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Julez
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Should this guy be executed?
What do you guys think?
I personally think he should be given life.
Here is a short background (from BBC website).
www.bbc.co.uk
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Napoleon Beazley, who committed murder in the US state of Texas at the age of 17, is due to be executed on Wednesday evening local time.
Beazley, now 25, admits shooting dead a businessman at point-blank range to steal his car, but has asked for "a second chance" in view of his age at the time of the murder.
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'Under-18 year olds are considered too young to drink, vote or serve on a jury - yet they are considered old enough to be executed'
Curt Goering
Amnesty International USA
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The US Supreme Court has refused to block the execution, while critics say the judicial system is unfairly biased against Beazley.
If he is executed, he will become the latest in a line of teenage killers to die under US laws.
The US Supreme Court has turned down requests for a reprieve for Beazley, who shot 63-year old John Luttig in 1994.
Two of Beazley's accomplices received life sentences.
As well as pointing to the killer's age, critics of the death sentence argue that Beazley could not get a fair trial as Mr Luttig's son now sits as an appeals court judge in Richmond, Virginia.
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'Don't I deserve a second chance against the death penalty?'
Napoleon Beazley
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Three of the US Supreme Court justices abstained from the court's rulings because of their ties to J. Michael Luttig.
There have also been allegations that Beazley's trial was prejudiced because he is black, and his lawyers are still fighting for a stay of execution.
But Jack Skeen, the district attorney who prosecuted the case, argues that the callousness of the murder dictates the death penalty.
Beazley had shot Mr Luttig in the head after pulling him from his car at his home, then stood in a pool of blood while going through the dead man's pockets, searching for the car keys.
'If you look at the facts of this case, the premeditation, and the absolutely random predatory nature of the crime . . . the death penalty is certainly appropriate,' said Mr Skeen.
The case has wider implications, being just the latest in the state of Texas, which carried out a record number of executions - 40 - last year.
Beazley's supporters sang "What a friend we have in Jesus"
Since the US Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate the death penalty in 1976, 18 people who committed murder under the age of 18 have been executed across the United States.
Amnesty International argues that Texas does not recognise 17-year olds as mature when they try to buy alcohol, but treats them as adults when it comes to murder.
Beazley is just one of 31 prisoners waiting on death row in Texas who killed at the age of 17.
And there exists a ruling by the Supreme Court that it is constitutional to execute criminals who were as young as 16 at the time of their crime.
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What do you guys think?
I personally think he should be given life.
Here is a short background (from BBC website).
www.bbc.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Napoleon Beazley, who committed murder in the US state of Texas at the age of 17, is due to be executed on Wednesday evening local time.
Beazley, now 25, admits shooting dead a businessman at point-blank range to steal his car, but has asked for "a second chance" in view of his age at the time of the murder.
----------------------
'Under-18 year olds are considered too young to drink, vote or serve on a jury - yet they are considered old enough to be executed'
Curt Goering
Amnesty International USA
----------------------
The US Supreme Court has refused to block the execution, while critics say the judicial system is unfairly biased against Beazley.
If he is executed, he will become the latest in a line of teenage killers to die under US laws.
The US Supreme Court has turned down requests for a reprieve for Beazley, who shot 63-year old John Luttig in 1994.
Two of Beazley's accomplices received life sentences.
As well as pointing to the killer's age, critics of the death sentence argue that Beazley could not get a fair trial as Mr Luttig's son now sits as an appeals court judge in Richmond, Virginia.
------------------------
'Don't I deserve a second chance against the death penalty?'
Napoleon Beazley
-------------------------
Three of the US Supreme Court justices abstained from the court's rulings because of their ties to J. Michael Luttig.
There have also been allegations that Beazley's trial was prejudiced because he is black, and his lawyers are still fighting for a stay of execution.
But Jack Skeen, the district attorney who prosecuted the case, argues that the callousness of the murder dictates the death penalty.
Beazley had shot Mr Luttig in the head after pulling him from his car at his home, then stood in a pool of blood while going through the dead man's pockets, searching for the car keys.
'If you look at the facts of this case, the premeditation, and the absolutely random predatory nature of the crime . . . the death penalty is certainly appropriate,' said Mr Skeen.
The case has wider implications, being just the latest in the state of Texas, which carried out a record number of executions - 40 - last year.
Beazley's supporters sang "What a friend we have in Jesus"
Since the US Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate the death penalty in 1976, 18 people who committed murder under the age of 18 have been executed across the United States.
Amnesty International argues that Texas does not recognise 17-year olds as mature when they try to buy alcohol, but treats them as adults when it comes to murder.
Beazley is just one of 31 prisoners waiting on death row in Texas who killed at the age of 17.
And there exists a ruling by the Supreme Court that it is constitutional to execute criminals who were as young as 16 at the time of their crime.
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