Compassionate Release: No Mercy?
Should a prisoner’s terminal illness be a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card?
Two of the world’s most notorious murderers—a Manson follower and a terrorist bomber—recently requested “compassionate release” from prison because they are dying of cancer.
61 year-old Susan Atkins—serving a life sentence in a California prison for her role in the Charles Manson cult killings—petitioned authorities for compassionate release. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she believed she should be allowed to die at home.
In Scotland, the man known as the “Lockerbie Bomber”—convicted in the terrorist deaths of 270 people aboard Pan Am Flight 103—sought compassionate release as doctors declared he had only three months to live. He has terminal prostate cancer, seven years into his life sentence.
In each case, relatives and supporters of the victims opposed release, saying murderers who showed no compassion for those they killed should receive no compassion now.
But the prosecutor who originally put Atkins behind bars almost 40 years ago argued in favor of her death-bed freedom, saying it was wrong to believe that “just because Susan Atkins showed no mercy to her victims, we therefore are duty-bound to follow her inhumanity and show no mercy to her.” Atkins’ husband said California should consider the $17,000 a month they’d save in medical bills.
Atkins’ request was denied, and she died less than a month later. However, the bomber, Abdulbaset al-Megrahi, was released from prison and flew home to a hero’s welcome in his native Libya. Scottish officials said they were “bound by Scottish values” in making a morally responsible decision. “Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed, but compassion available,” said the country’s senior justice official.
A life sentence in prison “ought to mean until you’re dead, which neither Atkins nor al-Megrahi is,” countered an American newspaper columnist. “It’s hard to see why people who have committed violent crimes deserve any consideration beyond fair trial and sentencing they have already gotten. Compassionate release is compassionate only to criminals, not their victims.”
Tell us what you think: Do we have a moral responsibility to release terminally ill prisoners? Should a life sentence be commuted for any reason other than the innocence of the convicted? Should state-financed medical costs ever play a role in the decision for compassionate release?
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Hmm, this guy is civil and polite. ,
Wolf87 | 4 months, 4 weeks ago
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Dear Mrs. Huey
Because your son is not receiving compassion from society, is that grounds for not being compassionate to others?
Just think about it. The sentiment you’re voicing is as the heart of why so many people are, well, angry and incapable of felling mercy toward others. In our sorrow we sometimes find it difficult to care about other people’s pain, regardless of the similarities (in cause or form) to our own.
It’s very sad to read about your son. I am glad to hear he is, at minimum, receiving medical care. I agree, he should be with you and the rest of his family through this. I can’t imagine having to go from chemotherapy while having to endure all of the stresses of life in jail. Good luck and I hope he comes home to you soon.
Geoff Wolfe | 4 months, 3 weeks ago
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GOD'S LOVE..
FREE HER..LET HER HAD THE PEACE SHE ASK GOD FOR…
salimah adams | 4 months ago
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PLEASE Doris Huey Listen to me "On A Different Not
A court of law has up until a year to set a trial date. Please get you family,friends and community to try to do some type of fundraisers to try and get enough money to hire your son an attourney. A court appointed attourney (using the term CAA for short) is not going to waste their time on your son accept to get him sent to prison. If the CAA ever does go to see your son he his going to tell him things that he (the CAA) will think your son wants to hear. My son was arrested on April 4,2003 and his CAA finally came to see him in jail April 2,2004 the day before his trial was to begin. In my sons case he was 27 his wife had just divorced him an was refusing to let him see his two year old daughter. He was living with his father and I at the time when our nightmare began. He decided to go out riding by himself one night about 1:00am. About 1:30 I got a call saying that there was an APB going over the scanner looking for him. They were saying he had shot and injured 2 cops. Picture this in your mind for me please. He is in his truck 10-12 miles out in the wilderness. No houses or street lights for 3 or 4 miles. Pitch black darkness. 2 cops in 2 seperate cars pull him over for a routine check as they called it. The cops said that why they were questioning him, he ask them if he could turn around and urinate and they said ok. When he turned he took off running through a wooded thicket were you couldnot see your hand in front of your face. The cops said that he had a 9mm pistol firing shots at them over his shoulder as he was running off. He did have a gun but it was a 357mag. 1 cop was shot in the upper shoulder and the other in the lower back.He took off running because they were threatening his life. We live in a Louisiana community so small that it only has 2 stores,post office and 1 gas station. So you can just about imagine everyone knows everybody in town and all about their business. The cops here have their certain few that they pick on all off the time and my son happened to be one of them, only because the sherriff dislikes my dad because he is big into politics and vowed he would get the sherriff out of office if it was the last thing he ever done. Well my dad got a man to run against the sherriff (and put him out of office) a year after my son was sent to Angola State Penitentiary with a sentence of 65 years with no possibility of parole for 2 counts of attempted murder that they put off on him. Everyone from our little town knows that 1 of the cops was fooling with the other ones wife and they