I wish that this brilliant young man, who was murdered by the state of Texas, was still with us. He was NOT the killer, so "justice" is not something that Texas follows. As for all the hate-filled "religious" people, whose pastors want more vengeance, you can only imagine who their "God" is. This man was not innocent of his crime and adm…
I wish that this brilliant young man, who was murdered by the state of Texas, was still with us. He was NOT the killer, so "justice" is not something that Texas follows. As for all the hate-filled "religious" people, whose pastors want more vengeance, you can only imagine who their "God" is. This man was not innocent of his crime and admits it, but if anyone should have been given the opportunity to spread his intelligence and ideas, it's Ray Jasper.
I agree that Jasper seems thoughtful in his letter and that the state murdering him was wrong (bc the death penalty in general is wrong), but Jasper’s description of his involvement in the killing is dishonest. He planned the murder and initially slit the victim’s throat before his partner stabbed him 25 times; to quote the also worthwhile letter written by the victim’s brother that Hamilton linked above:
“Jasper's reasoning was that since the M.E. cited the 25 stab wounds as the cause of death and not the throat slit committed by Jasper, he was technically not guilty of murder. You can make of that what you will, but it seems any reasonable person would hold Jasper as culpable in the murder as the other defendant who finished off David.”
I don’t blame Jasper for holding to his line of thought if he thought it held any possibility of changing his sentence, but it also means he never publicly accepted accountability for the murder he took part in. None of that justifies his execution or the broader structural injustices he wrote about, but it is important context that his letter avoids acknowledging.
CP I just learned this morning that he was in on the murder and went as far as slitting the victim's throat, which yes, is certainly attempted murder of the first order, but I think it's grim that those who finally finished the job got to stay alive and this young man had to die. Justice in America, but I'm grateful to you for making me aware of this. In future, I'll attempt to get the full story before commenting.
I wish that this brilliant young man, who was murdered by the state of Texas, was still with us. He was NOT the killer, so "justice" is not something that Texas follows. As for all the hate-filled "religious" people, whose pastors want more vengeance, you can only imagine who their "God" is. This man was not innocent of his crime and admits it, but if anyone should have been given the opportunity to spread his intelligence and ideas, it's Ray Jasper.
I agree that Jasper seems thoughtful in his letter and that the state murdering him was wrong (bc the death penalty in general is wrong), but Jasper’s description of his involvement in the killing is dishonest. He planned the murder and initially slit the victim’s throat before his partner stabbed him 25 times; to quote the also worthwhile letter written by the victim’s brother that Hamilton linked above:
“Jasper's reasoning was that since the M.E. cited the 25 stab wounds as the cause of death and not the throat slit committed by Jasper, he was technically not guilty of murder. You can make of that what you will, but it seems any reasonable person would hold Jasper as culpable in the murder as the other defendant who finished off David.”
I don’t blame Jasper for holding to his line of thought if he thought it held any possibility of changing his sentence, but it also means he never publicly accepted accountability for the murder he took part in. None of that justifies his execution or the broader structural injustices he wrote about, but it is important context that his letter avoids acknowledging.
CP I just learned this morning that he was in on the murder and went as far as slitting the victim's throat, which yes, is certainly attempted murder of the first order, but I think it's grim that those who finally finished the job got to stay alive and this young man had to die. Justice in America, but I'm grateful to you for making me aware of this. In future, I'll attempt to get the full story before commenting.