polmaven
(9,463 posts)First degree murderers should spend the rest of their lives in prison!
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)hamsterjill
(15,214 posts)n/t
twodogsbarking
(9,308 posts)Jon King
(1,910 posts)If a 77 year old who has served over 50 years and has a clean prison record is eligible for parole, then he should be. If not, he should not be.
Whether he killed a homeless women with no family or a famous person should have zero bearing. The problem with justice in this country is how arbitrary it is.
Aristus
(66,096 posts)nature of the American justice system, or I can pocket my pistol, walk away, not do this horrible thing, and live out my life in freedom."
He made a stupid choice, and changed the world for the worse with it. I don't thinking drawing his last breath from behind bars is too much to ask for such horrible decision-making ability.
Jarqui
(10,110 posts)How is anyone ever safe from one who reasons like that?
I hope he never sees the light of day outside of a prison.
Jetheels
(991 posts)Jose Garcia
(2,552 posts)there isn't going to be any selectivity?
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)they factor in many things including the wishes of the victims and or their family members.
ripcord
(5,084 posts)There really isn't life in prison anymore, it has become stay in prison until we feel sorry for you.
LenaBaby61
(6,965 posts)KEEP that murderer in JAIL to rot.
Tetrachloride
(7,728 posts)Without hope of redemption, it would be chaos in the correctional institutions.
I know numerous friends working as correctional officers and high administration. One guard told me there is not enough medical staff and that he was the pharmacist for some inmates. He worried that he would accidentally kill an inmate.
their job is keeping prisoners, visitors and other guards alive. Prisoners without hope are the antithesis of The Shawshank Redemption
A report by the parole board would be welcome as evidence that can be debated.
Liberty Belle
(9,528 posts)I strongly disagree with those who say all killers should be treated the same and paroled if they show (or feign) enough regret.
We already have extra penalties based on intent, special circumstances, particularly sadistic crimes, terrorism, murder for hire, and more.
This man killed the hopes of a generation of Americans and that should certainly matter. I would add political assassinations into special circumstances as the impact is so broad -- every bit as traumatizing for the public as say, someone who opens fire in a theater or school. His victims in a sense are more than the man he killed.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Not weighed down by emotion.
In my humble opinion.
Harker
(13,880 posts)Having a simple code of justice might help.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)... the concept is we are all equal under the law.
Harker
(13,880 posts)of exceptions being made.
I can hear a famous line on the subject from Orwell rattling around in my mind.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)BradAllison
(1,879 posts)Harker
(13,880 posts)I was heartbroken.
Harker
(13,880 posts)marble falls
(56,358 posts)2Gingersnaps
(1,000 posts)But if anyone thinks that there is "equal justice under the law" or ever has been in this country, that is naïve at best. If I remember correctly, he was not prosecuted as a political murderer, but he was given a death penalty that was rescinded. I wonder what the justification for that was, because we were as divided then as we are now, and we definitely went in the wrong direction then. I would argue that Bobby Kennedy's death lead to where we are now.
Parole hearing after parole hearing he accepted no responsibility for his crime. Reportedly, he blamed Kennedy's support for Israel in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He also blames heaving drinking at the Hotel that night.
On a human level, how does a 77 year old live and support himself? Does he sell his infamy? To what, if any degree, was he ever "rehabilitated?" Does he get deported?
Martin68
(22,671 posts)have the final word in the decision. They should follow the law and the guidelines.
ripcord
(5,084 posts)When the death penalty was abolished in 1972 all those people on death row should have had their sentences changed to life without the possibility of parole. It is no wonder we can't abolish the death penalty, there really is no life in prison anymore.
JohnnyRingo
(18,581 posts)...so if a cold blooded murderer has sit sit his life behind bars, I lose sympathy.
Was Manson ever considered? No.
ripcord
(5,084 posts)But he was eligible and was considered.