decided to have their own little smoke out in the woods and blamed my son for it. They could not find my sons fingerprints on any guns. The cop that was shot in the back walked out of the hospital the same night an refused to let them take the bullet out. My son ran for 4 miles to get to my nephews house, who was off in another state working but he found a window open and got in. When they told me were it happened I automatically knew were he was so I called my nephews house and the answering machine came on. I pleaded with him son if you are there please pick up the phone and he did. My parents and I were listening to everything going on the scanner. I told him that a helicopter was fixing to hover over the top of the house and there were about 25 cop cars fixing to surround it an all of the deputies had been ordered to shoot to kill if they saw him. I told him when they come in the house to get you just lay face down on the floor and he did. When they said they were fixing to enter the house they killed all of the radios and it was total silence for about 10min. The radios finally came back on and they said we now have the suspect in custody. In that 10min time limit they beat him almost unrecognizeable and let the K-9 dogs almost eat his side off. I dont care what anyone says anytime there are cops involved the judge is going to take their side. We have appealed it 3 times with no luck and we learned the hard way that a CAA will do nothing more than send you down the road as far as he can. My heart goes out to you Doris and I am going to keep you and your son in my prayers. I am a firm believer in god and my god does not like people with ugly and evil ways, because it will come back on you ten fold. One day the truth will come out about the cops having their private shootout and my son will be freed. It may be on one of their deathbeds when someone really does shoot one of them that the truth is told but it will come out one day. Right now all I can do is just continue to pray that the sooner it happens the better.
God Bless You Doris and you tell your son to fight his case till the bitter end.
Debra Smith | 3 months, 4 weeks ago
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They Don't Care Doris
Doris it would not hurt to try going to talk to some of your local politicains and try to get some of them backing you to try and help your son out. Nowdays they have work release programs for inmates were they are out in the daytime working and are locked up at night. Try and get a petition going in your town for a sick leave program. It could be done I am just not sure how many signatures you would have to get before you send it in to your governor. Then it would be were you could pick your son up in the morning and bring him back at night. It would be worth a try and it beats him being alone by himself going through his sickness. Don’t sit by and depend on that public defender for any kind of news about your sons concerns because I am afraid you will be waiting for eternity. They could care less about you or what your sons feelings are concerning his health problems. Please just try to do anything you can before his year is up. When you think of his Public Defender with no news just look at it this way. No news is good news and this is just giving you some extra time to try and get something done for your son. Whatever you do just dont give up.
God Bless
P.S. Remember Doris we have to remain strong for our sons.
Debra Smith | 3 months, 4 weeks ago
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girlfriend of murdered victim
The man that murdered my boyfriend should never get out of jail. He had already been in jail before but got out after serving 7 years of a 15 year sentence for attempted murder. Now he will be up for parole in 2021 by that time he will be 70 years old. I don’t want him too be shown any mercy, oh because he’s been such a good prisoner. By the way thats what got him out the time before GOOD BEHAVIOR!! He did’nt show David any mercy after stabbing him over 40 times and then slitting his throat!! Dana should not be shown mercy, he’s a M0NSTER!!
amanda | 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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Faster solution
How about instead of letting these thugs and murders drain the public coffers for 30-40 years in prison they should be executed straight away. Problem solved.
Terry Wolfe | 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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A Mixed meaning subject
I disagree on any murderer should be set free on any means but if they are ill then why put them in a montored mental insitition with securtiy watch just like they do with mental insane crinimals. Instead releasing to go home. I mean the people they killed didn’t get a chance to cry for mercy or go home so why should prisioners whom are murderers? I don’t think so, they the murderers should die where they were put in prison on even like a mental hospital with securty where say couldn’t be released. They are still human in some way but they shouldn’t released to go home but at least either be home arrest or put in a mental hospital.
Tracy Rogers | 3 months, 2 weeks ago
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my opinion
i dont feel they should be let out just because they have cancer,they didnt think about the people that died .they should all rot in prison.maybe they will realize how the ones that they killed felt ,knowing they will never see daylight,family members,there jids grow up…etc… I SAY THEY ALL NEED TO DIE IN PRISON.LEAVE THEM THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
terrie medlin | 3 months ago
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Life and death
Seems to me if they have been officially diagnosed with some sort of cancer, God has chosen their way to die. They committed not only murder but mass murders and now they want sympathy? She wants to die at home? Guess she should have thought about that when she was killing people. They had no sympathy for the one’s they killed…they do not deserve it. Rott in jail.
Elizabeth Myers | 3 months ago
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